2018 – Friends of Grampians Gariwerd

November 18, 2018

What the Prez Sez

Another year of FOGGs comes to a close.

As the flowers disappear, the grass yellows off and the wildlife congregates around the shrinking water sources, it becomes obvious that summer is about to hit with a vengeance.

I have been reflecting on this year with my beloved FOGGs, and my last three years as President. We have done some good for our community, participated in shared activities, supported local events and promoted our group and its aims to the community at large, and provided some educational opportunities to the community and ourselves.

We have much to be proud of. And that’s just this year alone.

I have been proud to lead the group for the last three years, but for various personal reasons I need to step down at this years AGM. I feel that over the last 12 months I have not been as effective in the role as I should be. The group also has a policy of not having one person at the helm for too long. This stops the workload from becoming too much for one person, and ensures new ideas and activities are developed to keep things interesting. I reckon I’ve had some good ideas, but its time for some new ones. The enjoyment I have got from the position of president cannot be measured, but is genuine. If the chance arises in the future I may take the roll again if voted in. I have been very proud of the group and its members and always will be. Being part of the committee or an office bearer in a group you enjoy has its own unique rewards and I encourage everyone to give it a try. It will always be a source of pride that for a short time I followed in the footsteps of some truly great warriors for the national park and the environment it protects, especially as I was present at the inaugural meeting at Borough Huts, and saw the work those early leaders did, (my own father included) thinking one day it might be me.

We have had some great activities this quarter that generated untold enthusiasm in our members.

The excitement on Bill’s face as he fulfilled a lifelong dream of reaching the top of Mt Dryden was probably reflected in others too. It was a little sad to spend our birdwatching activity with the Neves who are leaving the state to live closer to family. It was great to share a meal and conversation with two people who have been an inspiration to many members for a long time. I will miss them greatly. Its a pity the birds didn’t want to join us that day!

Our wildflower walk with the involvement of the Hamilton Field Nats was a great success, and many plants were identified. I don’t think we beat last years species total, but we enjoyed the views, great conversation and companionship with like minded people, and surely that is what life is all about.

These activities allow members and guests to learn, to participate and to share their knowledge with others, all essential to the human experience. This is the secret of the longterm success of FOGGs, and will help the group continue into the future.

Cheers
Rod

November 18, 2018

From Our Rangers – Hannah Auld

G’day Foggies,

My name is Hannah Auld and I am the Community Engagement Ranger with Parks Victoria in Halls Gap. A similar role was previously filled by Caity O’Reilly whom you may have been in contact with regarding volunteer projects. This role will be very similar to Caity’s where I will be assisting the team to plan School programs (including school talks and stewardship sessions), Local school VCAL and Outdoor- Ed program sessions and working on programs such as the Sherpa/TrailRider, Community Volunteer groups and projects including FOGGS, 4WD Clubs, Bushwalking clubs and ensuring ParkConnect is a highly functioning tool. I‘d like to touch base with you and your volunteers as I believe we can help each other with future volunteer projects!

A little bit about me – I’ve recently moved back to Halls Gap after a couple of months working for Parks in Melbourne as their Volunteer Officer. However, before that I spent seven months in the Grampians as the 2017/18 Seasonal Ranger, so I feel very lucky and privileged to be welcomed back into the team. I have a wide variety of knowledge from studying Sustainable Tourism for two years and I’ve also completed my Bachelor of Environmental Science. I have a passion for the protection of the natural environment and want to share that with the wider Grampians community. I myself volunteered all through my university studies and therefore have a particular understanding and appreciation of the hard work invested by individuals and organisations alike and the invaluable impact you have on our parks. Which is why during this role I will do my best to support your projects within the park as much as I can.

Part of my role in Melbourne was to guide rangers and volunteer groups though the ParkConnect transition period. If you are familiar with this system you will understand that it provides a collaborative way to record volunteer activities and openly communicate with rangers. Over the next few weeks I will be running sessions to help you learn how to record your volunteer activities within ParkConnect, it will also give us the chance to have a cuppa and a chat about the future for your volunteer group.

Previously working within the park, I believe I can hit the ground running, so please feel free to call me if you have any questions about activities you have coming up as I’d love to help where I can.

Cheers,
Hannah

Note from editor: see also the news about DELWP’s support for volunteer groups here.

