Author Archives: fobif

Floods: taking a wider view

Posted on 23 March, 2012 by fobif

Every time there’s a flood, there seems to be an outbreak of simple suggestions about how the disaster might have been averted.  Some of these are more sensible than others, and even some of the more sensible ones–like, stay out … Continue reading →

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Floods: running to the past

Posted on 23 March, 2012 by fobif

Recent heavy rains in Victoria have brought about a return of calls to strip vegetation from waterways as a way of reducing flood levels. The claim that vegetation along waterways raises water levels was raised last year when some locals … Continue reading →

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Bendigo fire meeting

Posted on 21 March, 2012 by fobif

FOBIF was represented at a meeting in Bendigo on March 7 with DSE land and fire community engagement officer Simone Blair. The meeting was organised by the Bendigo and District Environment council. The meeting was an opportunity for community groups … Continue reading →

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Walkers observe the effects of a Fuel Reduction Burn

Posted on 21 March, 2012 by fobif

Forty-five walkers set out from the SEC Dam Track in Green Gully on 21 March for the first FOBIF walk of the year.  It was not the normal scenic bushwalk as the route was mainly through areas of the Muckleford … Continue reading →

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Tarilta Gorge: burned off, washed away

Posted on 21 March, 2012 by fobif

It’s sometimes hard to know what to call DSE burning operations: control burns? Fuel reduction? Ecological burns? Too often none of the above apply: there’s little control, apart from keeping the burn inside the control lines [and as we know, … Continue reading →

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Moss identification cards

Posted on 15 March, 2012 by fobif

For those interested in the moss identification workshops, Cassia has prepared some moss illustrations. Click here to view them. The first moss workshop recapping what was covered in 2011 is now being organised. Details will be posted on this site.

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Biodiversity on the side of farming

Posted on 11 March, 2012 by fobif

The theme of the first evening session in the Connecting Country 2012 education program is on the vital importance played by biodiversity [that is, the pattern of plants, animals and micro organisms in the environment] in the health of agriculture. … Continue reading →

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Stinker

Posted on 6 March, 2012 by fobif

FOBIF has alerted Mount Alexander Shire council of an outbreak of Stinkwort in the newly developed section of the Wesley Hill industrial estate. The plant, Dittrichia graveolens, is a declared noxious weed because of its capacity to get into pasture … Continue reading →

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Fire Briefing

Posted on 24 February, 2012 by fobif

Radio National’s Background Briefing program ‘Fighting Fire with Fire’ [broadcast on February 19 and available for podcast here] was a very fair effort to canvass all points of view on fuel management issues. The fact that it seems to have … Continue reading →

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Weeds are for burning

Posted on 21 February, 2012 by fobif

In December we criticised DSE’s management of the Quartz Hill management burn [see ‘The uses of fire‘] on the grounds that the exercise failed to do anything about the prolific weeds in the area. FOBIF has now written to local … Continue reading →

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