Publication year: 2025
ISBN: 9789697492480
Printer: iPrintPlus, Osborne Park, Western Australia
Pages: 261
About the authors:
We have enjoyed working as a team over the last three years and when it came to deciding the order of authors, we settled on listing the team by the year in which they commenced work in the North West Division or Rangeland Management Branch as shown below:
John Morrissey (1958), Alan Payne (1962), Alexander (Alec) Holm (1968), Donald (Don) Burnside (1974), Philip (Phil) Thomas (1985), Ian Watson (1986).
John Morrissey had a 40 year career with the Department of Agriculture, commencing as David Wilcox's technician in Wiluna in 1958, serving as the third and final Principal Adviser Rangeland Management between 1986 and 1993, and concluding as Regional Manager for the Kimberley Region in 1998. In between those dates, he had lengthy spells living in Meekatharra, Kalgoorlie and Carnarvon, and completed extension studies in Queensland. He was involved in a lot of the research and extension in the Southern Rangelands, including the work on sheep reproduction in Meekatharra and Carnarvon in the 1970s. His flying capability enabled him to pioneer low level photography, as one of the monitoring approaches used in the 1970s.
After retirement, John fulfilled a long-term desire to be a farmer and he and his wife Eve established a mixed orchard 100 km north of Perth, from which they retired in 2008. John still enjoys getting out bush as often as possible, and together with Don Burnside, he is a member of the Leonora Cactus Hunters, a project commenced by former pastoralist David Fitzgerald aimed at eradicating invasive cactus from the area.
Alan Payne commenced his rangeland career in 1962 at the Ord River Regeneration Reserve, where heroic efforts were made by him and others in regenerating the severely degraded lands in the Ord River catchment - efforts which in time succeeded. After a time in Derby working on cattle research and plant introduction, he moved to Perth and took over leadership of the Rangeland Survey Team, which continued until he retired in 2005. He led or was involved in nearly all of the surveys from the Ashburton River catchment to the Pilbara Rangeland Survey. He also spent time on an overseas project in Nigeria.
Alan is a keen bushman and after retirement, as well as some private consulting, he, Alec Holm, Geoff Eliot and other friends and family have made many forays gold prospecting in the WA rangelands. He maintains an interest in rangeland surveys, providing advice to those who have followed in his footsteps.
Alec Holm commenced his career in 1968 based at the Kimberley Research Station working on ways to fatten pastoral cattle on sorghum, rice and cottonseed from the Ord Irrigation area before moving to Derby, where cattle work continued including collaborative work with CSIRO on plant introductions. Between 1976 and 1979 Alec, with a young family in tow, worked on a research project in northern Nigeria studying options for pasture improvement. When he returned to Australia, he was based at Carnarvon where he designed and initiated the successful Boolathana grazing trial, led the development of the Western Australian Range Monitoring System (WARMS) and prepared the framework for the Australian Collaborative Rangeland Information System (ACRIS). Alec left the Department in 2000.
Alec is a keen gold prospector, spending time in the bush with Alan Payne, Geoff Eliot and his family and friends. After completing his PhD Alec has become a successful environmental consultant and his services are sought by mining companies in Australia and international projects in rangeland management. In recent years, he has worked in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Mongolia and Saudi Arabia.
Don Burnside was transferred to Carnarvon in 1974, and while there he worked on sheep reproductive research and the early efforts at establishing a monitoring system, mainly using aerial photography. He moved to Kalgoorlie in 1981, initiated the goat grazing research and provided advisory services to the pastoral community, as well as continuing the work in dust suppression around Kalgoorlie-Boulder. After postgraduate studies in Queensland, he moved to Perth in 1991 and was involved in extension activities until in 1997 he resigned from the Department.
After leaving the Department, Don spent 15 years with a major consulting company, mainly working on socio-economic projects, but occasionally having the opportunity to undertake rangeland-based projects. After retirement in 2013, he has done some consulting in the rangelands and he has continued his association with the rangelands through active involvement with the Australian Rangeland Society, and as a member of the Leonora Cactus Hunters.
Philip Thomas commenced his career in Kalgoorlie in 1985 where he was immediately involved in helping the set-up of the Yerilla Goat Grazing Trial. He also worked on other research projects, rangeland monitoring, and rangeland rehabilitation. After moving to Perth, Phil took over the management of the rapidly accumulating WARMS data, and he also became involved in the management and use of remotely sensed data from a number of sources, while still managing to make occasional trips to the bush. He is currently supporting the development of a new means of providing information for regulation of the State's pastoral lands.
Alone amongst us, Phil is still at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and his ability to find material from within the Department's archives and long-forgotten storage areas for including in this book has been absolutely critical. As one of our colleagues said about Phil 'No one is indispensable, except Phil Thomas'. We could not have written this without him.
Ian Watson moved to Carnarvon in 1985 and was drafted into the team working on the Boolathana Grazing Trial. He took over management of the trial after Alec Holm moved to Perth in 1991 and carried it through to completion in 1993. After completing his PhD at Macquarie University, he moved to Northam in 1997, taking over leadership of the WARMS program, working closely with Paul Novelly in the Kimberley and Phil Thomas in Perth.
Ian left the Department to start a second career with CSIRO, as Program Leader —Rangelands and Savannas, based in Townsville. He has co-managed several major research projects across northern Australia and has worked in west and central Africa. He maintains an active interest in national rangeland affairs through participation in Australian Rangeland Society events and he is an Associate Editor of The Rangeland Journal.