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Mountain Journal

Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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Cam Walker

I work with Friends of the Earth, and live in Castlemaine in Central Victoria, Australia. Activist, mountain enthusiast, telemark skier, volunteer firefighter.

Help protect the Athrotaxis communities of Tasmania

The pencil pine (Athrotaxis cupressoides) is a much loved and wonderfully charismatic tree of the Tasmanian mountains where it is largely restricted to sub-alpine areas above 800 metres. It is one of the Gondwanan species – dating back to the times of the Gondwana super continent – and often grows around tarns, streams and lakes because of its intolerance to fire. Pencil pines can reach ages in excess of 1,200 years, but have little chance of recovery after a ​fire.

It is hard to imagine the mountains of lutruwita without these wonderful trees (check here to get a sense of the beauty of these trees).

Sadly they face a very uncertain future. But this campaign aims to secure a future for both pencil and King Billy pines.

Continue reading “Help protect the Athrotaxis communities of Tasmania” →

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The outliers – the mountains we love out in the Flat Country

This website (and the magazine) focuses on ‘environment, news and culture’ from the higher mountains of the Great Dividing Range between Melbourne and Canberra and the mountainous island of lutruwita/ Tasmania.

From time to time we get people writing about mountains that have resonance to them which are well away from the core area of focus of MJ. For instance, recent commentary about the destruction of snow gums at Mt Macedon in central Victoria and the mountains on Dja  Dja Wurrung country in northern Victoria.

There are many wonderful and significant mountains across the continent well away from the mountain stronghold of TAS and SE Australia. Wollumbin/ Mt Warning in northern NSW, the Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland, Rwetyepme/ Mt Sonder in the NT, or the Stirling Range in south west WA all come to mind.

We would welcome your reflections on your local mountain, why they are special, and why they matter to you. Read on for full details.

Continue reading “The outliers – the mountains we love out in the Flat Country” →

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The Mt Macedon snow gum vigil

In April 2026, many of us were shocked to find out that Parks Victoria intended to clear almost 1 hectare of rare snow gum dominated forest on Mt Macedon in order to restore a view from near the Memorial Cross towards Melbourne.

Locals and environmentalists quickly mobilised to defend the forest and despite a spirited campaign and several days of occupying the site, contractors moved in on April 17 and devastated the slopes immediately south of the summit. On the Sunday, a planned community rally went ahead and turned into something of a vigil to reflect on the destruction that had just happened. There was grief, sadness, anger and determination. What really struck me was the depth of feeling that so many people expressed for the mountain. Many of us see the mountain as a personal refuge. This destruction of a rare forest has impacted many on a deep level. I heard so many stories of people’s personal connection to the mountain last week.

Local resident Lydia Best spoke at the vigil about her connection to the mountain.

Continue reading “The Mt Macedon snow gum vigil” →

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The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area 40 years on

The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) meets seven of the ten criteria for World Heritage listing, an achievement not surpassed by any other property. The TWWHA was first inscribed in 1982. Since then, the world has changed significantly, and this is demonstrated by the issues that are arising in places like the World Heritage Area. This in turn has influenced how the area needs to be managed.

A recent paper published in Austral Ecology and called Natural Values and Threats of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area: Changed Perspectives Over Four Decades Since Listing (available here) considers how threats have changed over the past four decades and how management approaches have responded.

Continue reading “The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area 40 years on” →

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POWFest 2026

Are you feeling blue in the lead-up to winter (and let’s be honest, the budget)? Sad that Albo won’t tax gas properly? Or just need an excuse to go to visit the beautiful Vic Alps? Well we’ve got you sorted! Just sending you all a quick invite to Protect Our Winters’ (POW) flagship annual event in Bright in NE-Vic, POWFest.

POWFest is a free annual event to celebrate our mountain communities, support local businesses, raise awareness of the impacts climate change is having on our mountains and learn how to protect our alpine environment and communities. All while having a bit of fun! We will be celebrating the lead up to the winter season with live music, raffles and prizes, food, art, conversation and a panel event!

If you’re in the area on the 17th of May, come down and say hello. We’d love to see you there.

More details on the line-up of the day at this link and on the attached poster: https://events.humanitix.com/powfest-2026

 

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Mountain Icons in a time of change

The theme for this year’s Mountain Journal magazine (which is available as a pdf here) was ‘the mountains are changing, are we ready?’

In delving into the changes being driven by global heating, destructive land use practises, and more people venturing into the mountains, we profiled four of our favourite mountain Icons.

Continue reading “Mountain Icons in a time of change” →

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Backcountry magazine – the future of skiing in a melting world.

I’ve subscribed to Backcountry magazine for at least a decade. Wonderful images of glorious mountains, good stories, and a lot of practical info for backcountry people. And it makes me feel connected to a global community of snow freaks who enjoy doing the hard work and who are willing to ‘earn their turns’ through old fashioned uphill travel.

If you follow mainstream science you will know that climate change is impacting winters. Here in Australia, snow pack has been in decline since at least 1957. Yet there is still a lot of very weird denial about climate change in the snow community. So when you dare to link science and declining snow pack you’ll normally get yelled at. But that shouldn’t stop us for talking about the facts. And BC mag has done a good job of that in their current edition, subtitled ‘hidden routes, extinct lines and the future of skiing in a melting world’.

Continue reading “Backcountry magazine – the future of skiing in a melting world.” →

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Defending the mountain

I live on Dja Dja Wurrung country in central Victoria. When I need a bit of mountain time, I head to Mt Macedon for some cooler air and deep green forests. The two small pockets of snow gum that exist on the highest points of the range always draw me, and it is a treat to wander through vigorous regrowth forests of snow gum intermixed with alpine ash.

I just spent the better part of a week trying to stop Parks Victoria from destroying almost a hectare of snow gum forest on the Macedon summit in order to restore a historic view towards Melbourne.

Despite a spirited campaign led by local people, contractors devastated the slopes immediately south of the summit last Friday (April 17). On the Sunday, a planned community rally went ahead and turned into something of a vigil to reflect on the destruction that had just happened. There was grief, sadness, anger and determination. What really struck me was the depth of feeling that so many people expressed for the mountain. Many of us see the mountain as a personal refuge. This destruction of a rare forest has impacted many on a deep level. I heard so many stories of people’s personal connection to the mountain last week.

If you are one of those people I would welcome your story for inclusion here. Send it through: cam.walker@foe.org.au

Continue reading “Defending the mountain” →

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Backcountry film festival 2026. Melbourne, May 5

The backcountry film festival is a pre winter institution in Melbourne. We have been screening the festival each year since 2011. The program is put together by Winter Wildlands Alliance, and celebrates the power and spirit of humans in winter.

Now in it’s 21st year, the festival will screen again in Naarm / Melbourne, Tuesday evening May 5 at RMIT in the city.

The event will run from 6pm, with films starting at 6.30pm.

We will have speakers from a range of backcountry groups, info and merchandise stalls, and the Winter Wildlands program (close to 2 hours of films).

Co-hosted by RMIT Outdoors Club and Friends of the Earth.

Continue reading “Backcountry film festival 2026. Melbourne, May 5” →

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A final attempt to save snow gums on Mt Macedon

For the past 2 days, community members from Melbourne and the area around Mt Macedon have occupied an area on the mountain where up to 0.8 hectares of snow gum woodland is scheduled to be cleared in order to reopen a view to Melbourne.

The snow gum woodlands on the Mt Macedon Range are isolated and unique, and part of only about 20 hectares of this vegetation type left in central and western Victoria.

However it seems that logging will start tomorrow (April 17).

Continue reading “A final attempt to save snow gums on Mt Macedon” →

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The pencil pine

The pencil pine (Athrotaxis cupressoides) is a much loved and wonderfully charismatic tree of the Tasmanian mountains where it is largely restricted to sub-alpine areas above 800 metres. It is one of the Gondwanan species – dating back to the times of the Gondwana super continent – and often grows around tarns, streams and lakes because of its intolerance to fire. Pencil pines can reach ages in excess of 1,200 years, but have little chance of recovery after a ​fire.

 

It is hard to imagine the mountains of lutruwita without these wonderful trees.
I recently got the chance to visit some of my favourite pencils pines, in the northern section of the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair national park. In a warming world of ever greater fires, it is always a relief to see them thriving.

Continue reading “The pencil pine” →

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Visiting the Canning Peak fire 13 months on

In February 2025, more than 20 fires were started by dry lightning strikes in western lutruwita/ Tasmania.

Some small blazes were quickly extinguished, and those that got away went on to burn more than 90,000 hectares of Tasmania, especially public land and within the Cradle Mountain Lake St Clair national park.  The Canning Peak fire burnt sections of the famous Overland walking track (around 860m of boardwalk and a foot bridge were damaged), precious sections of pencil pine and other fire sensitive communities were impacted, and a hut belonging to a guiding company was lost.

A year on, I managed to get in to have a look at the eastern edge of the fire, along the section that burnt across the Overland Track.

Continue reading “Visiting the Canning Peak fire 13 months on” →

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