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Mountain Journal

Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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Author

Cam Walker

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

Studies make a mockery of alpine grazing bid

The following opinion piece was published in the Weekly Times newspaper, March 5, 2014, and was written by Phil Ingamells, from the Victorian National Parks Association.

The project to put cattle back into the Alpine National Park has put Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt in something of a pickle.

Should he leave decisions on land management to the states, as many in his Government will be pressing him to do, or should he act on his clear responsibility to protect the National Heritage-listed Alpine National Park?

alpine grazingThe Victorian Government hasn’t made it easy for him to surrender his authority. Its submissions have been careless, rushed and lacking in expertise.

Having made a pre-election promise to the mountain cattlemen that they’d get back into the park, the Victorian Government framed the exercise as a scientific trial to “prove” that alpine grazing would reduce fire.

But in December 2010 they hurried cattle into the park before they had even thought about out how to run a trial. Tony Burke, then federal Environment Minster, saw through the exercise and called a halt. This second attempt isn’t much better.

If you really want to know how grazing affects bushfires, you have to look at the behaviour of real fires, and two clever studies have done that.

One carefully measured the severity of fire across grazed and ungrazed areas of the Bogong High Plains after the 2003 fire. Another used satellite imaging right across the high country for both the 2003 and 2006 fires.

Both studies found that grazing didn’t significantly reduce fire extent or severity, and there was evidence grazing could alter vegetation over time to ­actually increase risk.

But the Victorian Government seems to be pretending these published didn’t happen.

Instead, the new “trial” will, inexplicably, put 300 cattle into the remote Wonnangatta Valley, letting them munch away on half the known population of a nationally threatened orchid.

Scientists and experienced land managers agree it will tell us nothing useful about fire behaviour. The Victorian Government is either showing incompetence, or taking the federal minster for granted, or both.

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Shooting brumbies in Kosciuszko

The following comes from ABC Rural and is written by Alexandra Blucher and Bill Brown. At the end of their article you will also find links to the arguments FOR and AGAINST culling, culling methods and summary of the damage caused by brumbies.

Brumbies roam the Kosciuszko National Park. Photo: Coleen O'Brien
Brumbies roam the Kosciuszko National Park. Photo: Coleen O’Brien

Wild horses are out of control in the Australian Alps according to conservationists, and doing irreparable damage to the fragile alpine environment.

However, brumby advocates dispute the claims and say alpine horses are part of an iconic bush heritage that must be protected.

It’s a divisive debate and passions always run high.

Aerial surveys of the wild horse population in the Australian Alps, including Kosciuszko National Park between 2003 and 2009, indicate an increase in brumby numbers, from just under 2, 500 to over 7,500 horses.

With recent good seasons and an estimated population growth of between eight to 20 per cent every year, NSW National Parks are projecting that a conservative estimate, would put the current horse numbers in the alps at over 10,000, with over 7000 in Kosciuszko National Park.

Conservationists say environmental destruction in Kosciuszko National Park is at crisis point, with threatened native animal and plant species at risk. They want the population to be aerially culled.

Advocates for these wild horses of the high country reject the population estimates, the claims of lasting environmental damage, and say they will vehemently fight any move towards aerial culling.

Government review puts brumbies back in the spotlight

A review of the Kosciuszko Horse Management plan is currently underway after the NSW Environment Minister, Robyn Parker, called for it to be examined last year.

As a part of the review, a consultation process is underway to bring the polarised community together to decide how the wild horse population in Kosciuszko National Park will be managed.

The discussions are expected to be far from harmonious with the facts about horse numbers, the extent of environmental damage and the best approach to management, all in dispute.

Another round of aerial surveys is expected to be completed in April.

The Government initiated consultation process will put the divisive issues firmly back on the public agenda.

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Photo of the day

Mt Gould, TAS
Mt Gould, TAS

This site started as a place to share the inspiration that I find from being in the mountains. It’s a non commercial venture, community and environmental in orientation, and focused on human-powered adventure.

Clearly, there are lots of other people who are are equally addicted. Thanks for all the messages of late. Visitation keeps building, in fact remarkably so. Partly I assume this is because there is so much going on that impacts on the mountains – the sections dealing with alpine grazing, prospecting in national parks, private developments in parks, and logging, are all getting major attention.

In spite of these and other threats and issues, there are lots of good reasons to be out in the mountains. As the saying goes: “Stuff politics, let’s dance” (or ride/ walk/ run/ climb / paddle/ or maybe just sit and enjoy).

Mountain Journal is also on facebook, where the focus is on celebration of everything mountain.

It would be great if people felt inspired to contribute photos. The photo of the day posting features a pic of a favourite place: please feel free to send yours to cam.walker@foe.org.au or post them directly on the FB page.

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Victoria under threat

VIC map for web

In the time it has been in power, the Coalition government has implemented a comprehensive anti-environment agenda.

Yet many Victorians are not aware of how bad the government policies and actions have been.

