Category Archives: News

Alison Pouliot in Castlemaine

The Castlemaine Garden Club has invited FOBIF members and supporters to their March meeting: We have been lucky enough to secure Dr Alison Pouliot as our speaker. Alison is an honorary fellow at Australian National University, and has published The … Continue reading

Posted in News | Comments Off on Alison Pouliot in Castlemaine

Some good news . . .

The Andrews government has closed an “outdated” legal loophole that allowed people to kill wombats without a permit in eastern Victoria. More than 4000 wombats are killed each year, according to the Victorian Greens, because of a decades-old rule that … Continue reading

Posted in News | Comments Off on Some good news . . .

The year ahead

We recently sent a fobif newsletter to our members. We have reprinted a version here for our members and supporters who may not have received it. Welcome to 2020 – a year with a difference and with many challenges across … Continue reading

Posted in News | Comments Off on The year ahead

Christmas wishes

The FOBIF committee wishes all friends of our forests a happy Christmas and a great new year. We’ll be sending out a membership renewal form and the 2020 walks list in January. Our 2020 walks program will also be available … Continue reading

Posted in News | Comments Off on Christmas wishes

Here’s an interesting rainfall figure

As a follow up to our note on the BOM/CSIRO local climate guides, we’ve come across a Bendigo Advertiser 1991 table of rainfall in Bendigo over the period 1863 to 1990. The average annual rainfall over that 127 year period … Continue reading

Posted in News | 1 Comment

Another pic to add to our road maintenance portfolio

We’re constantly and boringly on at DELWP and Parks Victoria about their road maintenance practices, which as often as not consist of gouging a few extra inches out of the bush. It’s not often we see them gouging a bit … Continue reading

Posted in News | 1 Comment

Fire 1: here we go again. Will controlled burning solve our bushfire problem?

Serious bushfires still burning in NSW have brought out some familiar discussion themes. Like this one: if only there had been more fuel reduction burns, these fires wouldn’t be so bad. And: the reason we don’t have enough reduction burns … Continue reading

Posted in News | 1 Comment

Fire 2: what about, er, human nature?

Another, very serious challenge is the human being. Readers of last Tuesday’s Midland Express will have noticed a depressingly familiar theme on the front page: the number of fires caused by human ignorance or mismanagement. And two people have been … Continue reading

Posted in Fire Management, News | Comments Off on Fire 2: what about, er, human nature?

Meanwhile, on the ground: fuel reduction at Spring Gully

DELWP conducted a fuel reduction burn in the area south of Jacobs track, along the Vaughan Chewton road in the week beginning November 18.  The fire was lit on the 18th before the dire weather forecast for the following Thursday … Continue reading

Posted in Fire Management, News | 2 Comments

Fuel reduction: a bit of ancient history

On the subject of fire safety and ecological health, here’s a look at the past: “In 1970 the Australian Conservation Foundation released a reasoned manifesto on ‘bushfire control and conservation’ that encapsulated the sentiments and logic of environmental critics (of … Continue reading

Posted in Fire Management, News | Comments Off on Fuel reduction: a bit of ancient history