Category Archives: Fire Management

Fire: business as usual, for the moment

Posted on 5 July, 2015 by fobif

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

Posted on 1 June, 2015 by fobif

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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‘Five per cent’ wobbles, but hasn’t fallen yet…

Posted on 21 May, 2015 by fobif

Is the practice of burning five per cent or more of public land every year finished? Not yet, but its days might be numbered. The report on fuel management by the Inspector General for Emergency Management [IGEM] was released today. … Continue reading →

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Fire planning: safety, yes–AND healthy forests

Posted on 18 May, 2015 by fobif

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

Posted on 18 May, 2015 by fobif

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

Posted on 4 May, 2015 by fobif

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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Rezoning at McKenzie Hill?

Posted on 4 May, 2015 by fobif

Hearings have opened over the Mount Alexander Shire’s proposal to rezone land at McKenzie Hill, to the west of the town, from Rural Living to General Residential Zone. The effect of the zone change would be to allow denser development … Continue reading →

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A very small, good thing

Posted on 13 April, 2015 by fobif

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is ‘committed to delivering an increased planned burning program as a key means of managing bushfire risk,’  according to a letter to stakeholders last week. In other words, it’s business as … Continue reading →

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

Posted on 1 March, 2015 by fobif

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?

Posted on 18 February, 2015 by fobif

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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