President’s Report

We have succeeded again in having activities more or less every month, and in working together where possible with other local groups caring for our environment. I get newsletters from Trust for Nature, Project Platypus ( my local Landcare Group) and the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA), and  it is good to see how much other groups are doing to preserve biodiversity in our region. Private owners of land can often work quickly and effectively to achieve outcomes that Park managers must envy.

FOGGS are members of the Victorian National Parks Association and as such the committee gets a copy of the quarterly magazine covering the whole state. There are often articles on subjects that have relevance to us here, such as deer, cats, landscape changes. I would strongly recommend that you consider joining the VNPA as individuals, not just for the excellent magazine but also to support our parks. We also receive a quarterly “FriendsNet” which also has so many good articles. I had intended to include  a summary of an article from the May issue on animal extinctions but space has run out If you would like to receive it, please let me know.

In addition to our own FOGG activities, Wendy and I are your representatives on the Grampians  and Surrounds Round Table and the Grampians National Park Advisory Group and try to report back to you on these deliberations. Fire and Recovery from fire still keep us busy. How best to restore burnt sites such as McKenzie Falls precinct, how to protect the regenerating forest from browsing animals (cherry ballart from deer is a real problem), and what prescribed burning regime will best help protect the Grampians in a drying climate, are among the issues that we are reporting on.

But it is not just group meetings that keeps the committee busy. We also get asked to support or comment on issues on the fringe of our responsibilities and sometimes it is difficult to decide. So for instance we have not contributed to the discussion of the future of the Stawell Gold Mine, but we did send a letter re discussions on future planning decisions concerning Laharum / Wartook valley. We appreciated some of the council’s dilemmas, were appreciative of the strongly stated desire to look after the environment but could see problems if the size of bush blocks was lessened and we wanted stronger action on issues such as cats. If you want to read the full letter please contact me.

We are registering our September activity with Bush Care’s  Big Day Out in the hope that we can attract new folk to join us. We have not been good at publicising ourselves, either on new or old media. Any volunteers to take on a publicity role?

Our AGM will be  in October and will creep up on us quickly. All office positions will be open for election. In particular, please note that I have now served my two years as president. Some years ago we decided that the maximum term of president should be two years; so it is now someone else’s turn. It is enjoyable and not too onerous. It is also good to have fresh folk on the committee which we have been achieving in the last couple of years. Do let us know if you are interested in any position.  You don’t need to live locally as much can be done by email these days.

President’s Report

The first quarter of the year tends to be quiet as far as FOGG meetings are concerned.

But on the two occasions we have got together we found plenty to talk about as you will read in the two activity reports. And Wendy and I have been attending Round Table and Advisory Group meetings, as you will see in our reports.

And of course plenty has been happening in the wider scene. The new state government has just announced changes to the controversial camping fees introduced by the previous government, and made some good decisions for the Alpine National Park and Pt Nepean. But whether our parks system will get any improvement to its budget, and what will happen to the plan to open up our parks to commercial development is yet to be seen. In the meanwhile no proposals for development inside our park have been put forward.

This time last year I reported on the study into Victorian Public Lands which several of us had participated in. Their report has now been published and can be found on the web at http://www.landscapemap2.org/publications/StatewidePVreport2014.pdf

The report makes quite interesting reading, as much sociologically as the findings which in general are quite encouraging. Who participated, where they lived, how old were they, what income was all investigated to try to ensure that the results were a valid reflection of the Victorian public.

Locally the big news for our Park has been the retirement of Graham Parkes. Of recent years Graham has been District Manager for South West Victoria, covering the Grampians as well as all the other regional parks (Little Desert, Mt Eccles, Lower Glenelg). Before that of course he was for many years Ranger in Charge of the Grampians National Park, after stints at several other parks. 42 years in all. There is a generous  tribute to him in the current VNPA publication “Park Watch” – “always willing to listen to community concerns, and one of Victoria’s most respected park managers, his knowledge and experience will be hard to replace.”  Those of us who know him closely certainly appreciate how passionate he has been for our park in both his roles and we wish him well in his retirement. I will be attending a farewell for him on April 30.

