…From day to day, the signs of spring are popping up everywhere:
Hardenbergia on unpromising ground near the Welsh Village, July 21. In European terms, it’s winter…but it’s looking more and more like spring to us.
And just as heroic: Eucalypts growing out of nothing, on mullock heaps at the slate quarry near the Welsh Village:
Eucalypts finding nourishment in the rocks: to keep your morale up, avoid looking at the feral pines in the background.
Long Walk
A small group rocked up for FOBIF’s July long walk yesterday, undeterred by black clouds, sober weather forecasts and the prospect of an energetic 16 kms trek across hilly terrain. The weather actually delivered everything except snow: squally gusts, slippery tracks, curtains of rain and magnificent but threatening cloud formations—but mostly cool, pleasant walking conditions, with passages of unexpected sunshine.
The stimulating route wound through some of the more obscure corners of the south end of the Diggings Park, including the high ridges north of Sebastopol Creek, slated for burning by DELWP in 2024 or 2025. This is one of the most intriguing and diverse sections of the Park. The walk ended in a stroll along the Loddon from Glenluce to Vaughan Springs. Fungi and mosses were abundant, five species of wattle are already in flower, and among other things there were great shows of Hakea and Common Heath.
The group took a little more than the predicted 6 hours to complete the course—OK, an hour more: that’s what happens when you pause too often to enjoy the scene.
Many thanks to Jeremy Holland for devising a terrifically interesting journey. Next month’s walk is in the Metcalfe NCR: check the program for details.
Short Walk
Eighteen people came along to the 5 km walk led by Frances Cincotta. The loop walk began at the junction of Lower Kangaroo Creek and Upper Kangaroo Creek Tracks in the Fryers Ridge Nature Conservation Reserve. The route was west along Upper Kangaroo Creek Track, north along Bottom Track, north along Fryers Ridge Road, and south-east along an unnamed Telecom Track back to the starting point.
The pace was leisurely giving plenty of opportunity for flora observation and identification. Here Frances with her expert plant knowledge and fungi authority Joy Clusker were continuously helpful. Plants in flower included Ploughshare Wattle, Woolly Wattle, Rough Wattle, Golden Wattle, Bushy Needlewood, Common Correa, Common Heath and Downy Grevillea. Moss, lichens and fungi were abundant. There were plenty of other plants about to flower so the area is well worth another visit in the next few weeks.
Thanks to Frances and Mike for planning the walk and Joy, Judy and Philip for sending in photos.
Are logged forests less prone to dangerous fire than forests left to themselves? There is a common perception that if you log a forest, you reduce the danger of severe bushfire. The question is, can this opinion be supported by the evidence?
Forest scientist David Lindenmayer cites ‘detailed studies following the 2009 fires and again after the 2019-20 Black Summer fires’ to say, no, the opposite is true: ‘logged forests always burn at greater severity than intact forests.’
Why?
‘At first glance, one might think that logging and then removing fallen trees would reduce fire risks. Why do peer-reviewed scientific studies show that the opposite is actually the case? First, logging removes solid tree trunks but leaves behind branches, tree heads, bark and other debris. These remaining fine and medium fuels add to fire risk. Second, logging dries forest soils for up to 80 years after cutting. Third, important moisture-maintaining plants like tree ferns are almost completely lost from logged forest. Fourth, forests that are logged and regenerated are much hotter and subject to more extreme conditions than intact forests. Fifth, the dense understorey plants in young logged forest can create “ladder” fuels that drive surface fires into the canopy….
‘Our research following the 2009 Black Saturday fires showed that approximately 10 years after logging there was a seven times increase in the risk of high-severity fire. This sharply elevated risk lasts for around 30 years (that is, until the forest is about 40 years old). It then declines. The lowest risk is for forests 100 or more years old. That is, old forests burn at significantly lower severity than young forests.’
Lindenmayer’s article was published in the Age on Saturday. He is strongly of the view that ‘salvage logging’ in the Wombat forest should be stopped: ‘today’.
You can find the article online here
It’s another contribution to what should be a debate, but isn’t: between those who believe that our forests can be managed into submission–by logging, control burning, etc; and those who believe that respect for the forests’ own control systems is the best way of guaranteeing their health.
