Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

FOBIF has made a submission to the latest round of fire consultations [see our November 3 Post]. Essentially the submission criticises the zonings around Expedition Pass and the Loddon River, questions the size of some of the zones, and raises [again] the neglect of systematic fuel management on private land. FOBIF representatives will meet with DELWP early in December to discuss these concerns.

The substance of the submission is set out below [zone references can be understood by reference to the map at this link]:

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Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the fire management review.

We have three general and four specific comments:

General

1. We continue to be concerned by the apparent inability of DELWP to integrate private land fuel management into its risk program, despite the large ‘priority fuel management areas’ on private land in the West Central Risk landscape maps. The result of this inability is the artificial isolation of public land and an over emphasis on it, despite the fact that in our area the overwhelming majority of fires start on private land. We also have the occasionally bizarre example of small parcels of public land singled out for burning, although they are surrounded by much larger areas of apparently more dangerous private land. CAS 2 is a bizarre example, and CAS 11 an example where DELWP seems to have admitted the impracticality of dealing with public land in isolation.

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Parks Victoria Kookaburra Awards – Acknowledging outstanding voluntary contributions to the Parks Victoria estate

FOBIF is proud to have been nominated for a Parks Victoria 2016 Connecting People to Parks Kookaburra Award.

Parks Victoria presents the Kookaburra Awards to individuals and Friends groups that have made an outstanding contribution to the Parks Victoria estate.

The Northern Region awards will be presented at a Kookaburra Awards Ceremony to be held at Maldon Vintage Machinery Museum, Vincents Street, Maldon on Saturday 3 December 2016, from 10.30 to 2.30pm.

 If you would like to attend this event  as a FOBIF representative please email us at info@fobif.org.au by Monday 21 November.

Several photos for our 2017 exhibition, Mountains and Waterways, have been added to our new Flickr album during the last week. Noel Muller, Ranger Team Leader Goldfields, Parks Victoria, has sent a quirky tree photo from Mount Tarrengower and several FOBIF members have been visiting our flooded swamps. It’s a good time to get out and take water related photos after our recent rains. If you would like directions on how to get to swamps and other sites let us know at info@fobif.org.au

Mount Tarrengower, 15 October 2016

Walkers Swamp, 14 November 2016

Bells Swamp, 9 November 2016

Snakes are out and about, though they’ve become active a little later this year because of cooler conditions.

Obviously people should be careful in areas where snakes are likely to be present–and not only for their own safety.

The picture below is a dismal reminder of the annual massacre on our highways. As we’ve reported before, the kill rate on the roads is both frightful, and very often avoidable: and reptiles are special victims.

Another reason for slowing down…

Pyrenees Highway, McKenzie Hill, November 9:  a sight so common as to be almost unnoticeable.

And on a more positive note: below is a photo of a turtle [any suggestions on the species? We think it might be a Common Long Neck–Chelodina longicollis] found by a driver in the middle of a dirt road in Walmer, and safely removed to the side of the road: