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What are the environmental costs of the Mt Wellington cable car?

The proposed cable car which would cut up the face of Mount Wellington/ kunanyi has now received support from the Tasmanian government through legislation which will facilitate access to land to build the project.

But there are still many hurdles for the proponent. No final development proposal has been put forward as yet. As we wait to see what further developments will occur, it’s worth remembering the significant environmental impacts associated with the cable car proposal.

The following briefing was produced by Friends of the Earth Australia.

Continue reading “What are the environmental costs of the Mt Wellington cable car?” →

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The outdoor industry stands up to defend the Wild

What level of threat do we need to experience before we act?

The evidence that climate change is bearing down on us is absolutely compelling. And it is clear in regards to what is coming: the mountains and wild country that we love, which feeds our spirit and helps define who we are, is facing a grave, and potentially existential, threat. Without serious and concerted action to radically reduce greenhouse pollution now, we will experience shorter, more erratic winters, and longer and more frequent fire seasons. It will mean more frequent drought, hotter temperatures, and species pushed up the mountains until they run out of habitat.

Yet for the most part we continue with business as usual. The clock keeps ticking and we keep looking out the window, possibly hoping someone else will do something. The silence of the people who love the mountains – skiers, riders, hikers, climbers – and the industries who survive by supplying these communities – ski resorts, outdoor gear and tour companies – is generally deafening.

That’s why we have to be grateful wherever there is a rumbling of change, where companies and constituencies stir, get organised and speak out. One recent example comes for the USA, where the outdoor industry has become galvanised in opposing plans to undo protections for many (currently protected) wild places.

Continue reading “The outdoor industry stands up to defend the Wild” →

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Kuark forest protected through Court injunction

The Kuark forest is located in far East Gippsland, Victoria. This magnificent forest is home to rare rainforest and endangered animals. Sections of it are currently on logging schedules and could be cut at any moment. An access track has been cut into the first coupe.

In response, campaigners have set up a camp in the forest to oppose logging. In response, the Victorian government announced it would increase the protection given to old growth forests, but activists are not prepared for any of the coupe to be logged.

On Wednesday November 1st, a Supreme Court injunction has prevented logging from starting in the forest. Campaigners are celebrating this temporary protection.

Further information is available on the GECO website.

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Falls Creek Hawkweed Eradication Program Volunteer Surveys.

As you may know, Hawkweeds are a highly invasive pest plant species which could cause major environmental damage in alpine and sub-alpine areas of Australia if not eradicated early.

For several years there have been summer field trips where volunteers join with Parks Victoria to identify and remove Hawkweed from the Bogong High Plains. They will be on again this summer and you can register now.

Continue reading “Falls Creek Hawkweed Eradication Program Volunteer Surveys.” →

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The UrbanDura Alpine Challenge

This looks like an epic ride: from Omeo to the outskirts of Melbourne, over three days in April 2018. Riders are sponsored and will be raising funds for the Father Bob Foundation.

The following comes from the organisers:

UrbanEdge Homes and the Father Bob Foundation are joining forces again to feed people in need around the city fringe including St Kilda, South Melbourne and Flinders Street Station.

This year, the UrbanDura Boys are taking the fundraiser ride to new heights with the UrbanDura Alpine Challenge. The proposed course is set to start in Omeo and finish in Melbourne. This three day event will cover 435km of uphills and downhills.

Continue reading “The UrbanDura Alpine Challenge” →

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Increased fire frequency is changing snow gum forest structure

Mountain Journal has often reported on the impacts of climate change enhanced fire seasons on the mountains of Australia and, in particular, on plant species.

The iconic mountain species of the mainland, the Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora), has been hammered in recent decades by multiple fires, often with small gaps between fires.

MJ previously reported on work carried out by researchers from Melbourne University who found that ‘over 90% of the Victorian distribution of snow gums has been burned at least once since 2003. What is of greater concern though, is that 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’.

They went on to say that higher incidences of bushfires, which are likely due to climate change, are devastating for the usually fire-tolerant snow gums of southern Australia.

Now an updated version of their work has been published in the Journal of Vegetation Science which delves into whether these more frequent and severe fires are leading to higher death rates of individual trees (individual snow gums have the ability to regrow after fire from ground level regrowth – called basal resprouts – but may also be killed). This work was carried out by Tom Fairman, Lauren Bennett, Craig Nitschke, and Shauna Tupper.

Continue reading “Increased fire frequency is changing snow gum forest structure” →

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What are the environmental costs of Snowy Hydro 2.0?

What are the environmental costs of Snowy Hydro 2.0?

Australia is still (sadly) stuck in a culture war over whether climate change is real. While the majority of Australians accept the fact, a significant number of political leaders are using their position to block meaningful action. This has immobilised any forward movement on developing a coherent national energy policy. If anything, the standoff between the conservatives and climate deniers on the one hand, who support more coal and gas, invoking the catch cry of energy security and reliability of supply, and those who heed climate science and understand the need to transition rapidly to renewable energy, is getting worse.

Thankfully technology is intervening to change the dynamics of the argument. The rapid development of storage technology is clearly a game changer when it comes to considering what is possible in terms of powering our nation. Domestic and commercial scale batteries and electric cars are two obvious points where the debate is changing. So is the prospect of pumped storage hydroelectricity, where a two way system is developed so water can be run through a hydro system to produce electricity, and retained below the point of generation, then pumped back up into the storage point (usually a dam) when electricity is very cheap.

As the federal government grapples with pumped hydro storage options it is becoming ever clearer that there are many places where such schemes could be established (It is estimated that there are more than 22,000 suitable locations right around Australia). But there are also plans to re-purpose the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme to be able to re-use water by creating a second pipeline system to pump water back into the storages. This is being referred to as Snowy Hydro 2.0.

On face value this seems to be a sensible option for getting more clean energy production out of the existing infrastructure. However there are obvious and very considerable environmental issues that need to be considered before the upgrade proceeds. The initial feasibility study (which is still underway) has already identified the major question of what to do with the spoil from the massive drilling operation that would be required to make the project viable. It will need 27 kilometres of tunnels, which may be up to 12.5 metes wide, and from the report below, it is clear that, at this point, the authorities have no idea where they would dump all the rock waste that would come from drilling the tunnels. It should go without saying that the Snowy scheme is within the Snowy Mountains National Park and so the waste will need to be taken outside the park.

Continue reading “What are the environmental costs of Snowy Hydro 2.0?” →

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Kuark forest old growth about to be logged

Kuark forest is located in far East Gippsland, Victoria. This magnificent forest is home to rare rainforest and endangered animals.

Logging of Kuark forest has previously destroyed the habitat of endangered forest Owls, Potoroos and Gliding possums. It’s also impacting on unique rainforest types, found nowhere else on earth. Kuark, which is just south of the Cool Temperate Forests of the Errinundra Plateau, contains stands of Warm temperate species which have evolved from tropical species that colonised Australia millions of years ago when the continent was joined to Papua New Guinea and Asia. These tropical like species slowly migrated down the east coast and East Gippsland is the most southerly extent of many of their distributional ranges (you can find additional information on the Kuark here and previous Mountain Journal stories are here).

VicForests is currently preparing to log some of the most spectacular old growth forest remaining in Victoria, wit logging equipment being moved into the coupe this week.

Continue reading “Kuark forest old growth about to be logged” →

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English Broom volunteer weekend

Parks Victoria is organising a weekend working bee near Omeo to tackle the invasive English Broom, through helping to release biocontrol agents (beetles and mites). It will happen over the weekend of 24th – 26th November.

Continue reading “English Broom volunteer weekend” →

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Ignition MTB festival at Falls Creek

‘Ignition’ is the launch event for the summer mountain biking season at Falls Creek. It’s aim is to ‘celebrate all things MTB’.

It’s a huge event, with rides, a bus shuttle service, backcountry rides and skills workshops, music, food and local craft beer.

It will happen at Falls Creek over the weekend of November 18 and 19.

It books out, so make sure you get in soon if you’re planning to attend. Details here.

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Tasmania + summer = water adventures

I prefer my water frozen. But rivers are still pretty cool … and as spring and summer comes into focus, so does water related adventure.

And Tasmania has it all: tarns, huge lakes and dams, impressive rivers, incredible coastal inlets and harbors like Port Davey on the west coast.

Here’s a few obvious thoughts about the options on offer if you’re looking for an adventure:

Continue reading “Tasmania + summer = water adventures” →

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What stories do you want Mountain Journal to cover?

Wow. Another winter done. Which means I have to post some stuff that’s not just about snow…. I’ve been getting quite a lot of emails lately from people with suggestions about topics to cover on Mountain Journal, which is great. I’d always welcome people writing pieces, as there are only so many hours in the day and lots of good and significant things go un-reported simply because of time constraints. Please feel free to send stories.

But these emails have got me thinking about the overall balance of topics covered in MJ. You feedback (via email cam.walker@foe.org.au) or the poll below would be most welcome.

PS: if you’re interested in what’s popular, I do an annual summary of most visited stories here. The overall most popular stories are: the sidecountry guide to the Mt Hotham area, the backcountry film festival and (interestingly) the trail notes to the ‘Ducane traverse’ in central west Tasmania.

 

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