Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

A small group of FOBIF members took a stroll last week through a patch of the Fryers Forest slated for burning within the next two years. This is burn is coded CAS-0243 Glenluce – Columbine Creek and is in the area bounded by Hunters Track and Hunters Lane. FOBIF walkers passed the edge of this zone last year on our Columbine Creek excursion.

Like all of our bushland, this small (71 hectares) patch of bush has its own fascination. Significantly mined in the distant past, and burned by the Department in 2008, it’s variably covered with tussock grass woodland, with some areas of dense, mainly wattle, understorey. The trees are larger than most in the Fryers forest, and there are few or no coppiced trees.

In the Hunters track proposed fire zone, April 2021: a mix of tussocks and shrubs, in an area burned 13 years ago.

The unburned areas bounding this zone, especially on the western side of Hunter’s track, are a remarkable example of tussock woodland, with trees very much larger than we are accustomed to seeing in this region. FOBIF sees this unburned bush as a kind of control zone, an indicator of the effect of fire both as a fuel reduction method, and as a way of influencing the ecology of the bush.

In the adjacent forest, unburned for many decades. The photo was taken in December, when the grass was greener,  but in other respects the scene is unchanged.

FOBIF has enquired of DELWP about the burn history of this block. We have also asked questions about the recent department burn around Wattle Track, in the Fryers Nature Conservation Reserve. This varied from a moderate, patchy effort to an extremely severe and destructive fire. We’re trying to find out how our managers assessed the result of the exercise.

Our questions arise from our curiosity about the actual effects of hazard reduction burns, both ecologically and from the point of view of fuel loads. In our view, this is a very complex issue: but the political debate about it is infected with the convenient notion that reduction burns vacuum up fuel and make us all safer. Only by paying close attention to the effects of each burning exercise will a more realistic view emerge. That would require better resourcing for managers, of course.

A map of the zone in question, and other proposed management burns, can be found on the Department’s excellent interactive map here.

Mount Alexander Shire is running a couple of consultations of interest at the moment.

The first invites residents to share their vision of the shire and how it should be. You can participate by going to https://shape.mountalexander.vic.gov.au/vision

This consultation closes on May 15.

The second relates to the Shire’s draft domestic animal management plan, which proposes

• applying different controls in urban and non-urban areas of the municipality
• establishing different control requirements at different times of day
• banning dogs from the playing surfaces of certain sporting grounds
• implementing a 24-hour cat curfew.

The plan, going under the poetic acronym DAMP, can be found here.

You can express an opinion on the issues and solutions canvassed in the plan here.

Readers will remember that a long time ago, before we started thinking about viruses and such, VEAC made some significant recommendations to the state government about the status of forests on the margins of our region.

The recommendations were moderate and closely argued. As we said at the time, ‘VEAC has clearly bent over backwards to accommodate conflicting demands for the Wellsford [The Council recommended that part of this state forest be included in the Bendigo NP, and part included in the Bendigo Regional Park]. The recommended changes would exclude logging: but regional parks are managed primarily for recreation, and allow practically all recreational activities apart from hunting. This latter is seen, logically enough, to ‘[conflict] with use by large numbers of other recreational users.’

In the Wellsford Forest, site of some impressive Ironbarks. VEAC has recommended that part of this forest be included in the Greater Bendigo National Park,  but the State Government is mysteriously inactive on the recommendations. Photo: Geoff Lacey

What has happened to these recommendations? FOBIF has lent its name to a newspaper advertising campaign by enviro groups, noting, among other things: ‘The VEAC report was tabled in parliament over 18 months ago, yet the Victorian Government has found time to approve mining exploration leases and logging coupes in sensitive wildlife habitat, while ignoring the recommendations and missing legal requirements to respond. The response is now 12 months overdue.’

The full text of the advertisement follows:

An open letter to Premier Andrews:

It’s time to act for nature in Central Victoria

We write to you about the importance of implementing recommendations for new National Parks in Central Victoria.

Creating new National Parks isn’t just about saving wildlife and safeguarding beautiful places – it’s about clean air and water, a liveable temperature and people’s livelihoods.

