Author Archives: fobif

Bendigo fire meeting

FOBIF was represented at a meeting in Bendigo on March 7 with DSE land and fire community engagement officer Simone Blair. The meeting was organised by the Bendigo and District Environment council. The meeting was an opportunity for community groups … Continue reading

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Walkers observe the effects of a Fuel Reduction Burn

Forty-five walkers set out from the SEC Dam Track in Green Gully on 21 March for the first FOBIF walk of the year.  It was not the normal scenic bushwalk as the route was mainly through areas of the Muckleford … Continue reading

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Tarilta Gorge: burned off, washed away

It’s sometimes hard to know what to call DSE burning operations: control burns? Fuel reduction? Ecological burns? Too often none of the above apply: there’s little control, apart from keeping the burn inside the control lines [and as we know, … Continue reading

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Moss identification cards

For those interested in the moss identification workshops, Cassia has prepared some moss illustrations. Click here to view them. The first moss workshop recapping what was covered in 2011 is now being organised. Details will be posted on this site.

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Biodiversity on the side of farming

The theme of the first evening session in the Connecting Country 2012 education program is on the vital importance played by biodiversity [that is, the pattern of plants, animals and micro organisms in the environment] in the health of agriculture. … Continue reading

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Stinker

FOBIF has alerted Mount Alexander Shire council of an outbreak of Stinkwort in the newly developed section of the Wesley Hill industrial estate. The plant, Dittrichia graveolens, is a declared noxious weed because of its capacity to get into pasture … Continue reading

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Fire Briefing

Radio National’s Background Briefing program ‘Fighting Fire with Fire’ [broadcast on February 19 and available for podcast here] was a very fair effort to canvass all points of view on fuel management issues. The fact that it seems to have … Continue reading

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Weeds are for burning

In December we criticised DSE’s management of the Quartz Hill management burn [see ‘The uses of fire‘] on the grounds that the exercise failed to do anything about the prolific weeds in the area. FOBIF has now written to local … Continue reading

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2012 Autumn Fungi Workshops

The Central Victorian Fungi Ecology Workshop Series is running again this coming autumn. If you would like to know more about this curious kingdom, workshops include interactive displays, illustrated seminars and exciting forest forays deep into our local forests. Full … Continue reading

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Maniac?

The endearing creature below is a Peron’s Tree Frog, sometimes uncharitably called the Maniacal Cackle Frog, owing to its distinctive ‘machine gun’ cackle. It’s not uncommon for frogs to be seen in household gardens in our district, and for that … Continue reading

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