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Keep the Western Lakes Wild and Public

The proposal for helicopter-accessed luxury huts at Lake Malbena is the test case for more than 30 secret development plans under the current Government’s Expressions of Interest process.

This exclusive and secretive lease of $1,000/year will destroy the serenity and all that is precious about the Western Lakes in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA)

Come along to a public meeting hosted by Fishers and Walkers against helicopter access Tasmania to hear the latest & what we can do about it. Tickets are required (due to Covid) but are free!
Sunday, September 20, 2020 at 2 PM – 4 PM

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Remembering the mountain pygmy-possum on National Threatened Species Day

 National Threatened Species Day happens on 7 September.  It is a day to consider native plants, animals and ecosystems that are under threat and how we can protect them into the future. 

It is held annually to commemorate the night of 7 September 1936 when the last Tasmanian tiger died in Hobart Zoo. With the death of this animal the thylacine species became extinct. 

This year we thought we would focus on the mountain pygmy-possum.

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Online Victorian Backcountry Festival 2020

The 3rd Victorian backcountry festival should be happening this weekend at Mt Hotham. Sadly, the coronavirus lockdown meant we had to cancel the event. However, we have organised a wonderful, free, online event tomorrow afternoon (Sunday September 6).

It will be a relaxed Sunday afternoon full of FREE backcountry speakers, seminars and workshops. It will be held over Zoom. There are three parallel streams, finishing with a screening of the great Australian backcountry film The Western Faces.

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Fire season outlook good news for the mountains

As landscapes slowly recover after last summer’s terrible fires, which burnt huge sections of the High Country in Victoria, NSW and the ACT, the seasonal fire forecast for spring is much better than this time last year.

The Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook: September – November 2020, produced by the Bushfire and Natural Hazard Cooperative Research Centre, paints a welcome picture of a mild season in the South East and lutruwita/ Tasmania. The Outlook is produced quarterly in order to help fire authorities to make strategic decisions for the coming season, such as resource planning and prescribed fire management.

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Cable Car application is ‘incomplete’

The long attempt by a developer to build a cable car up the face of kunanyi/ Mt Wellington, in Hobart continues. The proponent, Mt Wellington Cable Car (MWCC) has submitted it’s Development Application (DA) to Hobart City Council. However local resident’s group Respect the Mountain. No Cable Car say that the DA application is incomplete.

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Feral deer moving into World Heritage Parks in Tasmania

Australia has enormous problems with large invasive species like feral pigs, horses and deer. These species have negatively impacted huge sections of the continent. Yet self interest sometimes over rides the need to remove these populations. For instance, hunters sometimes argue that animals like deer should be left in wild places like national parks to allow continued hunting. And there is a huge campaign to see feral horse populations retained in the Australian Alps on spurious ‘cultural’ grounds.

Public debate has focused strongly on wild horse populations over the past few years. The threat poised by deer in lutruwita/ Tasmania is set to become a major public issue as the size of the feral deer population becomes clear. It is obvious that deer are moving into new habitats, and will bring enormous ecological impacts as they do so.

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Online Victorian Backcountry Festival

Because of the COVID-19 lock down, we have had to cancel the Victorian Backcountry Festival for 2020. However, in lieu of the festival that was scheduled for 4 – 6th September, we are planning a relaxed Sunday afternoon (Sept 6) full of backcountry speakers, seminars and workshops to be held over Zoom.

Continue reading “Online Victorian Backcountry Festival” →

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Taungurung people to jointly manage Buffalo and part of Alpine National Park

On 26 October 2018 the Victorian Government, the Taungurung Land and Waters Council Aboriginal Corporation (TLaWCAC), and the Taungurung Traditional Owner group signed a suite of agreements under the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010 (Vic), and related legislation. The agreement was signed after a 15-year campaign by traditional owners and three years of settlement negotiations.

The Recognition and Settlement Agreement has now come into effect. This means that ownership of nine Victorian parks and reserves, include Mt Buffalo National Park and a section of the Alpine National Park, and up to five surplus public land parcels have been transferred to the Taungurung Traditional Owner Group.

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Fines for being in a National Park?

There has been a long community campaign against plans by a ‘tourism entrepreneur’ to establish a private tourism venture on a small island in a conservation area on the Central Plateau of lutruwita/ Tasmania. There have been various legal challenges and a strong community campaign against this privatisation of public space.

Now it has been reported that the development has powers of eviction and the right to install surveillance cameras. It is possible that fines and even prison terms could apply for walkers and fishers who attempt to step onto the island.

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Young and fit? Living in Melbourne and love the mountains? This one is for you

Over the past 15 years I have watched our mountain forests – alpine ash and snow gum – burn and burn. More than 90% of the Victorian distribution of snow gums has burned at least once since 2003. Climate change is creating longer and more intense fire seasons and this is changing our mountains. The world has warmed as a result of human activity and now all fire events occur in a warmer environment.

Last summer’s fires showed that we simply don’t have enough resources to fight these ‘fires of the future’.

Maybe this is where you come in.

Continue reading “Young and fit? Living in Melbourne and love the mountains? This one is for you” →

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Main Range backcountry conditions report 22/8

It’s wonderful to have all this fresh snow. With the national parks and resorts in Victoria closed, this is relevant for people from NSW and the ACT who are heading to the mountains this weekend.

If you are heading into the backcountry, be aware that there will be some tough weather and snow conditions.

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Traditional names for ‘Australian’ mountains

I am keenly aware that no Aboriginal group or nation ever ceded it’s land to the colonisers. So those of us living in Australia are all living on stolen land. There is a lot of unfinished business that needs to be resolved, starting with negotiating a meaningful treaty between First Nations and the rest of the people living on this continent.

For a long time, indigenous people and traditions were white washed out of mainstream narratives about the mountains. As traditional owner groups reassert their connection to Country, that is slowly changing, and we can see it across the Alps. The first Aboriginal person I knew who had a strong connection to the mountains was Eddie Kneebone, who I met through our campaign work in north east Victoria in the 1990s. He had an astonishing depth of knowledge. He was instrumental in the campaign to have the Niggerheads on the Bogong High Plains renamed. It got me thinking about the power of language and names.

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