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A report on the snow gum surveys & plans for what’s next

Snow gums are the iconic vegetation species of the Australian High country.

They are beautiful, vital for biodiversity and tourism, help hold snow pack which is released into river catchments, and have deep cultural and personal value for many people.

However, we are now seeing the beginning of ecosystem collapse across these forests – drought, dieback and successive fires have altered the structure, composition, and condition of snow gum woodlands dramatically.

For the past 5 years, Friends of the Earth (FoE) has been working to gain protection for these forests from the twin threats of dieback and fire. A part of that work has involved hosting a series of surveys to determine the health of snow gums across the high country. This is a report on the surveys that were held in August and plans for further surveys in January.

Continue reading “A report on the snow gum surveys & plans for what’s next” →

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A return to Baw Baw

The bulky massif of the Baw Baw plateau is a serene bookend to the view as you look north from the Latrobe Valley. It is ringed by tall forests of Alpine Ash, Shining and Tingaringy Gum, Mountain Ash and Messmate. Despite years of intensive logging, the landscape still feels largely intact, as foothill forests give way to mountain vegetation and then the snow gums. The plateau itself is a gorgeous undulating landscape of ridge and shallow frost hollow valleys. The rare treat of seeing Nothofagus (myrtle beech) intermingled with snow gums adds to the magical feel of the place, as do the granite boulders and lime green carpets of moss that cover the rocks.

It is also important in terms of the animals that live here. The Baw Baw Plateau and parts of the adjoining Upper Thomson are recognised as being of global zoological significance. Animals in the park include:

  • The endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, Victoria’s state faunal emblem. Inhabiting the Mountain Ash forests, they rely on old hollow trees and the dense understorey of wattles for nesting and feeding.
  • The critically endangered endemic Baw Baw Frog.

And the snow gum forests of Baw Baw are incredibly important. This area was terribly burnt during the Black Friday fires of 1939. Now the forests on the plateau are the largest area of long unburnt snow gum remaining in Victoria. While only a little more than 80 years of age, many trees are now of a size that the forests remind us of what much of the Australian high country looked like before the climate change driven fires that have dominated over the past three decades.

There is also quite limited evidence of dieback, which is killing snow gums across most of the high country.

Continue reading “A return to Baw Baw” →

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Snow gum surveys: The forest looks green, but 2/3 of trees are dying.

Snow gums are the iconic vegetation species of the Australian High country.

They are beautiful, vital for biodiversity and tourism, help hold snow pack which is released into river catchments, and hold deep cultural value for many people.

However, we are now seeing the beginning of ecosystem collapse across these forests – drought, dieback and successive fires have altered the structure, composition, and condition of snow gum woodlands dramatically.

We must intervene and develop a robust recovery plan if these ecological communities are to remain viable into the future.

During August, Friends of the Earth has been encouraging community members to join surveys to assess the health of snow gums in their community and favourite places. Here is the report from recent surveys at JB Plain in the Alpine National Park.

Continue reading “Snow gum surveys: The forest looks green, but 2/3 of trees are dying.” →

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Snow gum summit – final program launched

The second snow gum summit will happen on Ngarigo Country in Jindabyne over the weekend of March 14 and 15.

There will also be guided walks and a tree planting afternoon on monday March 16.

We are delighted to announce the line-up of speakers.

Continue reading “Snow gum summit – final program launched” →

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The fires of 2025/26

The devastation of Black Summer lingers in the back of everyone’s mind who knows the high country.  Each year we wait to see what fires will happen, and how quickly those fires will be contained. It has been a number of years since we have had a truly awful fire season in the mountains of the mainland high country. 2025/26 has seen large and very destructive fires across much of Victoria, with Harcourt, Longwood, the Otways and Walwa probably the best known.

It has also been a summer of significant activity in the high country. This is a quick look at some of the key fires in Victoria, up until mid February. Lets hope the fire season starts to slow down from here.

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The Dargo – Wonnangatta fire

As Victoria braced for the potential of catastrophic fire conditions on Friday January 9, 2026, much of the attention of media and community was understandably on the fires that were already threatening towns, farms and other human assets, especially the big fires around Walwa and Longwood.