November 18, 2018November 18, 2018

From Our Rangers – Rhonda McNeil

I am excited and honoured to be taking up the position of Area Chief Ranger Grampians. I grew up in Great Western and as a child spent many days in Halls Gap and walking in the Grampians. Whilst studying at university I worked in the holidays serving ice cream from Pip Mangle’s Ice creamery. I started my real work as an information officer in the old parks interpretive centre. So I remember the tourists and the range of questions but there certainly are more people in the Grampians now. I spent the next 20 years working for Parks Victoria in central Victoria and along the Murray River. A favourite park that I was lucky to look after was Kooyoora State Park which is where my affinity with working with traditional owners began and I am so pleased to see the Dja Dja Wurung people heavily involved in park management of this area. During this time I was involved across the state in many fire campaigns and bring a wealth of experience with me to the Grampians.

In 2008 my family moved to Laharum to farm and I worked in the Grampians for the next few years in the fire and emergency management area, in particular with Jill Read on the fire ecology strategy for the Grampians and Little Desert. In 2011 I accepted a position with Horsham Rural City Council working with Yarrimabiack, Hindmarsh and West Wimmera Shire Councils to develop the Wimmera Emergency Management Resource Sharing Project. During the Northern Grampians Complex fire I was the recovery manager. For the last three years I held the position of Manager Recreation and Sustainability for Horsham Rural City Council, which included overseeing the major projects such as the Horsham Town Hall, Wimmera Sports Stadium Feasibility Study and the Kalkee Road Children’s Hub.

My family (Gus, Sophie and James) and I are very excited about this role and with their full support and belief in me I look forward to caring for this amazing landscape.

November 18, 2018

Advisory Group Meeting – October 19th

We started with welcomes to new Area Chief Ranger Rhonda McNeil, to new team member John Grayling (Roads, camping areas, other assets), and thanks to Tammy Schoo who has been acting as ACR.

Advisory group membership – was due to end this year, but we made the decision to delay until Rhonda was settled into her job, but no longer than 12 months.

GNP Team update – new staff. Hannah Auld is the new volunteer co-ordinator, which is now at last an ongoing position. Connor Smith is temporarily replacing Matt White who is taking leave to visit European parks on a bike trip. (We will have to ask Matt for an article when he returns.) There will also be four summer rangers over the holiday period.

Recovery – Fire /Flood update – There has been quite a bit of road work recently, especially culverts, and work is starting on track upgrades as part of the Recovery programme, particularly the McKenzie River Track. (Note that FOGGS has money set aside for a seat along the track with money we inherited from Friends of Zumsteins. We hope this will be done soon as part of the upgrade.)

Other park project updates – Emergency markers are being installed at key points in the Park where accidents or other incidents are likely to happen. This is so that when a call is made to 000, the exact location can be given to the operator. This has been a real problem in the past.

Visitor numbers are continuing to increase markedly, which is good in many ways, but also presents challenges. Most roads and walking tracks now have counters installed to measure the traffic. Parking at popular spots is a problem, and the team are looking at possible solutions. Visitor behaviour and expectations can also present problems, as so many visitors now are city or overseas based.

BRP Environment funding Update

Mike Stevens was on leave, so Dave Handscombe told us Mike’s good news. I am actually using the email I had from Mike with the details.

“Well on my last day of work before two months holiday I received news that the Grampians has received its biggest environmental funding allocation in history…$1.855m over 3 years. When considering we have $400k of Grampians Ark funding the Grampians is expecting to receive over $3m in environmental funding for the next three years.

The projects funded through the Biodiversity Response Planning grants over the next 3 years are:

Sallow wattle control – $647,445
Feral Goat and rabbit control – $309,000
Deer control – $624,000
Feral cat control – $275,000

We now have funding security to employ the Environmental Project Coordinator for a three year term, and throw significant energy behind ramping up a Sporting Shooters Association of Australia and Australian Deer Association partnership in combination with contractors targeting goats and feral deer. There is a marked increase in managing contractors to control Sallow Wattle, and we will lead innovative state-wide approaches to rabbit control and feral cats.

Considering that we plan to significantly ramp up our ecological fire program in Autumn – Winter 2019, combined with an exciting partnership with Glenelg Hopkins CMA investigating ecological water opportunities for the Grampians landscape, it looks as though we will be able to make significant progress to deliver the Grampians Conservation Action Plan. A web update and details of all successful BRP projects can be found at https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/biodiversity-response-planning.”

