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Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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The Tabletop Fire, three months on

As fire seasons get longer and more intense, the impacts on the mountains that we love are already obvious. The forests get younger as wave after wave of fire kills the older trees and sometimes come so frequently they also kill off the new generations of seedlings.

Wildfire has devastated large swathes of snow gum habitat in the last few decades, with significant fires in the Victorian High Country in 1998, 2002/3, 2006/7 and 2013. Over 90% of the Victorian distribution of snow gums has been burned at least once since 2003. Each of the large fires of the last 15 years has overlapped to some extent, leaving thousands of hectares of snow gums burned by wildfire twice, and sometimes three times.

The take home message from research into snow gum forest is that if we want to have a hope of keeping remaining old forests, we need to exclude fire from them wherever possible.

I thought I would check out some forests that were burnt this summer. The news is a mix of good and bad.

Continue reading “The Tabletop Fire, three months on” →

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#CrushItForClimate

Back in early March (that seems like two years ago) Protect Our Winters (POW) launched #CrushItForClimate which asked people who love the outdoors to support POW’s efforts to ‘educate, organize and advocate on climate change’.

The idea was to get outdoors and do what you love, while also supporting POW’s work. Since then, more than 400,000 people have been inspired to embark on a climate advocacy journey while scaling and achieving their goals, even as the Coronavirus lockins started.

If you check the Instagram account there are wonderful images of people running, climbing, skiing, riding, and paddling in incredible landscapes. But now its starting to transition into indoor pursuits. It’s definitely worth a look for some couch bound inspiration.

Continue reading “#CrushItForClimate” →

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The Mountain Cosmos – stories from the mountains

Mountain Journal is a celebration of mountains and the mountain life. Apart from covering issues relating to the Australian Alps and Tasmania, we have tried to acknowledge and celebrate mountain culture, for instance through running interviews with people who have long and deep connection with the hills.

So it was a delight to discover The Mountain Cosmos website, which hosts podcast interviews with people whose lives are focused on mountains, here and overseas.

It is the work of Rouchelle Gilmore.

Continue reading “The Mountain Cosmos – stories from the mountains” →

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Mountain Journal turns ten

Woah. What a year. We had a good winter – third in a row, despite a late start (the first month of winter 2019 was the sort of winter you would expect under climate change scenarios) although not on the scale of the previous two. We saw some erratic weather (and even Australia’s largest recorded avalanche) but it turned into a decent season, followed by a mellow spring.

But then, fire, fire and more fire. Huge impacts on people and mountains. Then, finally coming out the other side and back to normal life, along came the Coronavirus/ COVID-19 pandemic. And who knows if the lifts will run this winter. The last decade has gone so quickly. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a crazy couple of months.

The annual reflection is here.

(I thought we needed a cheerful image. This one from the Climate Strike action at Hotham last September. Image: Karl Gray).

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Mountain Journal highlights – March 2020

This summer it was all about fires. Then, as the mountains started to open up and the weather cooled down, along came the Coronavirus, and things are locked down again.

Here is the monthly summary of key stories that have been featured on Mountain Journal. Enjoy.

Continue reading “Mountain Journal highlights – March 2020” →

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Supporting mountain communities. From afar.

Coronavirus/ COVID-19 is affecting everyone, including the outdoor community. Parks are closed to camping, mountain towns are in lock down, outside people are being encouraged to stay away from regional centres so they don’t put a burden on local health services. Outdoor stores and other small businesses are closing.

It is great that governments are stepping in and providing stimulus packages to support businesses. There is also so much we can do as a community.

Continue reading “Supporting mountain communities. From afar.” →

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‘Australia’s Environment Report’ identifies impacts on alpine areas

The annual Australia’s Environment Report summarises a large number of observations on the trajectory of our natural resources and ecosystems. It is prepared by the Centre for Water and Landscape Dynamics at the Australian National University (ANU).

As part of their report for 2019, they prepared an assessment of alpine areas. With hot weather, terrible fires, and dry conditions we already know how bad summer was for the mountains. This report quantifies some of the impacts.

Continue reading “‘Australia’s Environment Report’ identifies impacts on alpine areas” →

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Logging threatens Leadbeater’s Possum habitat

Industrial scale clear-fell logging is NOW taking place in the Snobs Creek Valley.  The Central Highlands are the most heavily logged area in Australia.  The highly biodiverse ecosystem of mountain and alpine ash in the Rubicon State Forest has been virtually logged-out.

Lead beaters possum and Greater Gliders are widespread through the Snobs Valley. In one night 30 Greater Gliders were found in one of the proposed Vicforests logging coupes. These animals are listed as threatened species under the federal EPBC Act.

The three coupes currently being logged at Snobs are:  Shackle, Snobs 13 and Snobs 14 and other sensitive coupes are also being logged at Torbreck and Bull fight (see map).

Continue reading “Logging threatens Leadbeater’s Possum habitat” →

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Interview: Vicki Adams

Vicki recently helped establish Outdoors People for Climate Action, which aims to engage people who work in or love the outdoors with the Climate Movement. This will help to mobilise a group of people with strong connections to wild and natural places, and connect them with the movement which is working to protect these areas from the long term impacts of climate change.

Vicki has decided to devote 2020 to climate action. As part of our series of interviews with people with connections to the mountains and outdoors, Vicki shared some thoughts on her work and connections to place.

The interview is available here.

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Energy experts call for halt to Snowy 2.0

Back in 2017, the Federal Government announced a feasibility study into the possible expansion to the Snowy Hydro Scheme in the Snowy Mountains of NSW.  It was billed as being a circuit breaker in the ongoing impass in the ‘fossil fuels vs renewables’ energy debate because it would be renewable energy that will provide baseload capacity. The project would greatly enhance the pumped hydro capacity of the existing hydro scheme, meaning that water can be used multiple times to produce electricity.

While some environmentalists gave in principle support to the project, many wanted to see the details on what the physical environmental impacts of the project would be. In 2019, the NSW government released the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) into the project. This showed the level of physical impact of the project. The National Parks Association of NSW said in response that the EIS ‘proposes a completely unacceptable level of damage to Kosciusko National Park’. It has been expected that the project will soon receive approval for its EIS from the NSW government.

Now a group of thirty Australian energy experts have called for a halt to the hydro scheme.

Continue reading “Energy experts call for halt to Snowy 2.0” →

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SOCIAL MEDIA ACTION: Support science-based Emissions Reduction Targets in Vic!

We all know that unchecked climate change poses an existential threat to the wild places we know and love.

This is a global problem, and requires a co-ordinated global solution. But all states, governments and communities also need to play their part. And we have a huge opportunity to see Victoria leap forward and start the transition away from it’s current reliance on fossil fuels.

This is a simple (and hopefully, creative) action that only takes a few minutes to do.

Continue reading “SOCIAL MEDIA ACTION: Support science-based Emissions Reduction Targets in Vic!” →

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Stay Safe. Be Well. Be Kind.

Victoria is now under lock down as a way to minimise the spread of the Coronavirus/ COVID-19. Here are a few ideas and resources that might help keep you sane and inspired until it’s over.

Look after yourselves, neighbours and communities in these coming weeks. I can’t say it better than TGR did: Be Safe. Be Well. Be Kind.

Continue reading “Stay Safe. Be Well. Be Kind.” →

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