Lindenmayer says that ‘all of the key scientific information on logging impacts has been provided to VicForests – but they have chosen to ignore the science.’ Why? it’s another example of the ongoing ‘dialogue of the deaf.’
Short walk led by Frances Cincotta
We are going to park at the junction of Upper Kangaroo Creek Track and Lower Kangaroo Creek Track and will do a 5 km loop in which we will see Common Heath and Common Correa in flower, Woolly Wattle finishing up flowering and Rough Wattle just beginning to flower.
Meet at 9:30 am in Castlemaine at the Community House in Templeton Street or 9:45 am in Taradale at the start of Old Drummond Road on the opposite side of the road to the service station. We will then go in convoy to the start of the walk.
Correa reflexa (Common Correa)
Long walk led by Jeremy Holland
Being 16 km in distance this walk is designed for those who enjoy a more energetic walk at a good steady pace.
The route has been tweaked a bit and a mixture of tracks and off-track in gullies and ridges gives plenty of interest and variety. (See photos below.)
Duration is estimated at 6 hours total being 16 km@4 km/hr = 4 hours plus 1 hour for slower off-track sections plus 1 hour for breaks.
Remember we leave the Community House in Templeton Street at 9.00 am before driving in convoy to Vaughan Springs.
FOBIF has made submission to Forest Fire Management’s burning proposals for 2022-5. The submission is printed below.
Our approach over the years has been to insist that all ‘fuel reduction’ exercises be carefully monitored, and that the results be used to improve future practice. This is in fact DELWP policy, but we’re not convinced that the policy is properly followed.
We have been encouraged by the observation by local fire management last year that ‘ lower intensity burns seem to not generate as much fuel and accumulate fuels slower than burns that are generally burnt hotter. In addition, lower intensity burns generally maintain the Overall Fuel Hazard (OFH) levels under triggers for more years than higher intensity burns.’
Let’s see how that observation translates into practice.
Tarilta valley, south end: we believe that the dense regrowth was caused by DSE’s 2012 ‘reduction burn’. The department believes mild fire is better for fuel reduction. We believe it’s better ecologically…but, of course, only detailed monitoring could confirm these ideas.
The submission runs as follows:
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this plan.
We are encouraged by the following observation made by Adrian Parker in correspondence with us last year: ‘[DELWP] have … observed that lower intensity burns seem to not generate as much fuel and accumulate fuels slower than burns that are generally burnt hotter. In addition, lower intensity burns generally maintain the Overall Fuel Hazard (OFH) levels under triggers for more years than higher intensity burns.’
Unfortunately we have observed over the years that many Department burns feature substantial areas of severe fire, including widespread canopy scorch and destruction of large habitat trees. We are hopeful that future exercises will avoid these excesses. We have a large photo file showing that in fact severe Department fire has generated massive fuel regrowth. The fuel reduction objective of the exercise is completely defeated in these cases. We are aware of the difficulties managers face in these exercises: in our opinion a major part of the problem lies in the size of the blocks to be burned. We have expressed our view on this in past letters to the Department.
The Department of Environment has released its draft fuel management plan for 2022-4 for comment. The plan includes ‘DELWP led fuel reduction and ecological burns, and does not include Traditional Owner burns, CFA led burns and mechanical works.’
The plan can be seen at this link: https://delwp.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=23959d4ab7864cd98ffd6de81c81b4dd
The interactive map at the link is pretty mediocre, but it does give an idea of proposed management burns for the next couple of years.
A screenshot from this map shows some of the burns proposed for this region:
–Glenluce-Hunters track, centred at the junction of Irishtown and Hunters track, in the Diggings Park
–Irishtown track: a large area bounded by Irishtown tk, Vaughan-Chewton road, Drummond road, Smutta’s track and Hunters track
–Wewak Track: a very large area between Wewak and Sebastopol tracks
–Tarilta: an area west of Porcupine ridge road, at the north end of the valley.
–Taradale: an area on the Old Drummond road, along Humboldt track.
–Taradale: a substantial area along Salt Water track, adjacent to the recent Bones Gully burn.