From the Editor (also From the President)

Welcome to the Summer edition of the newsletter. Once again I am writing this summer newsletter with worrying news coming in of fires in our neighbourhood, including in our park yet again. The Moyston fire was scary with quite a lot of farmland burnt.  And the Rocklands/ Black Range fire was in that most important state park, under the management of our Grampians team and containing quite a few important cultural heritage sites. The change brought lightning strikes within our park, and a few small but worrying fires, but also rain. It has been a torrid start for the year for our Park staff and still several months of fire weather to go. For Stawell, the whole year was the fifth driest on record,and was the third successive year of below average rainfall, with a particularly dry Spring .

However visitor numbers have improved, and it is good to see how the vast majority are respecting the environment they have come to see. I am not a user of instagram – a social media photo sharing site – but Grampians Tourism set up a Spring Break competition on it which attracted an amazing 350,000 likes to over 4,000 photos, which all had to be of the region’s natural beauty. If only that translated into more money to resource the park.

Since the last newsletter we have had an election and now a new government. It was depressing to see how little both parties promised for the environment. Tourism such as the Peaks Trail yes, but silence on staffing of Parks Vic and DEPI. We will have to keep up the pressure on our politicians.

Once again in this newsletter you’ll find reports from Wendy and myself on the wider committees we are part  of, and reports on our our recent activities. We also have a tribute to Thelma Argall and some notes from the records of the Stawell Field naturalists. Plus an article from Mike Stevens as he tells us about the long-nosed poteroo and encourages those of us who live on the edge of the Park to help conserve them.

To finish, I join with Dave Roberts to commend our local team here. It is good to be reminded of the work of the unsung workers, those he has focused on and the other admin staff. Such a good bunch.

President’s Piece

Welcome to our Petyan edition of our newsletter, and apologies for the late arrival. In fact it feels as if summer is already here and the Grampians, like most of the Wimmera, are scarily dry and the flower season is almost over already.

I hope you all have already sent back the questionnaire we sent by snailmail to get some feedback to help with planning activities. Of course you can also email your thoughts to Wendy or myself.

FOGG has been in existence for 30 years now and quite a few of our members have been with us for much of that time. It is vital that we ensure that we remain relevant to both our longterm members and newcomers. Those of you who get this by post will find a membership form attached. Please use it to recruit someone new to join us.

Actually activities are only part of what FOGG is about. Our Park needs Friends in so many areas. We continue to advocate on behalf of the Park, we give feedback to management, we have sought to educate the public. But there are always new challenges and new opportunities.

As you will read in the report on our AGM, over the last year we have been concerned about quite a few moves which we believe are detrimental to our Park, such as aspects of the Long Distance Walk particularly the possibility of commercial lodges, and we made extensive submissions to the draft plan. The final plan is due any time, probably as an election announcement. Unfortunately both parties in Victoria have said very little positive about environmental policies and we need to get some discussion going.

It is particularly troubling that our Park, and all parks, are so short of funds. Groups like ours are being asked to apply for funds for things PV should be able to fund, such as Zumsteins restoration and Heatherlie interpretation. I suspect that grant writing will be a core role of our group for some years.

It is very encouraging that quite a few of our members give us donations in addition to the membership fee. This has enabled us to support students doing important research in our Park. Thanks to the solid work of local staff Mike Stevens and Ryan Duffy co-operation between the Park and universities is so much better than a few years ago. I see our support for this, both monetary and by publicising it, as one of the most important things we can do for our Park.

Through the Advisory Group we have been looking at some way a tax deductible fund could be set up to support projects in the Park, but it’s far from easy. In the meantime we will continue to use our FOGG funds where we can.

Finally, a big welcome to Caity O’Reilly who has taken over from Catherine Dyson as volunteer co-ordinator. Having this position is so good for both other park staff and for volunteers.

President’s Report

It has been an unusual quarter. I got the last issue out just before I left for a visit to Europe, leaving Wendy to look after the various activities we had planned and got home just in time to work with the committee on our response to the proposed Grampians Peaks Trail. (see my article on the trail, and the response we sent).

Wendy and Noushke put in an application for ‘Communities for Nature’ grant for a fence around the Caladenia audasii site. We are yet to hear the outcome.

