Encouraging and educating people to understand and enjoy, while conserving, the Grampians Gariwerd National Park.
Halls Gap Tourism have approached GWMWater seeking permission to reinstate the swimming area near the toilets at Lake Bellfield, opposite Silverband Falls Rd. Before the long drought it was very popular. But then the water receded and, as it did so, trees (mainly wirilda) colonised the bank. Then as the dam refilled, the trees all died. GWM asked the HG group to check what we thought, and your committee had no objections.
The 100 Year celebration of Zumsteins will be held on Sunday 22 September 2013 at Zumsteins Picnic Ground in the Grampians National Park. The day will be also a celebration for the restoration works that has happened since the 2011 flood and storm event.
A small group have come together from the local community, the Horsham Historical Society, Wartook Tourism Association and Parks Victoria to plan for this special day. They would like to invite anybody who has enjoyed or has a strong association to the area, to come and celebrate this much-loved place created over one hundred years ago by Walter Zumstein. The celebrations begin at 10.30am with a number of speakers and displays bringing to life the many memories of the area, and of Walter Zumstein and his family. There will also be many activities such as a community bike ride from Rosebrook, a community picnic and children’s … Read the rest
Fish Falls Walking Track Reopens for the June Long Weekend
In a significant milestone for the Grampians Flood Recovery Program, Parks Victoria advises that the MacKenzie River Walk between Zumsteins Picnic Area and Fish Falls has re-opened.
This walk sustained extensive damage during the January 2011 floods that impacted the Grampians region. Works have been completed along the entire length of the track to reduce ongoing maintenance and improve the experience for visitors.
While the restoration of Zumsteins Picnic Area continues, visitors are advised to park in the car park at the western end of the picnic area and following the directional signs. These signs will guide visitors across the MacKenzie River, past the three Pise Cottages and along a new section of walking track before linking with the original MacKenzie River Walk.
The section of walking track between Fish Falls and MacKenzie Falls will be open in late … Read the rest
On 4th May four of us met at the car park and made our way along the track, clearing the track of debris, and pruning overhanging vegetation. The first part of the track was in good condition but towards the end of the track the path was less defined. We cleared the track as best we could in preparation for some more gravel to be laid. The weather was very pleasant and we explored around the end of the track for a possible loop extension to the track, now that the large red gum is no longer the reward at the end of the track, having been burnt in the 2006 fires.
WB.
A good turn-out on a cool autumn to walk into the wilds and try to find some rock shelters with Aboriginal art. Despite getting lost on the way in … purely because the old fire line from 30 years ago, that somebody said you could drive a Corolla along, was now completely overgrown … we found ourselves together again and we met up at one of the sites. Crowded around a small overhang where nobody could see anything, a bearded bloke said we were looking at Aboriginal rock art. Where? …but when we looked, sure enough there were a few red marks….Yes, and possibly even stick figures. Hard to see but, although it looked as if some of them could fall off any minute, we were assured it had been like that for that same 30 years. Stained into the rock, it had been there for nobody knows how long, … Read the rest
Fish Falls Walking Track Reopens for the June Long Weekend
In a significant milestone for the Grampians Flood Recovery Program, Parks Victoria advises that the MacKenzie River Walk between Zumsteins Picnic Area and Fish Falls has re-opened. This walk sustained extensive damage during the January 2011 floods that impacted the Grampians region. Works have been completed along the entire length of the track to reduce ongoing maintenance and improve the experience for visitors.
While the restoration of Zumsteins Picnic Area continues, visitors are advised to park in the car park at the western end of the picnic area and following the directional signs. These signs will guide visitors across the MacKenzie River, past the three Pise Cottages and along a new section of walking track before linking with the original MacKenzie River Walk.
The section of walking track between Fish Falls and MacKenzie Falls will be open in … Read the rest
After the discussion at the two advisory group meetings, I wrote the letter below to several local politicians, with copies to DSE and Parks. I sent it as an individual, not as Advisory group nor as a Foggie.
I am writing to you over my deep concern as to some unforeseen consequences of the burn targets set after the Bushfire Royal Commission. I am not at this point commenting on the targets themselves, but on how wildfires and different suppression activities are not taken into account.
The recent fire in the Grampians highlights the problem. The fire burnt through 28,920 hectares, almost one fifth of the park’s 168,110 hectares, of which 15,000 hectares was planned to be burnt this year. And this only 7 years after the Mt Lubra fires, so that now only one third of the Park’s vegetation is more than 7 years old. Yet under the … Read the rest
The group has met twice this year. The first meeting was a combined meeting with the Round Table, and the second was a stand alone meeting.
The meeting with the Round Table group on 9 April was interesting. I was there wearing two hats, substituting for Wendy as FOGG rep, and as Advisory Group convenor. Wendy was unable to attend, but has been keeping me up to date on what has been happening. The meeting specifically focused on the recent Victoria Valley Complex Fire which impacted on private property and National Park Estate. It looked at the fire, its impact, the response and recovery processes. It was also going to discuss the implications on our burning program which is of particular relevance to the Advisory Group, but ran out of time.
Attending the meeting were Graham Parkes and Russell Manning who were both Incident Controllers throughout the fire … Read the rest
Official wildlife database records are poor when attempting to understand the historic habitat ranges of many wildlife species. This creates difficulties when investigating the potential for large-scale fauna restoration opportunities across landscapes such as the Grampians. Common questions arise; What species used to occur in the landscape? How abundant were they? What was there habitat preference? Why did they go extinct?
My search started when comparing the data of previous small mammal captures by Seebeck1 in the 1970’s, or Cockburn2 in the 1980’s with recent small mammal trapping in the Grampians3. It is clear that species such as Long Nosed Potoroo, Southern Brown Bandicoot and Smokey Mouse have declined. This is in addition to the species already locally extinct such as White Footed Rabbit Rat, Southern Bettong, Western Barred Bandicoot and New Holland Mouse found by Wakefield4 in the 1960’s in Grampians cave deposits … Read the rest
Research Projects: There is an impressive list of projects being undertaken at the moment: birds, aquatic creatures, small mammals, importance of unburnt patches, Chytrid fungus survey of frogs, cinnamon fungus research, impact of sallow wattle infestations. To take just one of the research projects that has been borne out of the 2012 Grampians Bioscan, demonstrating the direct management benefits of our Museum Victoria and Parks Victoria partnership/relationship. It will assist us to understand the re-colonisation of Smoky Mice after a significant disturbance event such as the February 2013 Fire Complex. The research provides us with a unique opportunity to learn and adapt our fire regimes and predator control program to help protect this species. The project is funded by Museum Victoria with in-kind and material support from the Grampians Ark program. There’s some great pictures and further information on:
http://museumvictoria.com.au/about/mv-blog/may-2013/smoky-mice-in-the-grampians/
Brushtail Rock Wallaby update Autumn health check trapping… Read the rest
