Author Archives: fobif

FOBIF June 15th walks: the long and the short

FOBIF is offering a choice this month. Here are the details: Long Walk: Mount Alexander We will start walking from Old Koala Park and do an anti-clockwise circuit of about 12.3 km. A bit over half of this is off … Continue reading

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Alchemy of gold 1: Transformation into what?

The Alchemy of Gold, an event bringing together ‘experts, historians and the community to explore how the discovery of gold in the 1850s reshaped Victoria economically, socially and politically’ took place over the weekend of May 16-18. Its aim: ‘celebrate … Continue reading

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Alchemy 2: should the ‘new golden age’ be like the last one?

One question inevitably arising in such an event is: how have the events of the gold rush shaped the society and place we live in now? The answers are familiar: egalitarianism, a cosmopolitan society, democracy…but one feature of our society … Continue reading

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Alchemy 3: repairing the mistakes of the past

There were some very good presentations at the weekend’s event, but we’ll focus on one theme only: environmental history. Standout speakers here included Susan Lawrence, co author of Sludge– disaster on Victorian Goldfields (a book which should be compulsory reading … Continue reading

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Fire in the Maldon Historic Reserve

Forest Fire Management burned a biodiversity rich section of the Maldon Historic Reserve, near the Railway Track, on May 9. Conditions were described as ‘ideal’, with no wind, and appropriate moisture levels. Readers will remember we have reported on this … Continue reading

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So: what might World Heritage status mean?

Readers will have noticed prominent coverage in the national press of Federal support for the proposal to get UNESCO world heritage nomination for the Victorian goldfields. FOBIF has taken a keen interest in the ongoing work on this proposal. You … Continue reading

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Vale Richard Piesse (1942-2024)

Richard Piesse died peacefully on Saturday, December 28, after a short stay in palliative care at Peter Mac. Richard was a contributor to our community in multiple ways—he was a volunteer for the Chewton Domain Society and the Tourist Information … Continue reading

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Is more fire an answer to the fire problem?

The 2024-5 bushfire season has started in Victoria, so it might be a good idea to draw attention to one important dimension of management practices. Readers will no doubt be familiar with this kind of notice, attached to trees to … Continue reading

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Vale Naomi Raftery

It is with regret and sadness that we report the death from cancer of Naomi Raftery, FOBIF committee member for several years, and secretary from 2014-2018. In that period Naomi was an important part of all of our work, including … Continue reading

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Fire: paying attention to the detail

Over 100 people packed into the Senior Citizens Hall last Tuesday to hear fire behaviour scientist Phil Zylstra question the science and logic behind current planned burning systems. The talk focused on current programs centred on the reduction of leaf … Continue reading

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