Category: Articles

Stawell Field Naturalists Films

11 December 2016

As we reported in June and September we have been using three RMIT students to document the work of the Stawell Field Naturalists and, in particular, the legacy of Ian McCann. The students worked on the documents preserved by the Stawell Historical Society and filmed interviews with long time members and people who had worked with them. So in December we invited them to present their work.

After a chapter of accidents, amusing in hindsight but tense at the time, the quite large audience managed to look at two films: one on the Field Naturalists generally, and one on Ian McCann. The students had struggled somewhat with such a wet year and some recording issues, but the films were well received, particularly the Ian McCann one. There is still more footage which we hope can be edited into another film or two. Plus there are some very … Read the rest

Advisory Group – Oct 2016 and Nov 2016

The AG has met twice since our last newsletter.

20 October

Well, not really an AG meeting, but we were part of the annual fire conference. The main theme of the presentations was the ten years since the Mt Lubra fire: what had been learnt, what was different now, new challenges. Then we went out to look at some of the challenges surrounding the current fire plan. Some of the same material was presented at the Roundtable meeting that Wendy reports on in this newsletter, so I’ll try to be brief.

Police Superintendent Paul Margetts, who was stationed in Halls Gap in 2006 but has since been promoted to a senior position in Horsham, gave us a most appropriate quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also unique for their apparent … Read the rest

Round Table Report – Nov 2016

The last Roundtable meeting for the year was held on 30th November and its focus was the upcoming planned burns.

There are several strategic burns planned to manage fuel loads and reduce bushfire risk for the Halls Gap community. In order to carry out these burns there will be a significant impact on the tourist industry and residents of Halls Gap.

There are a number of fires planned to be carried out over a couple of years and done in a way to give a patchwork effect on the bush and at the same time reduce the overall fuel loads. There was a lot of discussion on the lack of real time information on planned burns and how the lack of warning can impact on tourist operators. There needs to be a better way of getting information out to those in the tourist industry as well as the public. … Read the rest

Kookaburra Awards

FOGGs were represented at the bi-ennial awards presented by Parks Victoria for the western half  of the state.

It was good to see recognition for outstanding work by several more or less local folk.

  • The late Bernie Fox received a lifetime achievement award for a huge amount of work, including Mallee Fowl protection activities in the Little Desert area;
  • Dr  David Stratton for the Trailrider and Sherpa programme to help disabled people get out into the parks; and,
  • Advisory Group member Tracey Skinner for her years of work at Arapiles.

… Read the rest

Harrow Residents Looking for Callistemon wimmerensis

A MESSAGE received on our Facebook Page:
Hi’ The small town of Harrow has a small population of Callistemon wimmerensis growing in the streamside reserves of the Glenelg river, a group of Harrow residents would like to visit the site where much larger populations of this rare species exist, from our research this location was Wonwondah East, with plants established on the west banks of the McKenzie creek. This group of mostly older persons are keen to obtain about access to site and receive some directions to site, we look forward to your reply.

I’m pleased to report that a bit of local co-operation was able to give them directions to a good location.

By the way there are several specimens in the Grampians Flora Botanic Garden in Halls Gap.… Read the rest

Editor’s Piece

Our next activity is coming up very soon, Sunday October 16 – a wildflower walk near Lake Fyans to which we are inviting people who have come to the lake to celebrate its 100th birthday. Our AGM was to have been October 15 but due to a host of problems with getting this newsletter ready we have postponed it to November. Details for October 16 and November 19  are on the calendar page, but I do want to emphasise the importance of our AGM where we will be electing officebearers, hoping to continue with mixing newcomers and longer term members. It is vital that we ensure that we remain relevant to both our longterm members and newcomers.

Please note that if you have not renewed your membership your period of grace has expired and this will be your last newsletter. Our Park needs Friends in so many areas. We … Read the rest

2016 October Prez Sez

It’s been an action packed time in the Grampians lately.

Snow, Rain, floods, spring and everything that goes with it.

It’s always a great time of year, seeing young coming out of the pouch, flowers blooming, and plant growth you can see if you watch for a moment. I love it. It’s a great time to be out and about. In the natural world!

The FOGGs are facilitating a project to document the history and work of the founding members of the Stawell Field Naturalists Club. Names familiar to us like Ian McCann, Win Pietch, Dave Munro and others. The plan is to interview them, their families and their colleagues in arms, or to make use of previously recorded interviews. Filming these people in their homes, or in the environment they dedicated their time to studying and learning about. We have a group of 3 very enthusiastic people, who are … Read the rest

From Our Rangers

The last few weeks have been so frantic for our ranger staff. The very welcome rain has also brought with it many road closures and delays to planned works due to open for the school holidays. So I haven’t been game to ask Dave Roberts to write something this time, but I do have reports from Tammy and Ryan.

From Tammy Schoo: 

Well its certainly been a wet Spring! Parks Staff have been busy throughout the past few weeks assessing impacts from heavy rainfall, ensuring closures are in place for public safety, repairing immediate safety issues and working to pull together timely information updates for communities and businesses. At this stage the rain is set to continue so we would ask all locals and visitors to be aware of the following:

The parks unsealed road network is very soft. In some areas heavy rain and fast flowing water has caused … Read the rest

Consultation Seems To Be The New Fashion

Rodney has already talked about the local consultation he and Bill attended, but wait, there’s more:

Did you take part in  a web survey “Join the conversation about Strengthening Parks Victoria”? It has now closed – the time frame was extremely short and it was not well publicised. I tried to put in my 2c worth but I see from the website that my story is there but not my plea for better funding. (It seemed to be for individuals not groups, so no FOGG response). Here is a little about the survey:
“ Victoria has one of the most comprehensive parks systems in the world, spanning a total
of 18 per cent of the state, including land and sea, and supporting citizens and visitors.
Strengthening Parks Victoria is a project about celebrating the spectacular landscapes,
habitats and places we have managed for nearly 20 years, and understanding how we… Read the rest

Fire And Climatic Extremes Shape Mammal Distributions In A Fire-Prone Landscape

Ryan Duffy has sent me a paper recently published in Diversity and Distributions.  It is too long and detailed to include here but most thought provoking. The authors include Susannah Hale who spoke to us earlier in the year. If you would like to read the whole document I can email it to you, but I am giving you the abstract and then a few more details.
Fire and climatic extremes shape mammal distributions in a fire-prone landscape

The Grampians Fire and Biodiversity Project is a collaboration between Deakin University, Charles Sturt University and Parks Victoria. The team is interested in the ability of land management to enhance the capacity of the Grampians ecosystem to cope with and recover from changes in climate
and disturbance regimes.

ABSTRACT
Aim: Extreme climatic events and large wildfires are predicted to increase as the world’s climate warms. Understanding how they shape species’ distributions … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd