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Mountain Journal

Environment, news, culture from the Australian Alps

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activism

Snow gum protection getting closer

Snow Gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) are the classic tree of the Australian High Country. They are profoundly different to the trees found in mountain areas in other parts of the world, and give a uniquely Australian sense to our high country. However, they are facing a double threat: they are at risk from dieback and climate change driven bushfires.

Like most eucalypt species, the snow gum can survive fire. However, climate change is leading to more frequent and intense fire, which is causing more death of trees and changes to forest structure. And while dieback, caused by a native beetle, is a natural occurrence, the dieback is getting worse and more widespread because climate change is making winters warmer and summers drier and hotter.

While most snow gums in Victoria are included in national parks, we are on the verge of losing the landscapes that we spent decades protecting.

Friends of the Earth have been running a campaign to ensure that the Victorian government acts in a meaningful way to head off these threats. Here is an update on recent progress made in the campaign, and new directions in the work.

Continue reading “Snow gum protection getting closer”

FoE and POW events in north east VIC

Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Protect our Winters (POW) recently collaborated on a series of events in north east Victoria as both groups aim to ramp up their efforts in that part of the state in coming months.

Continue reading “FoE and POW events in north east VIC”

Good news – protection for snow gums gets closer

As you will know, winning a significant campaign can take years of work. I am really pleased to be able to tell you about some great developments on snow gums that we have recently helped achieve.

You may recall that Friends of the Earth (FoE) started working in the Victorian high country in 2021 because there was very limited forest campaign work going on in the north east at the time, and many dire threats of logging in special forests. We released the Icon at Risk report, which made it clear snow gum forests are facing an existential threat from climate change driven fire and expanded impact of dieback. We campaigned for an end to logging in the high country, and developed a rescue plan for snow gum forests.

During the campaign, we have had to deal with three different environment ministers on these issues. Each time we needed to get the new minister and their staff up to speed on the issue, then encourage them to act.

In February this year we hosted the first ever snow gum summit, which allowed us to build the profile of the campaign and give the government more detail about how they need to respond to protect snow gum forests.

And now, after four years of consistent work, we have some great news.

Continue reading “Good news – protection for snow gums gets closer”

End of Financial Year appeal for mountain environments

As we get to the end of the financial year, every not for profit group in the universe is asking for donations. This might be of interest if you are interested in funding advocacy for mountain environments.

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Alpine Odyssey Aotearoa to cross NZ from north to south

Many backcountry enthusiasts will be familiar with Huw Kingston. Most recently he has released and toured the film Alpine Odyssey, which covers his winter crossing of the Australian Alps during 2022, which was unusual because he visited all of the ski resorts along the way.

Now he is planning a winter crossing of Aotearoa New Zealand. Traveling from the tip of the North Island to the bottom of the South, he and his friend Laurence Mote plan to ski, cycle, walk and sail the full length of both islands. They also intend to ski at all 24 ski fields in the country. They start their journey on 25 June.

You can read more below.

Continue reading “Alpine Odyssey Aotearoa to cross NZ from north to south”

Mountain health snapshot

Much of the mountain country across south eastern Australia and lutruwita/ Tasmania is on protected public lands. While the ski resorts continue to intensify the impact of their existing footprint through continued building and infrastructure, across the undeveloped zones there are also a range of projects that threaten the health of ecosystems.

Seperately, each can feel insignificant. But when taken collectively the impact is enormous. This is a quick assessment of some of the big picture trends happening across the Alps and mountainous zones of Tasmania at present.

Continue reading “Mountain health snapshot”

Managing the grief

For the last few years, Friends of the Earth has been hosting guided walks in the high country to show people areas at risk from logging. These have included Mt Stirling, the upper Little Dargo River, and the stronghold of older snow gums that exists at Mt Wills and which would have been put at risk by logging that had been planned for Alpine Ash forests on the mountain.

With the government announcing an end to logging on public lands in the east of the state in early 2024, we shifted the focus of our walks onto snow gum woodlands, which are increasingly being impacted by climate change driven fire regimes and dieback caused by a native beetle.

In early 2024 we led a walk to visit what we called the ‘ghost forests’ of the high ridge between the Tawonga huts and Mt Fainter on the north western edge of the Bogong High Plains.

Continue reading “Managing the grief”

Mountain Journal magazine #4 now online

Once a year we produce the Mountain Journal magazine. It is distributed through mountain and valley towns from Melbourne to Canberra each autumn. 2024 is the fourth print edition, and the magazine is being distributed at present.

You can also enjoy this PDF of the magazine MJ4.