January’s severe fire has an ongoing  impact on several of our activities, as well of course on what the Park staff have to do. They are struggling with an enormous workload and very little money to help with all the recovery work. We are so fortunate to have such a dedicated and capable group here. Our volunteer co-ordinator Katherine Dyson has resigned and is heading back to Melbourne. We will miss her; she has been such an asset. But it is good to learn that she will be replaced. Funding from Conservation volunteers, PV and others has been found. Unfortunately this funding is once again for a limited period, so the person appointed will again be on a contract, with little certainty year to year. He is Jonathan Lee   0409 425 058 

We have run out of membership brochures and have decided to revise our existing one and do a reprint. Our membership is not growing much and if we are to survive into the future it is now that we need to do some active recruiting of the next generation. Something to think about at our AGM.

This quarter again we are having difficulty arranging dates for some of our activities. We were hoping to have a July school holiday presentation on the small mammal trapping programme, but didn’t manage to find a suitable date. The Fungi explore which last year had to be cancelled  was rescheduled by the landcare group with little notice, so our apologies for the late notice we sent out by email and snailmail just to locals. Also, we have had to change our arrangement whereby most meetings were on the second Saturday of the month, due to unavailability of key people. Sorry, we know it makes it harder to plan ahead. So do please make sure you contact the person listed if you are planning to come to an event.

Margo

President’s Piece

David Thompson - Fungo Frolic, 2004 (with Dave Munro and Alison White)
David Thompson – Fungo Frolic, 2004
(with Dave Munro and Alison White)

I was deeply saddened by the recent death of David Thompson. David was an enthusiastic worker for the establishment of the Grampians National Park and has been a very active member of FOGGs from its inception. For many years he was our president.

He took on many battles to ensure that the importance of National Parks to the protection of the natural environment was always respected. He led a campaign against private development in the park under the Kennett government, and I’m sure it was with great sadness that he found recently this battle needs to be won all over again.

He was a tireless campaigner for the environment and never missed an opportunity to write letters or be interviewed on the radio in support of a cause. All  of us who care about the current threats to the environment will miss his concise focus and constant energy which is a major loss. Our deepest sympathy goes to Judith and his family.

I  had the opportunity to walk on two of the tracks which have recently been upgraded as part of the flood recovery. The  Zumsteins to McKenzie Falls, and the Beehive Falls to the plateau walks. I was extremely impressed at the work which had been done, particularly the stone work. The excellent work has resulted in very much improved walks. Congratulations to the park staff and everyone else involved.

As I write tonight the frogs are croaking and  today walking in the mountains the Scented Sundews and Early Nancies were a picture flowering  in the moss beds. Birds were singing, insects were buzzing in the wattles and all the creeks were running and it was hard to imagine being in a more beautiful environment. We are fortunate that there was such foresight in preserving  these beautiful  places in National Parks. Let us not be the ones who allow these areas to be despoiled. Please join our current campaign to prevent this current attack on the sanctity of national parks.

From our president June 2013

 I have become extremely concerned about the increasing threat to National Parks around Australia. From opening Parks up to cattle grazing in drought affected areas of Queensland to shooting of game and recommendations for logging in NSW, to the attempt at cattle grazing in alpine areas and now prospecting in Parks in Victoria. At a federal level there was an attempt to scuttle the management plans for the new Marine Parks and a statement that they will be changed with a change of government.

 I think many of us who have been involved in the movement to promote National Parks declared in areas of great natural significance, believed this was the best way to ensure that these areas would be managed to maximise the survival of their biodiversity and natural beauty for future generations to enjoy. I no longer believe that we can feel so reassured and we are required yet again to fight for the survival of our National Parks.

 

 

As members will know we have written to the relevant ministers and the Premier regarding our concerns at the proposal to allow private development in National Parks. Recently we have been approached from Friends of the Prom. to join them in a letter writing campaign to show the government that there is a ground swell of opposition to this proposal. FOGG committee agreed we should join this campaign.

 

 

Further concerns are with the Guidelines the government has approved for Tourism Investment Opportunities of Significance in National Parks.

