Category Archives: Fire Management

Fire’s off…and on

Several more substantial proposed burns have been removed from the current DELWP Fire Operations Plan. Apart from the Amanda’s Track proposal, which we have previously reported, these include: Donkey Farm Track [in the Maldon Historic Reserve], Chewton Railway Dam [in … Continue reading

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Fire risks in the Mount Alexander region: public and private responsibilities

In his response to FOBIF’s fire submission [see above], Andrew Koren made the following observations about fire danger in our region: ‘Communities in Castlemaine, Chewton and surrounds are considered to be at extreme property impact risk from bushfires on days … Continue reading

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Fire: business as usual, for the moment

The State Government is still considering the recommendation by the Inspector General of Emergency Management that the ‘five per cent target’ be replaced by a risk management system. In his response to FOBIF’s fire submission [see above] Andrew Koren made it clear … Continue reading

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Amanda’s Track: Fire’s off

The 409 hectare fuel management burn planned for Amanda’s Track, at the southern end of the Castlemaine Diggings NHP, has been removed from DELWP’s operations plan. It’s been removed ‘based on a values assessment and field checks.’ We’re not exactly … Continue reading

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Fire planning: safety, yes–AND healthy forests

FOBIF has made a submission to the Department of Environment’s fire planning process. In it, we’ve repeated a few of the concerns we expressed in our 2014 submission. We’ve received a number of assurances about these concerns–mainly to do with … Continue reading

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Putting some facts on the table

Field Naturalist Richard Piesse met with DELWP officers last week to table surveys conducted by local naturalist Ern Perkins over the last ten years. The intention of the meeting was to highlight the necessity for burn operations to be conducted … Continue reading

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Kalimna fire

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Fire completed its management burn at Kalimna Park on April 23. The treatment area is shown on the map below.   Representatives of FOBIF and the Friends of Kalimna Park have examined the … Continue reading

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Fire review: it’s time to accept the obvious and the logical

As we reported last week, the State Government has asked the Inspector-General for Emergency Management (IGEM) to conduct a review of performance targets for the future bushfire fuel management program on public land. The review will ‘examine a risk-based approach to … Continue reading

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Fire stoushes: do we need them?

Readers of the Midland Express on Tuesday February 17 will have noticed a letter from the Shadow Minister for the Environment, Brad Battin, as follows: ******* ‘The 2009 Royal Commission into Black Saturday recommended the State Government adopt a five … Continue reading

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Fire review, but the old order remains for now

The Labor Government is persisting with Coalition policy on fire in the short term. This is confirmed in a statement released yesterday, announcing an independent review of the fuel reduction program. The statement, from the Environment Minister’s office, goes partly … Continue reading

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