Articles – Page 51 – Friends of Grampians Gariwerd

Insects around us February 25

One of the great advantages of joining groups like FOGG is that you meet wonderful resource people like Denis Crawford who knows more about insects than most of us will ever find out. Our FOGG excursion on this topic taught us to be more observant when we walk in the bush.

Denis and Jenny live in Pomonal, only a stone’s throw from the Grampians on a bush block. The block got ravaged in the 2006 bush fire that engulfed the house, but miraculously the house was not touched. The Crawfords moved there after the fire and have seen the vegetation being transformed into a new look, with some pioneering plants dominating in first instance.

We had quite a good turn up of members. (see various photos from the day on our website) Wandering around the block we did not have to go far to meet all the little creatures that … Read the rest

Ptilotus erebescens count at Cooinda Burrong January 8

A hot threatening day saw ten of us hard at work at our project of counting the flowerheads of this unusual plant. When the monitoring began here back in 1987, the plant was listed as endangered. It has now been ‘downgraded’ but is still a listed plant of interest.
Stan Parfett had always organised these monitoring days and to our embarrassment we learned that we hadn’t paid as much attention as we should have. So it took some time to get ourselves going. Since 1997 we have been comparing the actual flower heads (not just the individual plants) in various patches; some out in the open, some protected by small cages, some in a large ‘exclude just rabbits’ area, some in a large ‘exclude large animals’ area, and some in a ‘exclude all grazers’ area.
After the wet spring and early summer we were hopeful of a good crop, and … Read the rest

LETTERS TO POLITICIANS

Letter emailed in March:
The Grampians experienced severe and extensive damage to its infrastructure during the unseasonal rain event on January 13 and much of this damage will not be repaired or replaced for years and in some cases will never be repaired. It took the park over four years to have infrastructure replaced and repaired after the bushfire of 2006 (which burnt 48% of the park). The difference between 2006 and this event, is that in 2006 the fire was an isolated event, whereas this event has been only one of a large number of flood events vying for government money to repair its infrastructure. We are concerned the recovery from this event will take a lot longer than the 2006 bushfire and the effects this will have on local businesses and the natural values of the park.
The local business people relying on tourism may struggle to keep … Read the rest

General Meeting Friday February 11 & Committee meeting April 8.

Twelve members were able to attend a weekday meeting at Halls Gap. Before lunch we had a presentation from some of the parks staff on the damage inflicted on the parks infrastructure during the rain event of the 13th January. The pictures and descriptions of the task ahead for VicRoads and Parks staff can only be described as mind boggling. Dave Roberts the new Ranger in Charge joined the meeting towards the end and answered many questions and discussed issues that lie ahead. At this point in time he could not think of any specific things FOGGS can do to help, but as further assessments are made and the tasks ahead are clearer, there may be things we can assist with. We then made our way to Brambuk for lunch and discussion.
The FOGG committee met again on April 8 to follow up on the ideas, and other business.
Business:… Read the rest

FLOOD UPDATES FROM PARKS AND VICROADS

So much to report I hardly know what to put in and what not. There’s news from PV and news from VICROADS.

PARK UPDATE
The first step after an event like this is asset assessment – what’s damaged, and is it covered by insurance? This needs a specialised team, and is now about 70% complete. A lot of the costs are not insurable, such as all the signs advising of closures, the huge maintenance needed on areas receiving much higher use etc. Bolte highway is being graded daily, they start at one end then go back and start again.
After assessing the damage, they look at opening areas in stages, in consultation with all the other partners (VICROADS, CMAs, shires etc) and having regard to safety, environmental and cultural heritage.
Most of the worst damage is in the Wonderland and Mt William range areas, although the Zumsteins picnic area was … Read the rest

WELCOME RYAN DUFFY

We at FOGGS heartily welcome Ryan Duffy back to our park. Ryan is replacing Mike Stevens as Team Leader Natural Values. I asked Ryan to introduce himself:

Hello FOGG members, my name is Ryan Duffy and I am the new Program Coordinator for Biodiversity and Heritage at the Grampians / Gariwerd.
I distinctly remember my first interview for a job at the Grampians in 2004. I was sitting in my Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) uniform in Brisbane staring at a video camera talking to Prue Daley and Graham Parkes in Melbourne, pretending to guide a sight impaired person through an interpretive experience with a stuffed echidna. Sounds strange, it certainly was! Fortunately for me soon after I was offered the interpretive ranger role.
One reason I loved being an interpretive ranger is it provides free licence to learn as much about a location as you can in order … Read the rest

FROM THE PARK DESK April 2011

Grampians National Park – An Update – David Roberts
Despite the challenges we face with floods and the evolving recovery program, some excellent news has presented itself over the past few months with the commencement of a number of key staff. As mentioned below, Ryan Duffy fills the shoes left behind by Mike Stevens and will bring a new flare, passion and commitment to the job. We also welcome 2 new additional staff to our team as part of our Fire Operations delivery. Emily Barnes and Jonathan Almond commenced with Parks Victoria at Halls Gap in early March 2011 and haven’t stopped since. Emily and Jonathan will assist us in our fire program including burning, preparations, monitoring and providing leadership for the seasonal fire fighter workforce.
We have been busy delivering an increased burn program in the Grampians and Reserves over the past 8 weeks, taking advantage of mild and … Read the rest

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

While the National Park staff have been working hard to open up as much of the Grampians as quickly as possible the news is not good.
The discovery of another land slip above Zumsteins has meant the Northern Grampians Road even as far as MacKenzie Falls will not be open for Easter.
The road and track to Silverband falls is planned to be open and will give people an excellent opportunity to see the extent of the damage to the park.
It was disturbing to see how quickly money could be found to help Wilson’s Promontory when no extra help had been given to the Grampians. Money was not even offered to fill the three permanent staff positions which are currently vacant. Our concerns e-mailed to the Premier (see p5) did result in a phone call from the Premier and a commitment to come and look at the difficulties that … Read the rest

FROM THE EDITOR, APRIL 2011

Thanks once again to our USA based artist Cynthia for the honeybee. It’s a blue-banded bee. Cynthia writes: When looking up what the local bee species are I was utterly charmed to discover blue-banded bees and their habit of sleeping in groups, clinging with their mouths to little plant stems; and also found a scientific paper saying that using blue-banded bees as tomato pollinators results in 11-21% larger tomatoes. So this is Amegilla chlorocyanea with a tomato flower. This is the first time I’ve drawn a bee, so hopefully it’s up to snuff and doesn’t horrify any entomologists. 🙂
We’re very happy with our blue-banded bee Cynthia, and hope the research project successfully demonstrates that there’s no need to import bumblebees to support our horticultural industries.
Much of this newsletter is taken up with flood recovery issues. The last newsletter came out very soon after the event, and we spoke … Read the rest

AUTUMN NEWSLETTER 2011

GWANGEL MORRON – season of honeybees
Mid March to early June

IN THIS ISSUE
NEWS FLASH
President’s Report
From the Park Desk
Welcome Ryan Duffy
Flood Updates
Fogg Meeting Reports
Political Correspondence
Activity Reports
Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies Update
Advisory Group report
Various Snippets
Natural Values News reports
Beyond the Smoke Books
Website News
Poetry Corner
Email address request
Activity Calendar … Read the rest