 

While these guidelines are peppered with fine sounding words of “complements local environmental heritage”, “environmentally sensitive investment opportunities” and “ proper community consultation” The key guideline seems to be that these proposals will need to generate a “net public benefit” and yet nowhere in the document is there any attempt to explain how this is to be determined.

 

This is a five stage process

 

Stage 1. Pre Proposal Information.

 

Stage 2. Preliminary Concept assessment.

 

Stage 3. Public Notification and in principle approval by minister.

 

Stage 4. Full Proposal.

 

Stage 5. Lease Negotiation and Preparation.

 

 

This ensures that the public have no opportunity for input before the proposal is well developed in consultation with the assessment agency and the minister.

 

The public is then given 28 days to comment on “the interaction of the proposal investment opportunity with :-

 

local values and the local economy

 

local Aboriginal cultural and historical heritage

 

existing public access and use”

 

No opportunity to mention any of the environment or biodiversity concerns the public might have.

 

We would like to encourage you to get as many people as possible to use this material and the letter we have already sent to the minister to express their own concerns about this proposal (see last newsletter). There is more information available via VNPA (Victorian National Parks Association). We know one original letter counts for many form letters, and at this time believe it will be our most effective action.

Proo

 

 

Editor’s Note:

 

Just in is the news that apparently there is a serious move to apply to build a cable car from the Brambuk precinct to the Pinnacle. This idea has been floated before, but this time there is more money behind it, and of course government encouragement of this kind of development. It looks like those guidelines are going to be put to the test.

 

 

President’s Report

Our plans this year have been somewhat disrupted by the large fire, which burnt approximately 25% of the Grampians National Park in the beautiful Victoria Range on the western side. This now means 75 % of the Grampians National Park has been burnt in the last seven years. If the requirement to control burn 5% of the park annually regardless of what other burns have occurred is going to be implemented again this year, then I believe this will be of great concern to members, as soon there will be very little long-time unburnt habitat left in the park.

It was excellent to catch up with so many members at the Ian Mc.Cann reserve  for Clean Up Australia Day. Much of the rubbish that was collected had been dumped in the reserve quite a number of years ago so hopefully the reserve will remain clean with no repeat of this type of dumping in the future.

Issues which we will need to continue to be vigilant about this year are firstly the Government’s intention to allow private development in the park, See Margo’s “From the Editor” for information about the government policy release which interestingly occurred on Easter Sunday. Is it possible they didn’t want people to know about it??? Secondly the plan to sand mine and establish a tailings dump very close to the northern edge of the park, see Wendy’s article for more information.

I look forward to catching up with everyone for the walk with Ben in the Brim Springs area to explore further our indigenous heritage on Saturday 13 April. I’m sure it will be a fascinating day as previous ones have been with Ben.

Proo

AGM REPORT 2012

FOGG AGM 15th September 2012 held at McCanns Dam near Stawell.
13 members met at lunch time after our wildflower walk nearby.
Business

  1. Minutes from last AGM were circulated and passed,
  2. Proo gave her president’s report saying that things have settled down from the natural disasters experienced over the past couple of years. The big issues over the last year have been the attack on the environment by the current government and their policies. The cutting of biodiversity staff, the relaxing of rules on firewood collection, cleaning up rivers, increased burning regimes as a result of the Black Saturday Royal Commission and recently the proposed relaxing of rules to allow commercial developments within National Parks. Membership numbers have stayed about the same and we have had some good activities with good attendance during the year.
  3. In Mabel’s absence Janbert presented the treasurers report which was kindly audited by Ron Goudie free of charge. The report was accepted. Balance is $6,676.95
  4. Election of Office Bearers – All position were declared vacant, and all were elected unopposed.
  • President: Proo Pyke, (It is noted that Proo had specified that she would only be president for 2 years and this is her third year so we need to find someone new next year.)
  • Vice President: Leigh Gunn,
  • Treasurer: Mabel Brouwer,
  • Secretary: Wendy Bedggood,
  • Webmaster: Frank Vanderpeet (Subject to his acceptance) If he is too busy Korny Sietsma could also help.
  • Newsletter editor: Margo Sietsma .
  • Committee Members: Those at the meeting were co-opted to the committee with the addition of Gail Pollard. Committee:- Janbert Brouwer, Ben Gunn, Win Pietsch, Thelma Argyll, John Fisher, Alison White, Ewen Johnson, Jack Loats and Noushka Reiter.