Continue reading →

A strong group took on FOBIF’s walk to Middleton Creek yesterday, our first open  walk for many months. Middleton Creek is a marvellous waterway, characterised by interesting twists and turns and rocky cliffs. Unfortunately it’s currently overrun with gorse and other weeds, evidently spreading from nearby private land, which obscure the creek’s interesting features. Fortunately the surrounding bushland in the Park is pretty weed free, and features a variety of vegetation communities, including patches of park-like serenity, like the woodland pictured below. The dense green carpets of Matted Bush-pea are striking even now. In spring its flowers are a spectacular highlight of this end of the Park.

Amanda’s Track, Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park: a wooded parkland of Matted Bush-pea and tussock grass.

FOBIF’s walk took in the very southern fringe of the Diggings Park, before swinging over to the Goldfields Track through Brown’s Gully. It finished with a short traverse through the zone of DSE’s disastrous 2010 fuel ‘reduction’ burn, which managed to multiply the area’s fuel load dramatically.

Part of FOBIF walking group in Brown’s Gully. The Candlebark eucalypts are among the highlights of the Goldfields Track through this area.

Our thanks are due to walk leader Bernard Slattery for this excursion. Next month’s walk is in the Pilchers Bridge NCR: check the walks program for details.

Middleton Creek in a wet year (2010): note the gorse infestation to the left of the picture. The National Heritage Park is relatively weed free.

Photos below were taken by Liz Martin. Click to enlarge. 

Think of a small, degraded patch of bush, surrounded by industrial sites and roads, only 4 kilometres from the centre of a sizeable city. It’s a tiny remnant of the ravages of gold fever, ‘symbolic of the way nature is now attacked and besieged on all sides.’ At just over 4 hectares, it has 50 mine shafts!

Why should anyone take an interest in such a place? Wouldn’t it be better just to look away, at somewhere a bit more encouraging?

To find an answer to these questions, have a look at Island with corners: Crimson Chats on the White Hills 2019. It’s the ‘complex story behind the Chinese Diggings Historic Reserve and the way it is today’, and is a 68 page large format book written by Bendigo field naturalist John Lindner. The  appearance of unusual birds on the reserve provoked the author to a detailed examination of the history of this patch of land, and his careful documentation of this history is an enthralling and instructive read. As he says, ‘Every now and again, a mere mortal may be astonished by something wonderful, beautiful and unexpected in Nature.’ This book recounts such an experience. It’s an object lesson in paying attention to our local neighbourhood (the author lives one kilometre from the reserve). At a time when there’s a bit of angst around about limitations on travel, perhaps there’s a lesson here for all of us: the next Big Thing in travel might be a seemingly unimpressive patch of land around the corner.

So: if you’re getting a bit downcast by the way the world is going, you could do a lot worse than spend some time on this book. It’s $25 from the author at jwl.bendigo@gmail.com

Deer were sighted last week in the Middleton Creek area of the Diggings park. This feral species has now been seen in numbers in almost every corner of our region. Every credible community group, including farmers, municipalities and enviro organisations, has urged serious control measures against the exploding population: but, as we’ve reported, the State Government’s response to the menace has varied from the feeble to the supine. Its main agenda, on the face of it, seems to be to please the hunting lobby: a peculiar obsession, given that this particular lobby is generally hostile to the Labor Party.

If you’re interested in doing your bit to track the reality of this particular environmental problem, have a look at Feralscan. It offers ‘Many resources … to help you identify, monitor, or plan control of deer populations in your local area. View fact sheets, instructional videos, guides and strategies on best practice deer management. Use these resources as part of your coordinated control with your neighbours, local working groups, and biosecurity organisations.’ And it enables you to register any sightings you may have in your neighbourhood. Check out our 2019 post here–or go direct to the site at https://www.feralscan.org.au/deerscan/default.aspx

And: if you have the courage, you might want to read ‘The attack of the alien invaders’, an estimate of what feral species are costing the world, in dollar terms. It’s in ‘The Conversation’, today. You can find it here.

The next FOBIF bush walk ‘Waterway and gully: Middleton Creek’ will take place next Sunday, 18 April. We will meet at the Community House in Templeton Street at 9.30. There is no need to register for this walk. All welcome. Contact Bernard Slattery on 5470 5161 if you have any queries. 

