What is Pilliga forest?
The '''State Forests of The Pilliga''', also called the '''Pilliga Scrub''', covers an area of 3000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> in north-central [[New South Wales]], [[Australia]]. It is the largest area of semi-arid woodland in the state. The forest is near the towns of [[Baradine, New South Wales|Baradine]] and [[Narrabri, New South Wales|Narrabri]] and the villages of [[Pilliga, New South Wales|Pilliga]] and [[Gwabegar, New South Wales|Gwabegar]]. ==History== Author [[Eric Rolls]] wrote a book about the Pilliga called ''[[A Million Wild Acres]].''<ref>{{cite book | last =Rolls | first =Eric C. | authorlink = | title =A Million Wild Acres: 200 years of man and an Australian forest | publisher =Nelson | year =1981 | location =Melbourne | isbn = 0-17-005302-4 | page =465 }}</ref> He argued that the forest used to be an open woodland forest and that European influence has let the cypress pines take over. However, many scientific authors now disagree, using historical records from as early as the 1870s which say that the types of plants in the forest have not changed as much as Rolls suggests.<ref>'Vegetation changes in the Pilliga forests: a preliminary evaluation of the evidence', Norris, E. H., Mitchell, P. B. and Hart, D. M., in Vegetatio V.91, pp. 209-218, 1991.</ref><ref>'The nature of pre-European native vegetation in south-eastern Australia: a critique of Ryan, D.G., Ryan J.R and Starr, B.J. (1995) The Australian Landscape - Observations of Explorers and Early Settlers', Benson, J. S. and Redpath, P. A., in Cunninghamiana V.5(2), pp. 285-328, 1997.</ref> However most of his history of the region is an important document for understanding the area. ==Environment== ===Geology=== The geology of the area is mainly Pilliga sandstone. This is a coarse red to yellow [[Jurassic]] [[sandstone]] containing about 75% [[quartz]], 15% [[plagioclase]] and 10% [[iron oxide]].<ref>{{cite web| title =Spectral analysis| publisher =[[Arizona State University]]| url =http://ratw.la.asu.edu/04210506029.htm