The AGM was closed and we proceeded to a General Meeting.

General Meeting
Minutes from the meeting at Cooinda Burong on 14th January 2012.were accepted.
Business arising
Cooinda Burong, Parks would like us to continue some monitoring of large fenced areas. Proo, Margo and Wendy visited these plots and one lot of fencing is beyond repair and another requires quite a lot of work. The one we normally do the Ptilotus count in, is probably the only one worth continuing with. Ryan was going to get someone from Parks in Melbourne to come and have a look at the plots and discuss with us possibilities. Proo had asked David Lockwood who monitors Cydelia about helping with our enclosures, so she will let him know we are still unsure of what is happening yet. Margo was involved with students doing volunteer work earlier in the year and they removed fencing from smaller plots and spray painted pegs around the outside of the large Ptilotus enclosure.
New Business
Private development in parks
The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) put out a report recently. While actually suggesting that the priority for developments should be outside the parks, it said for some types of investments the park may be a superior location, opening the door for some developers to get into parks. Proo was contacted and interviewed by the ABC radio, and the Age came to Halls Gap and interviewed Margo and Dot Hoffman.
The VNPA had a couple of articles in their recent newsletter and had included a postcard for members to fill in and send to the premier. The post card opposes the opening up of parks to private development.
ACTION 1 Wendy will contact VNPA to see if we can obtain more of these postcards for our members to send off. She will also ask what other things VNPA are planning to do in opposition to these government moves. (But no more postcards were available, so we haven’t been able to distribute these)
ACTION 2 Proo will contact Will Flamstead from Halls Gap tourism to suggest that environmental groups are also represented on the sub committee steering the development of the Grampians North South walk.
ACTION 3 Proo will contact David Thompson to find out about other groups opposing the proposal.
ACTION 4 Wendy. We will start writing letters suitable to send to the papers and politicians expressing our opposition to private development in Parks. Letters to Premier, Hugh, the Age, Herald Sun and local papers.
Proo sent some comments on behalf of FOGGs, on the scoping study for the WIM 150 mine. The deadline for comments was before our AGM. (see letter on p10).
October 27th was proposed for our Red Gum walk working bee. (which didn’t go ahead, postponed to May)
Some time in last week of November we will meet at the Moco gallery for a break up and planning for next years activities.
Win and Thelma donated us a scrapbook of local newspaper cuttings from the period surrounding the opening of the Grampians National Park which had been compiled by the Stawell Field Naturalists. It makes fascinating reading. It is good to see how some of those most resistant have now become staunch advocates for the Park. We will consult with the Halls Gap History Association as to where to keep it. (Subsequent discussion : Museum Victoria are interested in scanning it and giving copies to us, the local Parks Office and the History Association).

PRESIDENT’S PIECE DECEMBER 2011

After drought, fire, flood and locust plague, many of us have been wondering what 2012 will bring. The spring of 2011 has been spectacular in the Grampians with many roadsides a blaze of colour. The response of insects, birds and frogs was also wonderful with many starting to regain their numbers from pre-drought times.

The last few months however, have seen the bush really start to dry out and when I consulted our rainfall chart I realised that when I removed the 200mm rainfall we received in January, this was our second driest year for many years. So I was just starting to settle for a hot dry summer when in the last 24 hours we received over 70 mm rain and by reports on the news Halls Gap has received even more with minor flooding occurring, and renewed road closures in the Park. So I guess what I can say about 2012 is that it will be as unpredictable as any year on this continent of drought and flooding rains.

It is wonderful news that all the major roads through the Grampians and most of the walking tracks are now open thanks to the hard work of park staff and others.

In 2012 we will need to be alert that some of the current attacks on the environment do not adversely affect the Grampians. It has to be a concern that the government is still pushing to introduce cattle into the Alpine National Park, that wood collecting is being encouraged with no concern for the potential damage to biodiversity as well as our continuing concern at the 5% target for planned burning regardless of other events in the landscape including wildfire.

Wishing all members of FOGGs a very happy Christmas and I hope to catch up with many of you at our activities in 2012.

Proo Pyke.