The biennial State of the Climate Report, which is produced by the CSIRO and BOM has now been released. The report draws on the latest national and international climate research, monitoring, science and projection information to describe changes and long-term trends in Australia’s climate.
Among a vast amount of information, there are some clear details relevant to mountain environments.
Continue reading “What does the ‘State of the Climate’ report mean for mountain environments?”
Much of the mountain country across south eastern Australia and lutruwita/ Tasmania is on protected public lands. While the ski resorts continue to intensify the impact of their existing footprint through continued building and infrastructure, across the undeveloped zones there are also a range of projects that threaten the health of ecosystems.
Seperately, each can feel insignificant. But when taken collectively the impact is enormous. This is a quick assessment of some of the big picture trends happening across the Alps and mountainous zones of Tasmania at present.
The Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) is updating the Code of Practice for Bushfire Management on Public Land (the Bushfire Code), and is calling for feedback on the draft Code.
The Bushfire Code sets out objectives for the way DEECA manages bushfire on public land, including state forests and national parks.
The current Bushfire Code is more than 10 years old. It updating it to make sure it meets modern needs and expectations.
There is an online submission process which is open until November 3.
Continue reading “Have your say: the Code of Practice for Bushfire Management on Public Land”
The Bogong moth (Bugung (Ngarigo), Deberra (Taungurung)) is an iconic Australian species, important to First Nations Peoples, critical to ecosystems along its migratory path and the Australian alps, and threatened with extinction. To secure the Bogong moth we need to understand its distribution and migratory flyways which is a major challenge because their distribution records span the full breadth of Australia, everywhere south of 25° latitude.
A Bogong Moth Summit is being organised and will be held in Canberra over February 28 – 29. The summit’s primary aims are to inspire people to get involved in Bogong moth conservation and highlight their cultural and ecological importance.
For the last few years, Friends of the Earth has been hosting guided walks in the high country to show people areas at risk from logging. These have included Mt Stirling, the upper Little Dargo River, and the stronghold of older snow gums that exists at Mt Wills and which would have been put at risk by logging that had been planned for Alpine Ash forests on the mountain.
With the government announcing an end to logging on public lands in the east of the state in early 2024, we shifted the focus of our walks onto snow gum woodlands, which are increasingly being impacted by climate change driven fire regimes and dieback caused by a native beetle.
In early 2024 we led a walk to visit what we called the ‘ghost forests’ of the high ridge between the Tawonga huts and Mt Fainter on the north western edge of the Bogong High Plains.
The long running saga around plans to redevelop the ANARES building near Rocky Valley dam and close to Falls Creek ski resort enters a new phase, with a hearing in Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) starting on October 9.
The case is being brought by Cross Country Skiing Association Victoria (XCSAV), Victoria’s peak community group of cross country skiers, because they feel the proposal will ‘gut Falls Creek’s ski trail network and will jeopardise Australia’s biggest ski race, the Kangaroo Hoppet’.
Continue reading “Cross Country Skiers Fight to Save Ski Trails at VCAT”
The Wollangarra outdoor education centre is located on a river flat beside the Macalister River in the foothills of the Victorian high country. It is a long established and much loved institution which has offered many thousands of young people incredible experiences in the outdoors. Wollangarra survives and thrives because of the community around it. Over the first weekend in October it held its annual Open Day, which brings around 250 people to the property to enjoy workshops, speakers, good food, great company and music.
Recently a friend sent me a copy of a DVD called Dancing and the Devil Fire. It was made after the terrible fires that happened in the Alps over the summer of 2002/3, when an estimated 1.7 million hectares of forest and high country was burnt.
In the aftermath of the fires, an extensive program was established to better understand the archaeological history of indigenous settlement in the high country. Many First Nations people were involved in the surveys that followed. What they found re-wrote mainstream understanding of Indigenous occupation of the high country.
ONE PLANET is a long established Australian outdoor brand. In this story, Megan Holbeck reflects on some of the 40 year history of the company, and its involvement in a design exhibition in Melbourne in 2023.
Continue reading “ONE PLANET’s decades of making outdoor art”
The mountains and wetter forests of lutruwita/ Tasmania are a stronghold of ancient vegetation that dates back to when the Australian continent was part of the mega continent of Gondwana.
We know that these areas of fire sensitive vegetation are at risk from changing fire regimes. We also know that climate change will bring ever more serious fire seasons, putting these remnant vegetation communities at greater risk.
The Tasmanian Planning Commission has just released the 2024 State of the Environment (SOE) Report, which, among many issues, highlights the threats posed to fire sensitive communities like the king billy and pencil pines.
Continue reading “State of the Environment report highlights threats to pencil pine forests”
Ski patrols – both paid and volunteer – are essential for ensuring mountain safety in the ski resorts. Volunteers at all the mountains donate their time, passion and skills to assist skiers, riders and other visitors to have a safe experience in resorts. Beyond staging rescues of injured people there is so much that patrols do behind the scenes, from assessing slopes before they are open to the public, managing safety on the slopes, and assisting with rescues in the backcountry.
But the Perisher Volunteer Ski Patrol (PSP) is facing an uncertain future due to the actions of Vail Resorts, the US-based owners of Perisher.
PSP say that: ‘Vail Resorts has made the shocking decision to ban the PSP – a specialist squad of VRA Rescue NSW (Volunteer Rescue Association) from operating‘.
Continue reading “Perisher Volunteer Ski Patrol struggles to survive”
A reflection from Anna Langford, currently in the Arctic Circle region of Norway.
People keep asking me why I have come to spend three months in the Arctic Circle. They need a beat of stunned silence to comprehend my answer, ‘to be cold’.
I’m well-practiced at riding out the response – the loss of words, usually followed by a guffaw of laughter and a light-hearted insult. And sometimes a nervous flicker in the eyes, as though I’ve just given myself away as a ghoulish creature who flinches at the touch of sunlight.
I have been travelling since January, when I chose to bail on an Australian summer in favour of an English winter. ‘What are you doing here?!’ people would splutter, upon finding out where I had come from. Had I accidentally stumbled into Melbourne airport and onto a flight to London while on my way to the beach?
Continue reading “Letter home from the Arctic: when will we miss winter?”
Mountain Journal 
Recent Comments