The sugar gum was locally sourced from a farm plantation  at Carisbrook. It was planted in 1973 as shelter for crops and to soak up a swampy area. Lachie selected some 15 trees for posts and beams for the hut. As a Class I naturally durable timber, sugar gum is eminently suitable for this task

A quarter of a century ago, Ballarat Region Treegrowers examined which common native trees within our patch were most suited to working with wood. There were four, but in a surprise to most of us, sugar gum topped the list. 
 
Originally, sugar gum was not planted for its timber, but as shelter for sheep from killer frosts and bone-chilling winter winds and scorching summer sun. In trials across the treeless plains of the Western District over 130 years ago, sugar gum, a South Australian species, was found to grow strongest and was, moreover, amenable to coppicing. 
 
A coppiced tree is one that when cut down at its base, sends out a fresh crop of stems and regrows. Coppicing gave sugar gum the natural ability to perpetually recycle, recreating screens of leaf-dense shelterbelts, ideal for protecting sheep huddled on their lee side.
 
As a by-product, a firewood industry sprung up around the coppiced tree trunks. By the 1920s, up to 40,000 tonnes a year of sugar gum was chopped up for firewood.
 
But no-one thought to use it as timber – despite scientific analysis finding that sugar gum is one of Australia’s few Class 1 naturally durable exterior timbers. We subsequently demonstrated its suitability for decking and cladding, with Ballarat Region Treegrowers setting up a co-operative managed by farm foresters, Sustainably Managed Australian Regional Timbers (or SMARTimbers) that successfully marketed exterior sugar gum products to architects in Melbourne for five years. 
 
Some of our members are still seeking to repurpose sugar gum as a substitute for the Asian rainforest timbers that we in the developed world consume en masse, aiding and abetting tropical deforestation. BRT President, Gary Featherston, is certifying
 sugar gum for a group of farm foresters in the Western District.

But that’s a whole other story. For the purposes of this one, we and Lachie know that sugar gum is a local, it’s abundant and we can put it to a more sustainable fate than firewood.

Castlemaine filmmaker, Campbell Hynam-Smith, has been commissioned to follow the steps in the journey of building the hut and produce a 10 minute YouTube video.

There’s still 28 of the locally endangered Hakea decurrens flourishing on the top of the mullock heap at ImLal. Everything else is taking a beating from the roos, wind and poor mullock heap soil (or lack of). They seem to have been flowering for ages.

The rain came pouring down as I topped the mullock heap. Drenched, I must admit to descending gloomily to Footrot Flats, a soggy site south of the dam, where I thought our planting had totally failed. Not so – after record spring and summer rains and the warmth that comes with climate change, the hybrid eucs and Turkey oaks were rising from the dead. Many were becoming entangled in their plastic sleeves, so I removed the worst cases. Will now have to check whether or not they're more vulnerable to bouncing roos and ravaging wallabies.

We now have two lots of students visiting ImLal from the University of Melbourne. Dr Antanas Spokevicius included ImLal on a Forest Systems field trip comparing different sorts of forestry management. Some 30 Forest Sciences students listened to Steve Murphy present on the design principles behind a biorich plantation on 27 February, 2020.

Assoc. Professor Lauren Bennett, Ecosystem Sciences, Forest Carbon, School of Ecosystem and Forest Science commented:
"The students were very appreciative of the opportunity to visit the site, particularly as an illustration of multiple practices and issues, and of your willingness to trial various practices and to adaptively manage."

​There's 48 students in this year's course.

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Some 30 students from the mining and landscape rehabilitation course visited ImLal in March. Lecturer Singarayer Florentine says they had a record intake of 50 this year.

Site was very dry but coping after a month without any rain. Seven sequoias still alive and clearly visible as the roos had eaten al the grass around them.

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 We saw a record 39 species at ImLal – probably had something to with the weather. It was warm and still, a rare occurrence on most of the seasonal bird surveys.

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Principal Research Fellow Dr Lauren Bennett from Melbourne University's School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences brought 42 students to the ImLal site to learn about analogue forestry design principles and the silvicultural management practices we are applying. This was the school's second annual spring visit. Double the number of students came this time. Lauren said the students enjoyed seeing what is often just academic theory put into practice.

They also got to witness the differing viewpoints of Phil Kinghorn and Gib Wettenhall on whether to prune hard or not.  There was a lot of talk about introducing mosaic fire burning. Students were curious about whether or not this would trigger a hidden seedbank of orchids and other fire-dependent natives. We'll have to try it and find out before they  visit next spring.