Editing Great Otway National Park (section)

==History==
Commercial [[logging]] began in the Otway Ranges in the 1880s. After [[World War I]], with improvements to the roads and railways, logging increased massively, peaking in 1961, almost entirely stripping the Otway Ranges of its [[old-growth forest]] and causing [[land degradation]] issues, but has since been greatly reduced. The forest standing today highlights the lengthy period needed to regrow the giant trees of the past and to reproduce the ecological complexity nearing that of the original wild forest. Historically, several [[bushfire]]s have burnt through the park's predecessor reserves, shaping its ecology and plant and animal diversity. The last major fire was part of the [[Ash Wednesday bushfires]] that swept southeastern Australia in 1983.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/great-otway-national-park/culture-and-heritage|title=Culture and heritage|publisher=Parks Victoria}}</ref>

The park was declared in 2004 when Otway National Park, Angahook-Lorne State Park, Carlisle State Park, [[Melba Gully State Park]], areas of the Otway State Forest and a number of Crown Land reserves were combined into one park.<ref name="PV">{{cite web|url=https://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/great-otway-national-park|publisher=[[Parks Victoria]]|title=Great Otway National Park|date=2014|access-date=16 August 2014}}</ref> The parks were combined after a campaign by the local community and the Otway Ranges Environment Network and was officially [[government gazette|gazetted]] on 11 December 2005.<ref name="mgmtplan" />