The AG has met once since the last newsletter, on Dec 1. Our main discussion was about the bush camping strategy as Graham indicates above. How do we balance public expectations with the environmental concerns over clearing, human waste issues, illegal fires and safety considerations?
We also congratulated Sylvia on her promotion and wished John Harris well on his retirement.
Our next meeting is the too-often deferred trip to Wilson’s Prom NP in February. We hope no fires this year.
I also represented the AG at the reopening of the Pines Plantation campground, which marked the end of all the fire recovery work.
I also attended a pre-fire season conference with Parks, DSE, CFA and Police. Stan was there too as FOGG representative. We looked at some of the autumn burns and some of Mike’s survey sites and discussed some of the issues. As the AG convenor I was there more to listen than to contribute. There is clearly still no consensus, but I hope a growing respect for the importance of the natural values of the Park. However, outside the Park is of growing concern to me personally, with several people voicing strong criticism of the CMA’s role in extending roadside reserves with calls for more tree clearing along roads.