At our AG meeting Dave elaborated on what this means. The existing goat control programme will be expanded, deer control will commence. The aim is to remove 150 deer each year from the Park, with better cooperation with adjoining land owners to be able to remove deer from their properties too. The sallow wattle programme will continue to focus on the North plus satellite populations in other areas.

The PV Act has changed four weeks ago. It now simplifies responsibilities, and our local staff think it is an improvement. (Note that it is unrelated to the somewhat controversial changes to the management plans of parks along the Great Ocean Road.) The Management Plan for our Park is way out of date and needs a lot of work but there is no indication of when that process will begin.

Grampians Peak Trail

We next had a detailed update on the Peaks Trail project. Work is starting on the 102 km of new tracks. There is a new phone app, ArcG15 which is helping speed up the work as the exact location of works can be shared. Work is continuing on such questions as Offsets, planning requirements, resourcing, finalisation of the cost modelling analysis, the hiker camps, supplier agreements, marketing plans.

But we spent most time on the Interpretation project update. As I report next, a company has been appointed to look at how the interpretation should be delivered, but first you need to think about who will be using the trail. Day walkers, school groups, overnight independent walkers, group walkers, guided walkers, luxury walkers. Thirteen things needing to be decided were listed, the top 5 being: how many people at sites, what type of accommodation is offered, at what cost, the experience offered (interpretation), is there a need for a shuttle service. Some others were: length of each day’s walk, what the shower/ washing facilities should be. Some key gaps on what is on offer to the sort of people thinking of doing the walk were: high end accommodation, transport to and within the region, quality dining experiences, and on-park accommodation options. The key focus areas of interpretation and signage were outlined too, which I will add to the article on the interpretation meeting I attended, rather than repeating myself.

So much to think about and we were running out of time and energy. I am sure we will be talking more at the next meeting which is in December.

We were to have an update on Traditional Owner agreements but that too was postponed to December.

November 18, 2018

Grampians Peak Trail Interpretation Meeting

I represented FOGGS (and the HG Grampians Flora Botanic Garden) at a meeting on October 8. There were five from the consultants’ team and five of us: neighbours, artists and a (local) geologist. (There had been a separate meeting with tourism people).

The consultants have been asked to prepare an Interpretation and Signature Experiences Activation Plan for the Grampians Peaks Trail, with the aim of positioning the Grampians Peaks Trail as a world-class iconic walking experience, showcasing the beauty and majesty of the Grampians National Park’s natural and cultural landscapes. The consultants’ responsibility is to finalise a plan by early December. Others will then be employed to actually do it.

We were told that the Interpretation and Visitor Experience component will:

Leverage, consolidate and ‘re-package’ existing work including earlier interpretation plans;
Be reflective of contemporary, world-class interpretation and embrace best practice storytelling and a mix of powerful visual media such as digital, sculpture and furniture, to “engineer profound, destination-specific moments” that assist Parks Victoria in setting a new benchmark for interpreted walks;
Outline a limited number of clearly differentiated signature experiences, associated customer journeys and storytelling touchpoints and distinctively and compellingly describe the themes, key messages, stories, interpretive strategies and experiences that accompany each of them;
Ensure reference to the broader context of the Grampians National Park and provide solutions to cleverly connect ‘on GPT’ and ‘off GPT’ sections of track;
Be relevant to current and future target audiences and consider multi-lingual needs;
Integrate an authentic Aboriginal experience based on stories already approved by Traditional Owners and setting the foundation for the possible integration of additional stories.

There was much more consultant language about “supporting a world class visitor experience” and what they see their role is. What did our small group contribute? The consultants actually got an interesting conversation going. We talked about what the Grampians means to us, some born here, some long-time residents, one from overseas a couple of years ago. We discussed what we thought would be important elements of the walk experience, the unique geology, the flora, the indigenous and European history, the night sky.

The initial planning is for two experiences.

“The Edge of the Grampians”, from Dead Bullock creek to Halls Gap, 3 days, 2 nights. Emphasis on flora, fauna, geology, indigenous culture.
“The Southern Experience” from Griffith Picnic area to Dunkeld, also 3 days, 2 nights. Again flora, fauna, geology, indigenous culture plus some signage about the agrarian experience from Mt Abrupt.

Identify specific partnership opportunities for the ‘Edge of Gariwerd’ and Southern Grampians experiences across park staff, design, tourism, business, Indigenous and other local communities, to maximise consistent experience development and storytelling opportunities.

The aim is that quality interpretation leads to understanding, which leads to appreciation, which leads to wanting to see it protected.

I will be attending another meeting in December.