Category: Articles

Round Table Report – 8 Dec 2015

Wendy Bedggood

At the final Roundtable meeting for the year we were presented with the government’s response to the Inspector General for Emergency Management (IGEM) recommendations on the report into the ‘Performance Targets for the Bushfire Fuel Management Program on Public Land’ which was carried out early in 2015.

It is difficult to summarise all that was presented at the meeting but for those who want more information documents are at the website delwp.vic.gov.au/safer-together Several of our local identities star in this document.

The Main points are:

  • The focus is changing from hectare based targets to fire risk reduction targets these are more subjective and a lot harder to measure.
  • As part of the new approach, fire and land managers will work with communities to involve them in decision making about bushfire management all year round.
  • Bushfire risk levels will be different across Victoria, and will be looked at at
… Read the rest

Parks Victoria Staffing

Margo

Did you see the article in the Age on January 5? “State’s parks suffer after budget cuts”. The numbers are most distressing. “ direct funding from the state government has collapsed by37% over the past 3 years, from $122 million in 2011-12to $76.8 million in 2014-15. “ The Age report then discusses the effects of this, not only on the services and infrastructure, but on the morale of staff. It is so depressing for them.

Locally, although the money the new Peaks Trail brings in is helping with improving some of the existing tracks, the lack of funding for other important tasks, such as monitoring, rubbish collection and more is a real problem. It is something groups like ours must speak up about.… Read the rest

Sallow Wattle

Wendy

At one of our meetings with parks staff last year Ryan suggested a possible project for FOGGs would be to photo monitor some areas of Sallow wattle. In the northern Grampians there has been an explotion of Sallow wattle since the January 2014 bushfires. There had been a survey for Sallow wattle in this area back in 2013 before the fires. From this survey we had photos and GPS points that had had been taken during the survey. It was hoped we could use some of these spots to continue monitoring. However the knowledge and technology to find these spots again proved beyond my capabilities so we decided to find new points in the same areas, Rodney and Wendy went out in early December and hammered in star pickets and took photos to get the project started. People who indicated last year they wanted to be part of this … Read the rest

Book News and Reviews

As reported previously, we have been discussing the resources available to the public about our park. The VNPA asked us to make some comments on their 2005 publication “Discovering the Grampians-Gariwerd”. It has some really good information, but unfortunately so much has changed here with fires and floods since then. We have given a fairly detailed response for them to chew over. We also passed on the comment that Ian McCanns wildflower book, now out of print, was really missed.

Out next week is a publication by Horsham Historical Society “ Zumsteins – A Century of Memories”. It is big – 322 pages and over 200 photographs. The cost is $50. I have ordered one and will write a review next issue.

In the meantime, online resources and apps continue to be developed. I haven’t had a chance to have a close look but here are two of local … Read the rest

Editor’s and President’s Piece

Welcome to our Petyan edition of our newsletter. My apologies for a late and rather brief newsletter. Time has run away from me yet again and you need to get it in time. Between going to England for my son’s wedding , having the newlyweds here on a visit and preparing for the Wildflower Walkabout in Halls gap this weekend this newsletter has had little priority. Better luck next time.

We have had three group activities since the last newsletter, and the committee made a submission to Ararat Council on an application for a commercial helipad in Pomonal.

Our next activity is coming up very soon, October 17 is our AGM. Details are on the calendar page, but I do want to reiterate the importance of electing officebearers, mixing newcomers with the longer term members. FOGG has been in existence for 30 years by now and some of our committee … Read the rest

From Our Ranger In Charge

Spring has sprung in the Grampians following a cold but surprising dry period. The Parks Staff have been steadily working on a number of initiatives that are worth updating you on:

  1. Fire recovery projects continue to be rolled out, with works complete and openings occurring at Smiths Mill camp ground and the day visitor site at Hollow Mountain. Both sites bore the full brunt of the Northern Grampians fire in January 2014 and following a period of asset renewal and environmental recovery, the areas are now accessible to visitors once again.
  1. Goat Control. The environmental team have been placing some priority on targeting goats along the Mt Difficult Range, Mt William Range and Black Range State Park. Remote cameras have been deployed along with increased surveillance which targets the shooting program and creates efficiency. The program will continue for the next 4 months.
  1. Asset improvement program. Capital upgrades to Lakeview
… Read the rest

Bush Care Day (September 19)

1-leigh ZumsteinsSix adults and one child came to our Bushcare working bee at McKenzie Falls and Zumsteins. We were very pleased to be met by ranger Mark Whyte with gloves, bags and superior pick up tongs which proved most efficient. We managed to collect quite a bit, despite the initial impression being that the site was fairly clean. Mostly cigarette butts and tissues, with a few drink cans and bottles. None of the toilet paper and nappies we had found earlier in the year in Wonderland. And very little indeed on the track down to Zumsteins.

2-pykes w rubbishOne of the benefits of doing this in such a popular spot on a beautiful day in school holidays is that we were so visibly reminding people that volunteers care for the Park and that dropping rubbish is just not on. We had many expressions of thanks.

It was good to see some regrowth after … Read the rest

Published
Categorized as Articles

Camping and Fishing at Jimmy’s Creek – 1939

I received a most interesting article from one of the long term members of Stawell Field Naturalists.

“Black Friday”, the 13th January 1939, saw the Grampians burnt  from the northern end to the southern end. Although there was utter devastation, one bright side as far as my family was concerned was that now the Wannon river at Jimmy’s creek was now accessible from the Dunkeld Rd without having to bash through the thick undergrowth of bracken fern, titree etc.

In those days the Grampians were far different from today. Most people didn’t have a car and so very few of the visitors to the Grampians went further south than Myrtlebank on Dairy Creek. About the only people to frequent the area south of Myrtlebank were the forest workers/ sawmillers and those who had grazing rights. It was virtually an isolated area of peace and beauty.

Late summer 1939 Dad decided … Read the rest

Tree Clearing

Most VNPA members will be aware of the recent appalling loss of around 880 large old eucalypts as part of the duplication of the Western highway between Ballarat and Stawell. The trees were felled in the section between Beaufort and Ararat. Many of the trees had hollows used by birds and other animals.

VicRoads had approval only for the removal of the 221 trees they estimated would need to be cleared. But this did not include many more ‘scattered’ trees in the path of the road, which were felled for debatable safety reasons. Pressure from a local group, Western Highway Alternative Mindsets (WHAM), forced VicRoads to admit the mistake and revise plans for the next section to be widened, between Buangor and Ararat. The VNPA applauds WHAM members’ energy and persistence in the face of a powerful bureaucracy. The revised plans include using concrete and wire rope barriers to stop … Read the rest

Technology Supports Data Collection

Graeme Johanson reports on new ways of Collecting and sharing information about Nature.

Two new portable technologies – the digital camera and the smart phone – have changed the way in which volunteers can collect data in the field. Both technologies are used regularly by Dr Russell Best of the Australian Plants Society Victoria (APSV). When interviewed for our research project, he said that the digital camera had made a huge difference. He went on: “The other big technical

change has been the iPhone. The amount of information you can collect is phenomenal.” The phone also gives him a GPS location. More and more digital repositories collect data about nature for public use via the internet. A large group of people can collect and collate much more information than a single dedicated group of employed specialists. Every year the ‘Birds in Backyards’ survey collects data for the Birdlife Australia … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd