Category: Articles

FOGGS FUNGAL FORAY (13th June 2021)

By Leigh Douglas.

At our last meeting, we were privileged to have Win Pietsch teach us about the problems and fun of fungi identification, and to learn that many do not have common names and have yet to be identified   – what a privilege, to learn from such a scientific, experienced and enthusiastic teacher.

12 of us met at the Halls Gap Botanic Gardens, and Win had us all inspired; she gave us a brief overview of Australian fungi and their properties, bringing along a whole library of fungi books that she spread over the table, plus some exceptional specimens of fungi unlikely to be found in the Gardens.

Fungi are different from other plants; most of the ‘non-plant’ is underground, we only see the fruiting bodies, very useful for our identification and their procreation! Preferred habitats, seasons, classification, ecology and habitat, edibility, the importance (and beauty) of spore prints … Read the rest

FOGG excursion to Moora Moora Reservoir (Saturday 10/7/2021)

By Andrew Cunningham

A special day was had by 11 of us ably led by Ross Simpson, whom we met at Moora Moora Reservoir at 10 am last Saturday. The weather was amazing, and probably Ross could take no credit for that! Those of us from Stawell took off in thick fog to be greeted a few kms from Halls Gap by gorgeous sun and clarity. On the descent down onto the Victoria Valley from Mt Victory, there was still heavy frost on the shady south side. It was quite an amazing entry to Moora Moora where we met in the sunshine.

When we did the short stroll up onto the reservoir wall, which I am thinking was built in the early 1900s as part of the Wimmera Mallee channel system, we had a superb vista. The mist had lifted from the south side of Moora Moora so the Serra … Read the rest

ADVISORY GROUP MEETING 13 MAY 2021

The meeting started with Rhonda’s acknowledgement of country.

Next Derek Sandow spoke about his experiences working on the Yorke peninsular and about cats.

We then discussed the challenges facing the park; both short term – especially politics – but also long term eg climate change, the fact that DELWP funding is only 1 year at a time which makes research projects etc difficult. Should we contact PV Board? How?

GPT update: They are still airlifting materials into the campgrounds. The trail from the North to Hg is nearly finished, needs more work on Bugiga campground (about 1 month’s work). 4 new staff have been appointed. Several day walks now open: Cascades, Lake Wartook LO to HG. Stony Ck campground nearly finished. Lots of work being done at Mt Sturgeon; some bits being re-aligned to save money.

Opening date is set for Spring 2021. Still working on signage for the trail. … Read the rest

ADVISORY GROUP MEETING – JUNE 29, 2021 Peaks Trail and McKenzie Falls

Present: Eight AG members plus quite a few park staff in addition to the GPT staff. We went in mixed groups of AG members and staff in each car.

The morning was very cold, heavy mist. First stop was the group camp site on Stony Ck Rd which is still under construction but close to finished. We first looked at the platforms erected for the tent sites. Rather different to the ones I had seen at the Bugiga camp site. They have a new arrangement to assist in tying the tents down. Also a metal plate so a fuel stove is not on the wooden base. Next the outdoor sitting are with a long table and seats, designed to make removing them very difficult. Then we went on to the large group meeting spot. It has large perspex windows (we were told there is a good view from the end … Read the rest

Concerns Increase over the Too Frequent Burning of our Bush

By Neil R Marriott

In an interesting feature article in the June ‘Parkwatch’, Phil Ingamells states that “evidence against Victoria’s fuel reduction program is clear, yet burns are increasing. Calls for a pause and re-assessment of fire management are growing louder”. The most alarming result of “fuel reduction” burning is often fuel production burning!

The next most alarming thing is that the state government department that plans and performs those burns does no monitoring of what actually happens afterwards. Anyone marketing a car, a vaccine, or building cladding would be expected to know how it performs over time, whether it’s safe, and, of course, if it actually works. However, Victoria’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) doesn’t return to the site of its fuel reduction burns and record what has eventuated – not after one year, not two or, most importantly, not a decade or so into the … Read the rest

A New Weed Species to watch out for – Kunzea leptospermoides

(adapted from the Project Platypus Newsletter)

Project Platypus is working closely with Halls Gap and surrounding communities to control the spread of Kunzea leptospermoides (Yarra Burgan) and the threat it imposes on the Grampians National Park and surrounding reserves.

