Category Archives: Fire Management

What do we know about all these burns?

Two of the terms of reference of the current enquiry [see above] relate to the environment. It’s fair to say that a recurring question–probably since Black Friday in 1939–is, how much fire can our environment stand before it starts turning … Continue reading

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Here we go again

Like many other groups, FOBIF has been invited to make a submission to the fire planning process this year. The substance of our submission is as follows: Our views on fire management have not changed since our 2015 submission, the … Continue reading

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It’s Australia’s only National Heritage Park: so, should it be managed in a unique way?

What is a heritage landscape, and what difference does the tag ‘heritage’ make to the way a landscape should be managed? Of course, all landscapes are ‘heritage’ or ‘cultural’ landscapes in one way or another: but there’s only one in … Continue reading

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Lessons from Lancefield [2]: public land, private land

A second point worth highlighting in the Carter report is the importance of integrating public and private land in fire preparations. The report says: ‘The Department must adopt a tenure-­‐blind approach to the management of bushfire risk including the planning … Continue reading

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Campbells Creek: some questions about fire

On October 2 DELWP conducted a Zone 1 [Asset Protection] burn in Campbell’s Creek. The area burned was 80 hectares, between Rowley Park Road and Pottery Road. The result, in yellow gum and box woodland with reasonably sparse understorey, appeared … Continue reading

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Sometimes you wonder: who’s doing the most damage to our bush?

FOBIF has been getting numerous reports of roadside vandalism by both private and public operators. Walkers on FOBIF’s Tarilta excursion noticed more DELWP scouring on the Porcupine Ridge road last week, and this week we found numerous scalped verges on … Continue reading

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Fire: it’s not just a matter of fuel reduction

Fire officers met the public in a lengthy consultation session on the draft Fire Operations Plan [FOP] through the afternoon and evening of last Tuesday [August 11] in Bendigo. An excellent link to the relevant documents with comments on the … Continue reading

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Does frequent fire damage the soil?

A study presented at Melbourne University Burnley on August 5 offered strength to an argument that’s been going around for a long time: that high frequency severe fire damages soil. The argument has often relied on common sense and anecdotal … Continue reading

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The scalping of Fryers Ridge [1]

Visitors to the Fryers Ridge this past week have been stunned to find that major works on the verges of the Ridge Road have scoured the earth bare, virtually eradicating a large part of one of the region’s most significant … Continue reading

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Maybe THIS is the saddest sign in the region?

The sign depicted in our July 5 post may have been trumped by this one, on the Fryers Ridge: ‘DO NOT…remove soil or rock.’ This injunction doesn’t apply to road works.  

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