FOBIF has received an answer from DELWP fire management to our questions about proposed burns in the Diggings Park in the areas of Helge and Wewak tracks.

Readers will remember we asked what lessons the Department had learned from its past efforts in this area, and how the future exercises would be handled differently. Here’s the answer:

‘I am confident in saying that we have learnt a lot from continually reviewing our practices and reflecting on what went well and what didn’t. You have identified 2 burns where aspects of the delivery was not as desired. There are learnings from every burn that are considered and adopted accordingly.

Large Candlebark brought down by indiscriminate DELWP’ ecological burn’, Tarilta valley 2012. FOBIF is concerned that the proposed burns could bring a similar result.

‘Along with engagement, rehabilitation is now a significant consideration in the planning of the burn. The Murray Goldfields now requires the Planned Burn Operations Officer (the officer in charge on the fireground on the day) to complete for every burn a;

• ‘Post Burn Rehabilitation Check list (evening of burn day or the next day). This information is used to develop works plans for crews to carry out the required rehabilitation addressing issues such as signage, track rehabilitation and catchment protection measures.
• ‘Post Burn Severity and Coverage document, capturing the coverage of the fire within the unit and its intensity.

‘We seriously review and consider our ignition options and plans. This is very much influenced by the fuels, the desired outcome and our crew safety. Seasonality is also consideration. Conditions as they present at the moment, find gullies still green after summer rains and therefore presents as a good opportunity to treat a burn without impacting significantly on gully lines. We have also observed that lower intensity burns seem to not generate as much fuel and accumulate fuels slower than burns that are generally burnt hotter. In addition, lower intensity burns generally maintain the Overall Fuel Hazard (OFH) levels under triggers for more years than higher intensity burns.

‘Backing this up is that Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecasting has improved which allows us to identify burn windows including follow weather and rain events with more certainty. During burning periods, the state establishes ongoing liaison with the BOM for weather forecasting including daily weather teleconferences and one on one liaison with Meteorologist.

‘I would like to reiterate that our staff both within the office and in the field are encouraged to reflect on their practice and provide feedback. This then informs our thinking and in some cases requires adjustments to our methodology. We pride ourselves in being dynamic and adaptive. I think you would agree that our approach to burning now is considerably different to how it was in the past.’

This letter is too vague to satisfy provide a convincing answer to our questions. In particular we don’t get an answer to this question:

‘What were the conclusions of post fire monitoring after the above two exercises [both as to ecological effects and fuel reduction]?’

Nevertheless, FOBIF is partly reassured by the implied admission here that hot burns actually generate fuel, rather than reducing it. We hope that this means a commitment to more care in the management of these fires.

It is true that managers are more aware of the complexity of their task than they used to be: but are the barbaric days of the past over, when burn methods seemed to be ‘throw in a match and watch it go’? We’re not so sure. For one thing, it never seems to be possible to see the documents referred to above: especially, we’d be interested in seeing the ‘post burn rehabilitation check lists’.

The two zones proposed for burning are between the Italian Hill track and the Wewak track, south of Vaughan Springs (see the map in our post). The northern section of this area was burned by the Department in the early 2000s. The burn was hot in patches: not only did it bring down a lot of trees, but it provoked substantial dense regeneration of eucalypts, rather counteracting the fuel reduction effect. The fallen trees did, however, block some wildcat trailbike tracks, thus reducing one scourge for a few years.

In Stone’s Gully, part of the proposed burn zones.

The two zones are strongly marked by past mining activity, and are crossed by the Goldfields Track. In spite of this, for many years they have been among the least disturbed parts of the Diggings Park. Fungi, lichens and moss beds are abundant. The gullies and creeks feature impressive Candlebarks. As FOBIF walkers found a couple of years ago, the ridges also feature unusually large trees. One of FOBIF’s concerns relates to this: that Department burns very often (unintentionally) bring down such trees.

Rock wall, Stone’s Gully. The area is abundant in moss, lichens and fungi.

One very major concern, however is this: the two zones seem to be too large to allow for any detailed management attention to be paid to ecological concerns.

FOBIF will continue to pursue this theme with fire officers.