Continue reading “Mountain Journal magazine #4 now online”

Profile: Hilary McAllister from For Wild Places

Hilary McAllister describes the development and role of the trail running group For Wild Places.

Activism and the outdoors are two pursuits that, in recent years, have evolved into a symbiotic relationship.  As history would have us believe, activism is a pursuit of the immensely passionate. Dedicated souls who shun societal expectations, choosing to reside in remote, sometimes damp, forest camps, utilising our scarcest resource – time – to protect wild places under threat.

Growing up in an average, rural family, this path to activism felt out of reach to me, too extreme for my somewhat beige sensibility. But along with descriptors such as accident-prone, nomad and feminist, activist has made its way onto my bio and into my way of life.

Continue reading “Profile: Hilary McAllister from For Wild Places”

Are you suffering from Shifting Baseline Syndrome?

How often do you see an image or vista like this when you’re in the mountains? Whether you drive up from the valley towns through mile after mile of grey alpine ash trunks, or wander, ski or ride through the snow gum ghost forests of the high plains, you are witnessing a world that didn’t exist a generation ago.

Whereas we would have infrequent hot fire in the high country in the past, now we have fire on endless repeat. The forests get younger as we get older, yet this new reality of dead trees and thick regrowth becomes understood as being ‘normal’. Many people don’t recognise that what they see as they look out from a ski resort over burnt out hills is actually ecological collapse in real time.

Are we all just witnessing a deteriorating landscape and thinking it is ‘normal’ because we don’t have a memory of what was here before?

Continue reading “Are you suffering from Shifting Baseline Syndrome?”

Loving the Vic Alps- FoEM X Patagonia event

Join the Friends of the Earth Melbourne forests campaign at Patagonia Melbourne for an evening to hear all about our Alpine campaign and where to next.

We’ve been raising awareness through community events about the special Alpine regions, highlighting the incredible outdoor and nature values that are at risk due to the impacts of logging.
With the state government’s recent announcement that it will end logging by Jan 1 2024, there is now a good chance that we can expand protections for these areas, safeguarding their future and adequately addressing the needs of vulnerable ecosystems in a rapidly changing climate.

There is still much to do: we will need to listen deeply to the aspirations of First Nations people, influence government decisions in coming months, and continue our advocacy and citizen science work in the high country.

Please join us on October 11 to be educated and inspired to take action to protect the mountains and forests that we all love.

The evening features some great short films and updates on what’s happening in the Alps.

  • Campaigning in the high country. Alana Mountain is a forests campaigner with Friends of the Earth. She has been working to see high country forests protected from logging.

    Image: Alana in the Vic high country
  • The nature of Australia’s high mountains are changing. Recent, repeated landscape-scale fires have burnt much of the subalpine forests dominated by Snow gum. Long-unburnt forests are now exceedingly rare. John will identify where long-unburnt Snow gum persists in the Victorian Alps and outline why management intervention is necessary to protect these unburnt refuges.

John Morgan is a plant ecologist from La Trobe University who has a passion for documenting high mountain floras, their dynamics over long timescales, and how they are faring in the face of invasive animals, less snow and increasing frequency of fires.

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Image: John Morgan

The Australian Alp – Taylor Bennie-Faull

Mt Feathertop’s striking beauty holds a special place in the hearts of the Australian backcountry snow community. As one of the only mountains here that resembles its northern hemisphere counterparts, The Australian Alp tells a story of the profound impact it’s had on a group of keen explorers.

Taylor is a documentary filmmaker based out of Melbourne who seeks to empower viewers through connecting them to the deeper emotions of storytelling. He’s been active in outdoor sports from a young age which has fostered his love for the  natural world and ways to reduce ecological footprints. His aspiration is to use his documentaries as a means to engage others with the environment.

This gorgeous 12 minute film is a homage to one of our favourite mountains.

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Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth will open the evening. Cam has been working on a range of issues in the Alps for many years, and co-write the Icon at Risk report which outlines threats to the Alps. He recently wrote this piece for the Patagonia blog Roaring Journal.

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Register your attendance, see you there!

This is a free event but we ask you to rsvp for catering purposes.

https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/foem_alpine_event_patagonia

Continue reading “Loving the Vic Alps- FoEM X Patagonia event”

Lower elevation resorts rapidly becoming non viable under climate change impacts

We know that climate change is reducing the overall amount of snow we receive in Australia. The snow pack has been in decline since at least 1957. We also know that the loss of snow is being felt especially at lower elevations.

This is certainly being experienced this winter, where places like Tasmania and lower resorts like Mt Selwyn have had almost no snow.

Continue reading “Lower elevation resorts rapidly becoming non viable under climate change impacts”

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