Belanglo State Forest
{{Short description|State forest in New South Wales, Australia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2013}}
{{Infobox forest
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| photo = Belanglo State Forest.jpg
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| coordinates = {{coord|-34.531146|150.260049|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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| county = New South Wales
| region = Southern Highlands
| country = Australia
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| established = 1919
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| authority = Forestry Corporation of NSW{{cite web|title=Belanglo State Forest|url=http://www.forestrycorporation.com.au/new/visit/forests/belanglo|website=Forestry Corporation|language=en}}
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| species = Pine
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File:Belanglo State Forest sign.jpg
File:Belanglo State Forest entrance sign April 2025.jpg
Belanglo State Forest is a planted forest, of mainly pine but some native forestry around the edges, open to the public, in the Australian state of New South Wales; its total area is about 3,800 hectares.{{cite web|url=http://www.gazette.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/2008/2_May-Part_1b.pdf|title=Game and Feral Animal Control Act 2002|page=3037|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120326192543/http://www.gazette.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/2008/2_May-Part_1b.pdf|archive-date=26 March 2012}} The Belanglo State Forest is located south of Berrima in the Southern Highlands, three kilometres west of the Hume Highway between Sydney and Canberra. The forest is owned by the New South Wales Government and contains some of the earliest pine plantings in the state. The first radiata pines were planted in this area in 1919.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222513200 |title=PROCLAMATION—"FORESTRY ACT, 1916." |newspaper=Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales |issue=215 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 August 1919 |page=4744 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Reputation
Despite being an area of outstanding natural beauty, Belanglo Forest has a sinister reputation, and place in Australian folklore, due to the forest's connection to multiple murders.
= Ivan Milat murders =
In 1992 and 1993, seven skeletons were found in the forest, in what was described by media as the backpacker murders and was considered to be the work of a serial killer.{{cite news|last1=Lennon|first1=Troy|title=Twenty five years ago the first victims of Backpacker Killer Ivan Milat were found in Belanglo Forest|url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/twenty-five-years-ago-the-first-victims-of-backpacker-killer-ivan-milat-were-found-in-belanglo-forest-twenty-five-years-ago-the-first-victims-of-backpacker-killer-ivan-milat-were-found-in-belanglo-forest/news-story/f4a31abad223faa68d8d73ca054d297e|access-date=25 March 2019|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|date=19 September 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://casefilepodcast.com/case-109-belanglo-part-1/|title=Case 109: Belanglo (Part 1)|date=2019-03-23|website=Casefile: True Crime Podcast|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-10}} Eventually, Ivan Milat was convicted of the murders in 1996 and sentenced to life imprisonment.{{cite news|last=Walker|first=Frank|title=Milat's brother claims police still treating him as murder suspect|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/22/1085176039666.html?from=storylhs|access-date=25 March 2019|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=23 May 2004}}
= Other murders =
On 22 November 2010, three teenagers (including one related to Milat){{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/teenage-relative-of-ivan-milat-charged-over-belanglo-forest-killing/story-e6frg6nf-1225958679503|title=Relative of Ivan Milat charged over Belanglo forest killing |date=22 November 2010|work=The Australian|access-date=22 November 2010|first=Jodie|last=Minus}} were arrested on suspicion of connection with the discovery of a murdered male in the forest, following a tip-off.{{Cite web|url=https://casefilepodcast.com/case-109-belanglo-part-5/|title=Case 109: Belanglo (Part 5)|date=2019-04-20|website=Casefile: True Crime Podcast|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-10}} David Auchterlonie was celebrating his 17th birthday on 20 November; Mathew Milat, 17, and Cohen Klein, 18 had planned for over a week to lure Auchterlonie to his death. A third person, Chase Day, 18, whose charges were later withdrawn by the DPP,{{cite news|title=Someone's going to die: Belanglo teenager |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/someones-going-to-die-belanglo-teenager/story-e6frg6nf-1226175631030 |access-date=21 April 2012 |newspaper=The Australian |date=25 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025065353/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/someones-going-to-die-belanglo-teenager/story-e6frg6nf-1226175631030 |archive-date=25 October 2011}} went to police on 21 November to report the murder.{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/milats-relative-charged-with-allegedly-killing-teen-david-auchterlonie-on-his-birthday/story-e6frf7l6-1225959257166|title=Milat's relative charged with allegedly killing teen David Auchterlonie on his birthday |date=23 November 2010|work=Herald Sun|access-date=23 November 2010}}
= Deaths =
On 29 August 2010, trail bike riders discovered a human skeleton in the forest. Media reports at first linked the killing to Milat, but later forensic work disproved this theory as the remains were left there after he was sent to prison.{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/15/3012463.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918055954/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/15/3012463.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 September 2010 |title=Belanglo bones belong to teenage girl: police |date=15 September 2010 |publisher=ABC News|location=Australia |access-date=22 October 2015}} On 21 October 2015, the bones were identified as the body of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson, aged 22, from Alice Springs, Northern Territory. The body of Pearce-Stevenson's daughter, Khandalyce Pearce, aged 2, was found in a suitcase near Wynarka, South Australia, on 14 July 2015.{{cite news|title=Detectives link Wynarka girl's bones in suitcase to 'Angel' bones in Belanglo|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/detectives-link-wynarka-girls-bones-in-suitcase-to-angel-bones-in-belanglo/story-fni0cx12-1227576865065|access-date=22 October 2015|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|date=21 October 2015}}
Visitors to the park are warned by a sign to 'please be careful', as they enter the territory. This sign was notorious for being stolen, eventually being replaced with a standard Forestry Corporation sign. Detectives who worked on the Milat murders have said there is 'pure evil' in Belanglo State Forest.{{cite news |date=2016-09-24 |title=Detective who caught Ivan Milat says there is pure evil in Belanglo Forest |url=https://www.9now.com.au/60-minutes/2019/clip-cjtwpro3u001s0ho8nbm85ci4 |publisher=Interfax-Ukraine |access-date=2022-07-18}}
= Park usage =
According to the Forestry Corporation of NSW, the state-owned enterprise which manages the forest, Belanglo State Forest is a popular tourist recreation destination despite its sinister reputation.{{cite news|url=https://www.forestrycorporation.com.au/visit/forests/belanglo |access-date=2022-07-19|title=Forestry Corporation – Belanglo State Forest }}
References
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