Coast Range

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Coast Range
Nation: Errinundera
Province: Plateau
Location: North-eastern region of the Great Plateau forest
Major towns: Curley, Quartpot,
Ecosystem type: Cool temperate rainforest and montane eucalypt; with more open forest on the drier slopes
Av. annual rainfall: 1500 - 2200 mm

Coast Range is a remote, sparsely inhabited, wild district in the northeast of the province of Plateau in Errinundera. Why it should be called Coast Range defies explanation as it is utterly remote from any sea or significant lake.

Geographically, the range is an eastern extension of the Errinundera Plateau where it falls away in a series of valleys and spurs. The ridge line descends gradually but steadily to the east. Streams flowing from the range join the Queensborough River catchment to the north and the Cann and Combienbar River catchments to the south. Because of the differences in altitude and because the north facing slopes are sunnier there is a large variation in forest types. On the warmer northern slopes and lower eastern ridges the forest is drier and more open. On the southern slopes and higher western end of the range the forests are more typical montane eucalypt and cool temperate rainforest.

Unlike other districts on the plateau there are few population centres. Those that do exist are small villages, remote from others in the district. There is no Coast Range governing authority as such. Government business is conducted almost entirely at the local level, ie the tree villages. Coast Range is part of the province of Plateau with First Creek Falls as its administrative centre, however there is little interference from that city. Mayors and Magistrates of two or more locations meet very occasionally to decide upon larger issues that need addressing.

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Shining gum forest in the western Coast Range
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Some logging has occurred within the district, although sporadic and small in scale. Early in the 21st century the logging company NGDV Ltd argued that the district should be opened up for clearfelling on the basis that the region was under-utilised economically and that, if managed properly, the environment of existing communities would not be degraded. This argument was not accepted by Errinundrians and the company headquarters were famously torched. See news media archive CUP SUCCESS A SETBACK FOR BUSINESS

The district maintains a team in the Errinundera Football Association but without success. It lacks the population and resources to develop local players. Although it occasionally ascends to the Premier League it usually languishes in the middle reaches of the 2nd division.

Because of their isolation, communities in Coast Range see themselves as hardier and more self-reliant than other Errinundrians. In spite of this isolation, or perhaps because of it, they still regard their neighbours' welfare as important as their own.