The map shows some of the obvious hotspots and areas of impact. In terms of the Alps, this includes the cattle grazing proposal. Feel free to post others – eg potential private development in national parks – on the Friends of the Earth facebook page.

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State decision on future of native forest timber industry expected soon

The following is taken from an article in the Herald Sun newspaper written by James Campbell.

CH-Reserve-Proposal-01_articlefullwidth

In the next few weeks the State Government will make a decision which is likely to seal the fates of leadbeater’s possums and Victoria’s native forest timber industry.

Cabinet will soon consider a report from an advisory group which includes such possum-friendly folk as the boss of the Victorian Association of Forest Industries and representatives of VicForests, established to consider ways it can be saved “while maintaining a sustainable timber industry”. The report has gone to Environment Minister Ryan Smith and Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh. What it says, we’ll have to wait and see.

Government sources say that the two men take a different view of what should be done. Smith is believed to support the creation of a Central Highlands National Park to save the possum, while Walsh is prepared to accept a small area be set aside to save the timber industry. His line of argument with his colleagues is expected to be that this is a jobs issue, which in an election year should trump other considerations. The Government claims the industry employs 2300 people, but it is unclear how many of those jobs depend entirely on native forestry, rather than a mixture of native and plantation timber. The largest employer, with 900 jobs, is the Maryvale paper plant, which has indicated in the past it would be happy to shift to chips from plantations. VicForests itself only employs 114 people.

Normally, the smart money would be on “Walshie” to get his way. The Agriculture Minister has earned a reputation for winning internal battles. In a Smith vs. Walsh fight it would be no contest. The wildcard, though, is Treasurer Michael O’Brien and his department. O’Brien is unlikely to be impressed with an industry whose subsidies are retarding the growth of the private enterprise plantation industry. The possum may yet triumph over the loggers.

The full article can be read here.

For details on the proposed Great Forest National Park, check here.

The Herald Sun has some salient points about the finances around the economics of the native forest industry. Should the tax payer continue to subsidise the logging of our native forests potentially at the risk of losing the Leadbeaters Possum?. The article says:

As for VicForests financial statements, the best that can be said for them is that they are not as bad as they used to be.

(In the last year) its net profit was only $802,000 — which, while pretty dismal, is still better than the $96,000 it lost the year before.

VicForests hasn’t paid a dividend to the Victorian Treasury, i.e. the taxpayers, since 2007.

Indeed, it has only managed to pay a dividend twice since it was established in 2004. Across its eight years of existence it has reported an after-tax profit of only $12.3 million. But even that you can take with a grain of salt, as over the same period it has received government grants of $24.7 million.

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take action to keep cattle out of the Alpine national park

grazing bannerThe following comes from the Victorian National Parks Association.

In an exercise likely to cost the Victorian taxpayer more than half a million dollars, the Napthine Government is pushing to let cattle into the Alpine National Park’s beautiful Wonnangatta Valley next month.

They claim it is a trial to see how effective cattle grazing will be at reducing bushfires, but the so-called research trial is not actually part of the Victorian Government’s bushfire research program. It is in fact funded separately in an effort to honour a promise made by the Victorian Coalition to return cattle to the park.

What we need from you

The Federal Government has declared it will assess and approve or reject the proposed trial under national environmental laws.

The Wonnangatta Valley, part of the Alpine National Park, is protected under these laws as “national heritage” and is home to a number of nationally threatened species including rare orchids.

You have until 5pm next week (February 25) to say why the trial should not go ahead.

Please send a submission to the Victorian Government’s Department of Environment and Primary Industries, telling them why the trial will hurt the National Heritage listed Alpine National Park. Your comments will also be sent to the Australian Government.

Tell them:

  •     Cattle do not belong in the National Heritage listed Alpine National Park.
  •     The trial will allow cattle to graze half of the only population of the nationally threatened Pale Golden Moths orchid in a protected area, and a quarter of the entire known population.
  •     The trial design is careless, as they plan to bring cattle in as soon as March this year, even though there have been no fauna surveys done at the site, which is likely to contain populations of several threatened reptiles and frogs.
  •     The trial will contribute little, if anything, to our understanding of fire management in the high country. There are far better research programs to spend valuable research funds on.
  •     There has been no effort to find a suitable site for the trial outside the Alpine National Park, even though many suitable sites exist.

Please also add your own words about why you believe this trial should not go ahead.

Submissions MUST be sent by 5pm, Tuesday 25 February.

Send to:
Wonnangatta Valley Research Trial
Department of Environment and Primary Industries
PO Box 500
East Melbourne VIC 3002
wv.trial@depi.vic.gov.au

Please check the VNPA facebook page for further details on how to make a submission.

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Tasmania: ‘open for business’

MTWELLINGTON-590x400As a serious greenie type, I rarely get around to posting much on this site that’s (deliberately) humorous.

But I have been enjoying the efforts of a guy called Fast Freddy, in the build up to the Tasmanian election.

His website says:

Fast Freddy is your independent candidate for Denison in the Tasmanian state election 2014.

Fast Freddy has always been a strong believer in free market economics, big business, small government and unrestricted access to natural resources.

Freddy’s hobbies include four wheel driving, shooting native wildlife, binge drinking, golf and gambling. He is passionate about gun rights, land clearing, climate skepticism and driving his G class Mercedes SUV at high speeds.

Given we have been tracking the debate about the proposal to build a cable car on Mt Wellington, I thought his election pitch for the mountain was worth sharing.

You can see the film here. (NB: it is fairly ‘sweary’).

His facebook page is here. He is currently seeking financial support to ‘create more populist policy on the run’ and fund his election campaign.

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STEPS – A Journey to the Edge of Climate Change (the whole film)

StepsFrom Ride Greener.

After storming cinemas and film festivals across Europe and North America, the first climate-friendly ski and snowboard film, STEPS, is now available online for everyone to watch. STEPS is there to show us how we can snowboard and ski in harmony with nature – without giving up any fun.

Choose how much you pay: You can watch STEPS for FREE or make a DONATION to Ride Greener. Each voluntary donation will be reasonably used and 100% invested in the Ride Greener environmental campaign.

You can watch the film here.

Donation information here

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Human-Powered Mountaineers

Image: Human-Powered Mountaineers
Image: Human-Powered Mountaineers

I love these people: Human-Powered Mountaineers use bikes to access the peaks for their adventures (as well as promoting sustainable food production and lifestyles).

Human-Powered Mountaineers is a grassroots organisation that was started by Justene Sweet and Christopher Bangs.  Their mission involves climbing mountains completely under their own power all the way from their own doorstep.  To accomplish this they incorporate the use of their bicycles to get them from their homes to the trailheads, and then they start climbing from there. They are based in Bozeman, Montana.

They say:
 Our mission is to inspire people to be passionate about environmental stewardship through bicycle advocacy, and local organic farming. We aim to educate people about creating a positive change in the world  through simple daily actions, while continuing to live life to the absolute fullest of  potentials.

A current project they have this (northern) winter is to climb and ski the highest peak in each of the 7 mountain ranges that surround Bozeman. All 100% human-powered on a 100% plant based diet.

This project is raising money for our grassroots networks; BIKE TO FARM, and School Slide Show Series.

They attempted all 7 peaks and summited on two.

As they say in the wrap-up,
winter human-powered ski mountaineering IS REALLY FREAKING HARD!!!!!!!

Check the site for some excellent videos of their attempts on the peaks.

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How well has the Napthine government managed our environment?

Sealers Cove, Wilsons Prom NP
Sealers Cove, Wilsons Prom NP

The following is from the Victorian National Parks Association.

With a Victorian state election due in November this year a survey has been launched asking people what they think of the Napthine Government’s environmental policy.

If you are concerned about the way the Victorian Government has handled conservation issues please take the survey, it only takes a few minutes at most.

You can do the survey here.

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Splitfest 2014

Splitfest – Australia’s backcountry boarding festival

4201417Now in it’s third year, the Splitfest DownUnder is THE gathering for anyone interested in trying out splitboarding or just meeting other people who are into backcountry boarding.

Details below and on the festival website.

The NSW Splitfest DownUnder will be held over the weekend of the 29th – 31st of August in the NSW main range.

You can register here.

Facebook page for the event here.

We will be holding the Friday night entertainment at the Banjo Paterson Inn Starting @ 6pm (1 Kosciuszko Road Jindabyne Snowy Mountains New South Wales 2627).

IMG_00000903There will be all the usual trimmings, T-Shirts, give a ways, raffles and loads of fun. Some of the prize categories include worst DIY job, most inventive Splitboard design etc. etc.

An official list will be out soon so stay tuned!

You have the option to stay in Jindabyne, camp in the National Park or my favorite camp on the peaks.

There will be rental gear available to those who need it. Jump on board and meet some new touring partners, the more the merrier!

This is a free event, there are no guides so you must be able to make your own terrain decisions.

Organised by FirstLight boards.

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when backcountry trips go wrong, there is always a Plan B

glacierbay-336x190Ok, it’s late summer. Its been stinking hot, dry, and fires have been going for weeks in East Gippsland and a number of spots in the high country. We still have a long warm spell ahead of us.

We all need some cheering up. This short film from Mark Allen, and coming via Backcountry magazine may do the job. Nine days of snow storms sounds kind of like a nice option when compared with the smokey humidity of late February … Enjoy.

The blurb about the film:

“Outdoor Research Athletes Mark Allen and Sheldon Kerr have grand ideas of first ski descents in a remote area of Glacier Bay National Park in Southeast Alaska. After hiring a bush pilot to fly them deep into the park from Haines everything goes well, at first. The ski mountaineering powder fest turns in to some major tent time and days filled by camp maintenance while pinned in a storm for 9 days. The two try to figure out how to stay fed with 7 days of rations in an unchanging situation. Once the two learned the pilot was not coming back, the adventure began”.

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