Category: 2014

NATURAL VALUES NEWS

Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby

        The Moora Creek colony population has been stable for almost a year (touch wood), the last mortality was in April last year. The population is currently 7 animals. Images are retrieved weekly from a series of remote cameras that have been deployed through the release site. Image attached, female 82 who is our longest surviving wallaby (close to 8 years old!). Individual wallabies can be identified from the colour or pattern of their radio-tracking collar antennae and ear-tag.

 Quoll

      Further remote camera images have been obtained of a spotted-tail quoll. The quoll has now been detected on four separate occasions, all at the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby colony location. Parks Victoria is attempting to gain a hair-follicle sample from the quoll in order to determine where it has come from. To achieve this rangers have established cage-traps adjacent to the rock-wallaby colony and will trap periodically, will establish hair-tubes within … Read the rest

ADVISORY GROUP REPORT Monday 18th March 2014

 

 

Advisory Group Meeting Minutes

 

Much of our meeting was of course fire related as we came to terms with the intensity of the fire and the damage done. But we first had a few items of business arising from the December meeting.

 

1. Recruitment process for Advisory Group:advertisements will go in local papers very soon, calling for expressions of interest. Procedures for forming a Traditional Owner Reference Group are nearing completion.

 

2. Camping:Asbestos at Staplyton campground is being cleaned up this week. Staplyton will be included in the Online booking system being rolled out. However Staplyton campground doesn’t easily align with the Grampians Peak Trail. A second campground in the Northern part of the Park would be desirable. Coppermine could be changed from an informal campground into a formal one or a private sector could run a campground on the edge of the Park whether … Read the rest

APRIL 3: Meeting at Parks Office

 

 

About a dozen people met in the Mural room and Mike Stevens and Ryan Duffy gave us an update on park activities.

 

Mike explained in much detail the events of the January Northern Grampians Complex fire. On Jan 15 several lightening strikes started fires across the Grampians, Parks, CFA and DEPI staff worked hard to put these fires out, but inaccessibility and bad weather lead to a couple of fires in the Wartook area not being able to be controlled. Mike described to us how events unfolded and showed us a program called Phoenix Rapidfire which illustrated how the fire progressed. The program had been used during the fire to predict the fire behaviour and to give people warning of the likely path it would affect. Phoenix Rapidfire was developed after the 2006 bushfires and has been improved each year as more information from each fire season … Read the rest

MARCH 4th FOGGs Working Bee – Our contribution to Keep Australia Beautiful

IMG_1244

Have you heard of Therma-Gel? Thanks to David Thompson’s foresight and planning, including research into this product, and Judith and Rodney’s hard work, their house was saved from the Wartook fires; a thorough spraying with Therma-Gel kept it from burning, even though unsprayed objects on the verandah were melted and burnt.

Once on, it has to come off! 6 of us met to remove the dried coating from windows, door frames and whatever, and to help in any way possible. To remove the Therma-Gel from windows, it was found easiest to wet it first with a broom, then scrape it off with a window-cleaner squeegee. Lots of rehydrated gooey stuff was disposed of around the garden. Thanks to Will and Proo bringing a tank of water this was achieved, to the welcome accompaniment of birdsong from the considerable number that have returned to the area.

Unfortunately there was nothing we … Read the rest

SUMMER ACTIVITIES CANCELLED

 JANUARY 23 – 28: The Field Naturalists Fauna Survey Group were to be doing some surveys here on the Australia Day weekend but the fires prevented it. Rescheduled for the June long weekend.

 

FEBRUARY 8 Two short walks in Halls Gap, looking at the flood recovery work. Also canceled due to being a Total Fire ban day.

 … Read the rest

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 

The Victorian Environment Friends Network Committee has belatedly become aware that the Friends of Grampians Gariwerd lost a very devoted member on August 6 when David Thompson passed away. He was well known for his great commitment to the Friends and the spirited contribution he gave to the issues he felt were important.

We apologise for the lateness of these condolences and hope that the FOGG and David’s family will accept our sympathy. David’s name will be placed in The Friends Network Memorial Book … Read the rest

Weather report

 

It is still so dry here. Parts of the Park are looking quite stressed, and hot windy days are still scary.

Halls Gap received 23.0mm for March bringing the progressive total to 65.0mm,this compares to the same period last year with a progressive total of 88.0mm, and we thought that was dry!

Pomonal FOGG member Phil Williams has been recording the rainfall at his place since 1980 and says that should be long enough to discern some trends. The most obvious feature of the graph is the large variability from year to year.

From the lowest, 346mm in 1982, to the highest, 1080mm in 1992. This variability means that the ‘average’ annual rainfall is no use in predicting how much rain is likely in any one year. Also it makes it difficult to discern any trends. We can even out this variability by looking at a decade at … Read the rest

Grampians National Park – An Update – David Roberts April 2014

 

The Grampians National Park has had more than its fair share natural disasters. The recent history is compelling with 3 major landscape scale bushfires in 8 years (2006, 2013, 2014, totalling 87% of the park) as well as record floods and landslides in 2011. In dollar terms, the cost of reinstating destroyed assets over the past 8years is fast approaching $10million, the cost however to our environmental and cultural values is more difficult to measure, and requires specific expertise, short, medium and longer term monitoring to understand the impacts negative and/or positive.

 Any impact in the Grampians from landscape scale events is felt hard by the local tourism industry. Annually, the Grampians National Park directly and indirectly contributes an estimated $400million into the Regional economy of Western Victoria(GT 2014). The Park is one of the most popular tourism destinations outside of Melbourne and the 12 Apostle and … Read the rest

President’s Report

 

This time last year we had an excellent article from Wendy on how we as a committee have to work out which issues we should lobby on, and which we do as private citizens. It is still so relevant today. (You can find it on our website). Our priority is always the issues which affect our Grampians National Park. These may be issues also affecting other Parks or may be ones unique to the Grampians.

 

Our committee is particularly worried about the attitude of both our federal and State governments towards the environment . Both seem intent on watering down most of the legislation which currently protects our environment. There are so many examples from all over the country- it is really depressing. Too many national parks already, “abolishing red tape” on vegetation protection etc, re-introducing cattle into the Alpine National Park …. the list goes on and … Read the rest

Editorial April 2014 Newsletter

 

Greetings from the still so very dry Grampians. And fire ravaged yet once again. The January fires have burnt much of the northern section of the Park. Our Park staff have had a torrid time, and now face months of hard work. We offer them our sympathy and our thanks. In Dave Robert’s piece you will see just what a huge task they have ahead of them.

 

It has also severely impacted several of our FOGG members. Judith Thompson, Bill and Hennie Neve, Ewen Johnson, Rob Lucas and Bonnie Carter and others all had the fire roar through their properties and lost sheds and equipment. One member (Rodney Thompson) lost the old cottage he was living in next to Judith and his car. Proo Pyke’s property was burnt; they lost fences but no buildings, Other members lost holiday houses. I am sure all of you will sympathise with … Read the rest

Friends of Grampians Gariwerd