Meeting report on Parks Talk by Sarah Cole in February 2025 about the Fires

Parks Victoria Meeting 

Date: February 7th Location: Brambuk, Halls Gap The National Park and Cultural Centre

  1. Brush Tailed Rock Wallabies
  • Population: 60 animals across two sites in Victoria
  • Reintroduction: Since 2008
  • Recent post fire Feeding Operations:
    • 5 aerial operations using helicopters
    • Drone attempts were unsuccessful
  1. Deer and Pest Control
  • Animals Controlled:
    • 10 foxes
    • 30 red deer
    • 3 out of 4 Sambar
  1. Feeding Programs for Other Animals
  • Heath Mouse
  • River Blackfish:
    • Depend on hollow logs in rivers for spawning and hiding
    • Relocation Efforts – farm dams
  • Agile Antechinus
  • Long nosed Potoroo
  • Southern Brown Bandicoot
  1. Shelter Pods:
    • Purchased by DEECA
    • Monitored by Deakin University
    • 160 installed across two sites (80 pods per site)
    • Clusters: 16 pods × 5 locations
    • Monitoring: 2 cameras per cluster
  1. Small Mammal Trapping Program:
    • Conducted by Dr John White (Deakin University)

Funding: Possible funding for a team dedicated to fire recovery

Pest Plants

  1. Sallow Wattle:

Issues :

  • Regenerates over large areas 6 months post-fire.
  • Seen at Golton Gorge and Barigar Campground

Control Methods:

  • Seeding with Correa and Lasiopetalum macrophyllum
  • Mulching sallow wattle to help native species recruitment
  • hand pullling and cutting

Challenges:

  1. Damage to soil by staff vehicles during mulching.
  2. Deer eating regeneration
  3. Funding for control post this fire

Monitoring:

    1. Aerial monitoring difficult to identify A mucronate from A longifolia species.
    2. Therefore focusing on EVC at risk locations and ranking sites
    3. Sallow wattle follows the creeks
  1. Kunzea leptospermoides Yarra Burgan:
    • Management:
      • Will VicRoads manage it along Grampians Tourist Road
      • Halls Gap Landcare Group are taking a lead role and recording sites in area
      • Needs early removal post-fire (1-2 years) and to get on top of it before it seeds.
    • Concerns:
      • Invasion and colonization crowding out other species
      • Fire fuel risks as it burns well and throws flames up
    • Research:
      • Taxonomy and classification efforts to determine where it comes from
      • If it is an invasive introduced weed then this can be controlled by Councils under legislation

Community Involvement and Support

  • Thanks to: Halls Gap Landcare Group, Friends of Grampians Gariwerd, Australian Plants Society Grampians Group and Project Platypus

Funding needed for a Grampians Gariwerd Parks Volunteer Coordinator