Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

We have received a reply from DSE District Manager Steve Nicholson to our concerns about the conduct of the autumn Smutta’s Track burning operation [see below Smutta’s Track management burn]. It reads in part:

‘Following the ignition, and through subsequent patrols, crews are expected to extinguish any trees on the edges of burns and particularly any habitat trees they may have ignited. Given that this tree was raked around and largely protected from ignition via ground fuels, a reasonable explanation, which is supported by ground inspection, suggests that a fire brand, falling limb or otherwise may have ignited the tree….If this did occur, it is reasonable to expect that patrols would have, in most cases, identified the issue and ensured the tree was extinguished.

‘It is regrettable that this particular tree, having significant natural values as a habitat tree, suffered damage…It is essential that we now take this opportunity to reinforce the importance of good preparation, targeted and appropriate ignition and effective patrols to limit the possibility of this reoccurring.’

Less damaging, and just as effective

Crude control line, with early erosion signs

On the subject of the crudely made control line, Steve Nicholson noted that ‘it is district practice to keep to a minimum the amount of control line constructed…in some cases we may need a control line that can accommodate access for larger fire vehicles to ensure we can undertake burns safely.’ He assured us that the track in question would be rehabilitated ‘as soon as practicable’. Continue reading →

Smutta’s track, near Irishtown in the Castlemaine Diggings NHP, was burned by DSE in Autumn as part of the Bendigo Fire Protection Plan. The bush at the time was quite damp, so much so that we wondered at the point of the burning exercise. DSE are under severe political pressure, however, to ‘treat’ a target area of bushland with  burning, and it was no surprise that the operation went ahead.

As expected, the effect was very patchy. It’s hard to see its value as a fuel reduction exercise, though it may have some interesting ecological effects, given the excellent conditions for regrowth in the area.

We were extremely disappointed by two aspects of this operation, however.

First: we had advised DSE that there are some big old trees in this zone which should be protected from fire. Although there was some raking around larger trees, we were surprised and disappointed by the probable destruction of a veteran red box right on Hunter’s Track, on the Salter’s Creek side. We measured this tree at about 125 cm diameter at breast height. and as far as we can tell it was  a candidate for the title of biggest tree in the zone [see pic].

Hunters Tk, Castlemaine Diggings NHP: this tree probably won't survive the management burn. It might survive, but it’s taken a tremendous hit.

Its survival is doubtful.

Continue reading →

FOBIF members have made several visits to the south end of the Diggings Park to monitor the effects of a very severe management burn conducted near the Wewak track in Autumn last year. On our latest visit, on February 7, we came to the following tentative conclusions:

1. Recovery of species has been good. Good rain has provided excellent recovery conditions, and we will report on the detailed monitoring of the area by Castlemaine Field Naturalists in due course, as well as DSE monitoring, if any. There has been an outbreak of thistles, a lot of which we’ve pulled out and taken away, and dandelions, possibly because of the large areas of bare earth created. Continue reading →