Jim Gasteen

Jim Gasteen
AM
Gasteen in 1942 (Aged 20)
Born
Wrixon Jim Gasteen

1922
Brisbane, Australia
Died2017
Lismore
SpouseMarj Pearce
Awards
  • Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for nature conservation and as an advocate of balanced land use management (1993).[1]

Jim Gasteen AM (1922–2017) was an Australian farmer and conservationist, responsible for the establishment of a number of National Parks in Queensland and New South Wales.

Early life

Wrixon James Gasteen was born in Brisbane, Queensland in 1922.[2] He grew up on farms around Thrushton, Queensland where his father used the mulga lands as feedstock. Gasteen educated himself in a number of subjects including land management, geology, botany, biology and wood-turning. The family farm completely regenerated over time and Gasteen petitioned the Queensland government to make it a national park.[3] Gasteen's book Under the Mulga (2005) reflected his early life on the land.

Career

In the 1960s and 1970s Gasteen was involved in surveying and promoting National Parks proposals across Queensland. This was unpopular with many graziers and politicians.[4][5] He worked to protect remnant patches of Central Queensland scrub but also surveyed land from the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queenland's north to the Scenic Rim on the Queensland/New South Wales border.[6] His survey work or reports led to the establishment of Expedition National Park, Nuga Nuga National Park,[7] New England National Park, Rinyirru National Park, Boodjamulla National Park, Northern Rivers National Park[8] and Border Ranges National Park.[9][10][11]

Memberships and awards

Gasteen also wrote They All Left Tracks (2003) and Back to the Bush (2011).

Gasteen died in Lismore, New South Wales in August 2017 [8] He was married and had four children. Ten boxes of Gasteen's notebooks, photographs and correspondence are held in the University of Queensland Fryer Library.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b "Wrixon James Gasteen". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  2. ^ "UQP - Jim Gasteen". www.uqp.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  3. ^ Sattler, Paul (2014). "Five million hectares: a conservation memoir 1972-2008" (PDF).
  4. ^ Stanton, J. P. (James Peter); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), Peter Stanton interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the Environmental awareness in Australia oral history project, pp. 109, 110
  5. ^ Curtis, Syd (Herbert Sydney); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), Herbert Sydney Curtis interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the Environmental awareness in Australia oral history project, p. 162, retrieved 22 February 2021
  6. ^ Somerville, James G. (2005). "Saving the rainforest: The NSW Campaign 1973 – 1984" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Lake Nuga Nuga |". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  8. ^ a b McCue, Kevin and Lenz, Sonja (September 2018). "Jim Gasteen – a remarkable man, a remarkable life" (PDF). NPA Bulletin. 55 (3): 12.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Gribble, Jill (25 February 2010). "Jim Gasteen tells of a life well-lived". Ballina Shire Advocate.
  10. ^ Stanton, J. P. (James Peter); Borschmann, Gregg (1994), Peter Stanton interviewed by Gregg Borschmann in the Environmental awareness in Australia oral history project, pp. 109, 110
  11. ^ Sattler, Paul (2014). Five Million Hectares – A Conservation Memoir – 1972-2008. pp. 40, 41, 51, 75, 79, 85, 90.
  12. ^ "Jim Gasteen Papers - Fryer Manuscripts". manuscripts.library.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 6 December 2019.