Kunzea leptospermoides

Yarra burgan (Kunzea leptospermoides, previously K. ericoides) is a tall (2-5 [<15]m) native shrub originating from eastern Victoria and the NSW coastal hinterland. It is not indigenous to Halls Gap or the Grampians National Park. Yarra Burgan was introduced to the region as an ornamental garden plant and has since spread forming dense thickets which are a biodiversity threat and fire hazard.

Yarra burgan was initially thought to be a similar species, Kunzea ericoides, from New Zealand, but studies revealed it as an Australian native. It is a highly successful species in part due to changes in climate and hybridization. Yarra burgan looks very similar to the … Read the rest

Sisters Rocks handed back to Traditional Owners

SISTERS ROCKS

One of Stawell’s natural landmarks is set to change hands after the Northern Grampians Shire Council moved to return the Sisters Rock site to traditional owners at their April meeting on Monday.

The council voted to move and accept the recommendation to transfer the Sisters Rocks site to the Victorian Government, who will then decide the appropriate public body to determine the management arrangements and associated funding for the land.

As part of the process the council also had the assurance that the transfer of ownership will not affect the Western Highway Duplication (Ararat to Stawell) project.

“From the Council’s perspective it would be a powerful act of reconciliation that we can perform on behalf of the community in recognising indigenous culture”.

The land will be returned to the WJJWJ Peoples as part of the Traditional Owners Settlement Act 2010 (Vic) (TOS Act).

Sisters Rocks are a culturally … Read the rest

From the Editor

Welcome to our Autumn issue. Apologies that it is a bit late and has very short notice of our event next week, and it has no timetable of future activities. We may be doing so well against Covid compared to the rest of the world, but that certainly doesn’t mean smooth progress. Rules, rules. Plus, the pressures on staff with the management plan being due out soon, some illness in our committee and here we are!

In addition to group meetings, we are hoping to help Parks with some individual projects. Some of us have committed to updating some of the visitor information sheets, and we hope to assist in digitising the herbarium samples that were mostly collected by Ian McCann and the Stawell Field Naturalists. If you are one of those who volunteered to do these, how are you going? Do let Hannah know.

We would love to have … Read the rest

2021 May PRESIDENT’S REPORT or, as Rodney dubbed it, PREZ SEZ

Welcome to FOGG’s 1st newsletter for 2021, and to an action-packed year of activities …. except the action has been very slow to start with; post-Covid, health problems within the committee, computer glitches – and as Margo said, time pressure on Parks staff. We apologise for the lateness of notification of events so far, but I am providing a provisional calendar for the rest of the year (see below); although none of these activities have yet been approved by Parks. As soon as this happens, you will all be notified.

We have had two outings so far this year, with our third coming up on Saturday 8th May. After all the Restrictions last year, it has been wonderful to gather together again, see each other, welcome new members, and share our interests and knowledge.

Our February event, finding and looking at reptiles, led by David Steane (who has … Read the rest

UPDATE from the Parks Victoria Grampians Team May 2021

FROM RHONDA, OUR CHIEF RANGER, UPDATE from the Grampians Team

What a different Easter from last year back to full capacity so a busy time for all our team. One of our growing issues is waste management and this has unfortunately increased we believe over Covid due to the feeling of safety that comes with disposable items. But where to dispose of them. This Easter we placed a skip bin at Plantation Campground as in past years this is the campground where we have had the most rubbish left in bags at trees. Well, it certainly worked as the photo shows with the entire skip bin full and three large tandem trailer loads all around it. What to do is our next question as this is not sustainable with our budget.

Last week saw the departure of Derek Sandow. Derek was acting in the Team Leader Environment position and prior … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd