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Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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Adventure on the western faces

Mt Sentinel with Watson Crags in the background
Mt Sentinel with Watson Crags in the background

“The mountain environment in Australia is unique and unlike anywhere else in the world. The people you meet and the friendships you forge are meaningful and rewarding. The mountain environment can teach us a lot about ourselves as individuals and as a collective. In today’s world of  cellular phones, games and other distractions the mountains provide me with a sanctuary were silence is promoted and the human senses come alive”.

John Blankenstein and his family reside on the Far south Coast of NSW. John has been exploring the mountains since the age of 15 were he fell in love with the sport of snowboarding. Being based on the coast so close to the snowy mountains provides ample opportunity for adventure. Over the last five years john has begun exploring the back country and the mountain environment that is on offer in the Snowy Mountains, NSW. Each year the Snowy Mountains provide a range of winter and summer based objectives that require a full suite of mountain skills.

In his first installment for mountain journal, John describes a big day out on the western slopes of the Main Range in the Snowy Mountains.

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Alpine grazing trial: “If this was a Masters’ project, we’d boot it back to the student”

It’s getting on to four years that the Victorian government has been pursuing its attempt to re-introduce cattle into the Victorian alpine national park. You would think that for an issue they are so committed to they would actually be able to produce a comprehensive and scientifically robust plan.

This has not been the case. The following article from the ABC is just the latest criticism of the trial from a scientific perspective. Journalist is Jeremy Story Carter.

Alpine grazing trial given fail mark

alpine grazingA senior scientist says the proposal for the Victorian National Alpine Park cattle grazing trial would receive a fail mark if it was the work of a student.

Professor Mark Burgman, chair of the School of the Botany at the University of Melbourne, reviewed the proposal as part of a submission to the Victorian Government by the Australian Academy of Science.

“If this was a Masters’ project, we’d boot it back to the student,” said Professor Burgman.

“If it was submission to the Australian Research Council, it wouldn’t get to first base, it would get bounced.”

Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt last week approved the trial, which will allow 60 cattle to be released into the Wonnangatta Valley this year, with more permitted over the coming two years, subject to review.

Professor Burgman believes the trial should not be permitted in its current form, as it fails to incorporate years of exhaustive research into the impacts of grazing on alpine regions.

“The science I see in front of me is lacking, and it is an admission that should be redressed before anyone starts to think about doing a trial of any kind,” he said.

“There is a wealth of information that could be used to help design the study, but they didn’t make any use of it. That 50-60 years of research ought to have been used to design the study.

“From a scientific perspective, it doesn’t make any sense to do that.”

He says the trial is too narrow in scope, and there is a potential for its findings to be used in other, broader contexts.

“It is very limited in space and its time – three years, one location,” said Professor Burgman.

“If one were to do this in isolation, it would be very easy to generate a set of results that are misleading, that you are then tempted to extrapolate to other places, other situations, that simply won’t function in the same way or react in the same way.”

Professor Burgman is concerned results from the trial could lead to mismanagement of future grazing regions.

“If you treat this trial in isolation, you will end up with some pretty significant surprises and start to manage the place in ways that will lead to outcomes you would have rather avoided.”

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Point zero zero one

East Face of Mt Feathertop, VIC. Image from the film by Stephen Curtain.
East Face of Mt Feathertop, VIC. Image from the film by Stephen Curtain.

As Tony Abbott threatens to de-list significant areas of the Tasmanian World heritage area (WHA) so the loggers can get to the old growth forests that are currently protected, it’s worth remembering that all our WH Areas are special and most of them are already under pressure from climate change.

No area has as many climate pressures as the Australian Alps. This film from Stephen Curtain offers some great telemark skiing images from the Western slopes of the Main Range in the Snowy Mountains. It also reminds us how unique and vulnerable this landscape already is. There have been several attempts to get World Heritage listing for the Australian Alps over the years. In an era of climate change and ever more demands on wild places, we need more world heritage areas, not less.

Check the film here.

Stephen says:

Point zero zero one (0.001) is the approximate percentage of the Australian continent occupied by the Australian Alps.

Bordering one Territory and two States, this biogeographical island supplies invaluable fresh water to much of south east Australia and provides outstanding natural, spiritual and cultural values.

Although the Australian Alps are recognised as a national iconic landscape by federal national park agencies and Tourism Australia in recognition of such values (see australia.com/campaigns/nationallandscapes/AustralianAlps.htm), World Heritage Listing still eludes the Australian Alps.

Point zero zero one celebrates the fleeting beauty of these Alps.

This short film was an entrant to Bristol’s 2012 Wildscreen Festival in the UK. Visit wildscreenfestival.org/

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Mountain Journal turns four

south west gullies of Mt Hotham
south west gullies of Mt Hotham

Wow. Year four of the mountain journal. I love doing this early autumn reflection on the past year, but always feel a bit shocked that it has come around so soon. Thankfully the fires were not as bad this summer as the previous year, although the Tamboritha complex did give some serious worries for a while there. What stands out for me was the long and brutal heatwaves that we endured over summer after a fairly mediocre winter that saw various wash-outs of the entire snow base in Victoria mid season.

As we cycle into the cooler seasons and get some perspective on the year, what is apparent to me is the growing number of serious land management issues confronting the mountains, from the woefully badly managed proposal from the Victorian government to re-introduce cattle grazing into the Victorian alpine park, opening some parks to prospecting, on-going struggles against logging, and plans to allow private development in national parks. The pro development, anti environment, climate change denying troglodytes that currently run Canberra and Victoria are happily dismantling the work of decades to build some basic environmental protections. Tony Abbott is more brash than the Victorian Liberals (announcing, for instance, this week that there are too many national parks) but both state and federal Coalition parties have done a hand brake turn and are racing back to the 1950s when it comes to environmental issues as fast as they can.

You can find the rest of the post here.

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Alpine grazing trial ‘will be a neat demonstration that cows eat grass’

The following update and call out comes from the Victorian National Parks Association.

There was also an interesting report on Bush Telegraph on ABC, with the following quote:

In a report titled Does Alpine grazing reduce blazing? A landscape test of a widely-held hypothesis. Dr Williams found ‘the use of domestic stock to mitigate fire extent and severity at landscape scale under conditions of extreme fire weather, is not justified on the basis of the current scientific understanding of fire behaviour, livestock behaviour and alpine vegetation dynamics.’

Dr Williams says there is no justification for the current trial.

‘It has no scientific justification and the trial as it is set out has very little scientific credibility… it will be a neat demonstration that cows eat grass.

in the Wonnangatta, looking north
in the Wonnangatta, looking north

Don’t let Abbott & Co trash our parks

Today, Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved the Victorian Government’s application to trial cattle grazing in the Wonnangatta Valley, part of the National Heritage-listed Alpine National Park.
In a needlessly rushed decision the minister has approved the return of 60 cattle for a few weeks before winter sets in as part of a larger three year trial involving up to 300 cattle.
Sixty cattle, grazing for a few weeks, is by no means a scientific experiment. The same thing can be easily done outside the national park, but this option was not even considered.
The VNPA along with many scientists and members of the community made detailed submissions arguing against the cattle grazing trial, but obviously they have all been ignored.
The so-called scientific trial is a farce, here are just some of the reasons why:
  • There is still no peer reviewed scientific design for the trial.
  • There has been no consideration of a location outside of the national park.
  • The application ignores the considerable scientific evidence that cattle grazing does not significantly reduce alpine fires.
  • More than 60 years of research shows cattle damage alpine wetlands and the headwaters of many rivers, threatening nationally-listed rare plants and animals.
  • The rushed decision means there will be no time to carry out on-ground surveys for threatened and rare species that could be affected by cattle grazing.
Wonnangatta Valley has been in the Alpine National Park for more than 20 years. National parks were created for the conservation of nature, not as cow paddocks for graziers who want to regain privileged access to the park.
The Victorian Government has now wasted more than $1 million of taxpayers’ money on this deeply flawed ‘science project’ to appease its cattlemen mates. 
It is three years since the Coalition first promised to get cattle into the Alpine National Park, but we are yet to see a peer-reviewed scientific design for the project, or be told if any scientists have put their name to the ‘scientific trial’.
The Abbott and Napthine governments seem hell bent on trashing national parks, even though they are cherished by most Australians and envied by the rest of the world.
It’s time to stand up and make some noise for national parks! 
You can help by: 
We love national parks – they should provide a safe and secure home for our natural heritage, our native plants and animals. We use them to walk, ride, camp and relax, but never should they be used as cow paddocks!
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Greg Hunt approves Victorian Alpine National Park cattle grazing trial

In a sad but not unexpected move, the federal environment minister Greg Hunt has approved the Victorian government’s grazing trial in the Wonnangatta Valley within the Victorian national park.

Check here for some background.

This report comes from Tom Arup at The Age.

Greg Hunt approves Victorian Alpine National Park cattle grazing trial

alpine grazingCattle grazing will return to Victoria’s Alpine National Park after federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved a state government trial to have 60 to 300 cows in the park.

Mr Hunt’s approval stands in contrast to the Gillard Government which blocked a similar – albeit larger – cattle grazing trial, on the grounds it would damage the environment and the heritage values of the alpine region.

The Napthine government has pursued the trial saying it is necessary to test whether grazing reduces the risk of bushfires by removing fuel loads. Conservationists say there is little scientific rigour behind the program and past research shows cattle grazing has no impact on stopping bushfires, while damaging sensitive alpine ecology.

Under the trial, 60 cows will be released into the Wonnangatta Valley in the park for the first year of the program. In the second and third years of the trial, up to 300 cows could be introduced, though Mr Hunt would need to approve the expansion and extra years first.
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The approval of the second and third years of the trial by Mr Hunt will be contingent on additional surveys of rare and endangered species in the area and the impacts on heritage.

Mr Hunt has also put limits on the numbers of dogs and horses allowed to be used during the trial. Temporary electric fencing will also be installed along some of the 262-hectare trial site boundary.

Cattle grazing was first removed from the Alpine National Park in 2005 by the Bracks government. Grazing is backed by the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria, which says it is part of its long-standing cultural heritage and has campaigned for the practice to return to the national park.

Upon coming to power in Victoria in 2010, the Coalition moved to reinstall grazing in the park, proposing a five-year trial of 400 cattle across several sites to test its impact on bushfire risk.

The government then released cows in the national park in 2011 but was ordered to remove them by the Gillard Government because they had not sought approval under federal environment laws.

That sparked a bitter battle between Canberra and Spring Street over the trial. Former federal Environment Minister Tony Burke changed heritage protections for the alpine region to block cattle grazing, likening the proposal to Japanese “scientific” whaling.

The state government launched a legal challenge, which failed. When the Abbott government came to power last year it then resubmitted a slimmed down version of the trial.

Mr Hunt’s approval was made late on Wednesday night, and he says it followed a “rigorous assessment”.

 

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the Exteme Ice Survey – tracking the loss of the glaciers

The following article comes from the Winter 2014 issue of Mountain Magazine. It tracks the decline of a glacier in coastal Alaska and was written by Tad Pfeffer, scientific partner of the Extreme Ice Survey.

James Balog’s photographs reveal a glacier in retreat.
James Balog’s photographs reveal a glacier in retreat.

The tremendous snowfall of the Alaskan coastal ranges funnels down to the waters of Prince William Sound, where the Columbia Glacier calves icebergs into the Valdez shipping lanes. I’ve lived at the Columbia for a few weeks at a time for nearly 10 years, and at glaciers around the world for 35. I watch, measure, photograph, and poke at ice with various tools to reveal the inner workings of this particular cog in the great environmental machine we inhabit. My work is arcane, an oddball pursuit. Or it was. Surveying ice is now mainstream. The state of the world’s climate, and its glaciers, suddenly matters.

Since 1983, the Columbia Glacier’s length has shrunk by a third, losing 12 miles of ice. Pushing icebergs into the ocean at that rate is fast work. The Columbia can move 100 feet per day. In 2006, I used time-lapse photography as an observational tool. The next summer, renowned photographer James Balog and a film crew accompanied me to Alaska to do more.

The result of our work is the Extreme Ice Survey, a collection of large-scale, time-lapse imagery from Alaska, Iceland, and Greenland. Balog’s photos get the crucial point across: These giant systems are changing, and fast. Filmmaker Jeff Orlowski captured the big moments and the frustrating hurdles, and his contribution became the film Chasing Ice. Our collective labor informs those who must act, for the benefit of us all.

And our work continues. The EIS now gathers time-lapse photography from 28 cameras stationed at 13 glaciers in Greenland, Iceland, the Nepalese Himalayas, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains. South America and Antarctica are next. Each camera collects 8,000 frames annually, taking a photo every half-hour of daylight. The images help the public learn more about glaciers and ice sheets so that 35 years from now, the Columbia might still exist.

Visit extremeicesurvey.org for more information.

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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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