— A substantial burn along the Maldon Railway line, one of the region’s prime wildflower areas.
–Two burns in the Walmer State forest.
FOBIF has the usual concerns about these exercises (see, for example, our posts here), here, and here )
And there’s an additional one: we’re curious about the fact that three of them seem to be double zone burns. That is, in one go, the Department is going to burn an area that is half zone two (‘Bushfire moderation’) and half zone three (‘Landscape management’). These zones are in theory supposed to be treated quite differently: Zone 2 is largely fuel reduction; Zone 3 is meant to have significant ecological outcomes.
That theory is going to be severely tested.
We’ll be repeating our concerns in a submission to the Department. Submissions close on July 11. Address your input to Loddonmallee.plannedburning@delwp.vic.gov.au
Last Sunday a good sized group was led on a lovely circuit walk around the Fryers Ridge bush by local Christine Henderson. There was a mix of tracks, trackless and even some private property (with permission ).
The bush looked great in its Winter guise but the highlight was the incredible abundance of fungi. Noted fungi expert and author Joy Clusker said it was the best display she had seen on Fryers Ridge. Many thanks to Christine for a superb day out and to Joy Clusker, Kevin Kato and Liz Martin for sending in their photos.
Next month is the dual long and short walks, further details will be posted in due course.
Sunday’s walk starts on the Taradale-Fryerstown Road, at a parking spot near the crossing of Kangaroo Creek. We’ll make our way off track through private land up a rising ridge, leading to the Fryers Ridge Road. A couple of kilometres of easy walking south along the road will bring us to another off-track stretch, passing through beard heath gardens in bud, admiring tall hakea stands, correa reflexa bushes and early woolly wattles (Acacia lanigera) in blossom. Our return leg will take us through a forest clearing on private land, then a last gentle uphill stretch on an old vehicle track before meeting a DELWP forest track that will lead us back to the cars. Meet at Templeton Street, Castlemaine at 9.30am or in Taradale main street opposite the Metro service station at 9.45am. We will carpool to the start of the walk from there. Ring Christine Henderson for more information 0417 529 392.
Joy Clusker and Ray Wallace have just published the second edition of Fungi of the Bendigo region: a guide to identification. As well as a stunning new cover this 146 page book contains 65 new species and updated names. All the brief species descriptions are accompanied by terrific identification photos (see examples below). The book also includes an introductory section about fungi and a useful index.
Castlemaine and surrounding residents will find this is an excellent guide to local fungi especially as Mount Alexander is included in the observation habitats.
Authors: Ray Wallace and Joy Clusker. Photo Liz Martin
The book is available from Stonemans in Castlemaine, Bookish Bendigo and Aesops Attic in Kyneton. You can also buy if directly from Joy joyclusker@icloud.com
Commencing December 2022, this course is for anyone interested in Wetland Plant Identification and Wetland Ecology.
The course is run on 3 separate days from December 2022 to April 2023 to allow participants to observe the changing seasons and water depths of the stunning Reedy Lagoon, Gunbower Island over a 5-month period. Each of the 3 days will focus on a different wetland habitat (wetting and drying) and associated plant community.
To find our more or register click here www.trybooking.com/BZOLM
The course is now being run through our new not for profit charitable trust, the Wetland Revival Trust. All profits from the course will feed into to wetland purchase, wetland projects and management. See www.wetlandrevivaltrust.org to find out more.
You can check out the course flyer here.
White Everlasting Daisy (Chrysocephalum baxteri)
Slime Mould
Dunns Reef
Tall Greenhoods
Gnat Orchid
Blue Caladenia
Downy Grevillea (Grevillea alpina)
Coliban river upstream of the Gibbons bridge
Coliban river upstream of the Gibbons bridge.
Coliban river upstream of the Gibbons bridge.
Sailors Gully ruin
Loddon River near Vaughan
Cortinarius archeri
Mycena subgalericulata
Cortinarius rotundisporus
Cortinarius cystidiocatenatus,
Ramaria sp.
Pink Heath
Mount Alexander
Mount Alexander
Click on image for info/order page
Click on image for info/order page
Click on image for info/order page