Meanwhile, multiple fires were starting due to lightning in the high country. Some, such as near Mt Howitt and on the Bogong High Plains, were contained fairly quickly. However, one has gone on to burn a significant section of the high country. The Dargo – Wonnangatta Complex (also marked as the Mt Darling – Cynthia Range fire) is not yet under control. A Complex is named where there are multiple fires in close proximity, which can then be managed by a single incident team.

Continue reading “The Dargo – Wonnangatta fire” →

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The fire that launched a campaign

Do you remember how intense Black Summer was? With much of Gippsland already on fire, on December 31, 2019, a dry lightning storm passed across the high country of north eastern Victoria and East Gippsland, starting hundreds of new fires. Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) crews and aircraft swung into action, and did their best to quell the many small fires that were slowly consuming individual trees.

As a volunteer with the Mt Hotham – Dinner Plain fire brigade, I headed up the hill as the area was evacuated. There were four fires around Dinner Plain, all small and slowly consuming the unfortunate trees that had been hit by lightning.

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AI and fire fighting. What’s going on?

Whether it is in a national park or other public land, a paddock or a house fire, one of the most important aspects of stopping fires is to get on to them quickly. The sooner that firefighters arrive, the smaller the fire will be and the easier it is to contain. In Victoria, one of the ways we try to keep fires small during high fire danger days is by launching aircraft as soon as a fire is detected. Often aircraft can then get on scene and start to contain the fire before local brigades arrive. This system (called pre-determined dispatch or PDD) was developed as part of the  response to the Victorian Bushfire Royal Commission (VBRC), and was based on a model used in a number of other states. Under PDD, fire fighting aircraft are mobilised as soon as a call out occurs for local fire brigades with a trigger needed to authorise the launch of aircraft.

Other ways we get onto fires quickly includes things like deploying remote area firefighters onto new start fires, inserting rappel crews from helicopters, and sending multiple vehicles at the same time to ensure there are enough resources to tackle the fire. We use real time analysis of satellite images and on some days put aircraft up for surveillance (rather than firefighting) purposes. There is lots of chatter about using drones that could carry water or fire retardant that could be sent to put out small new start fires. And of course, we have traditionally relied on staffed fire lookout towers to spot fires while they are small.

In recent years Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been billed as being a new option for spotting new start fires quickly.

Continue reading “AI and fire fighting. What’s going on?” →

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First summer fire in the VIC mountains

The awful fires of Black Summer linger in our memory. The land slowly recovers. Since then, things have been fairly quiet in recent summers in the mountains of the mainland high country. With the first mountain fire of the season now contained, and vast areas of fire damaged forests in recovery from previous fires, it is essential that with any new start fire the authorities:

  • Get on to new start fires as rapidly as possible
  • Escalate the availability of resources to contain the fire, rather than ‘letting it burn’
  • Ensure that fire management plans highlight the need to exclude fire from fire sensitive or recovering areas and the protection of ecological as well as human assets.

Continue reading “First summer fire in the VIC mountains” →

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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.

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FFMV fleet ‘offline’: what does this mean for the high country?

DEECA and Forest Fire Management Victoria have grounded the entire ultra-light firefighting fleet in Victoria just weeks before fire season commences.

Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) and the Department of Environment, Energy, and Climate Action (DEECA) have grounded their fleet of 290 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons and 59 Unimogs. According to reporting from the ABC this was due to safety concerns. There are reports of cracking in the chassis of G-Wagons.

What will this mean for fire fighting in the high country?

Continue reading “FFMV fleet ‘offline’: what does this mean for the high country?” →

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National Climate Risk Assessment – what it means for mountain environments

The National Climate Risk Assessment (the National Assessment) was released this week. Prepared by the Australian Climate Service, it aims to provide an assessment of risk across 8 key systems and 11 regions on the continent, prioritising key risks both within each system and across systems.

This approach aims to provide an understanding of who or what might be at risk from a changing climate, across different areas of the country and paints a national picture for decision makers, to help them prioritise adaptation actions.

A key finding is that Australia’s climate is already changing and will continue to change into the future. The country is likely to experience more intense and extreme climate hazards, and in some cases in areas where people and places haven’t experienced these hazards before.

It is a complex document and while it doesn’t specifically focus on mountain areas, many references are relevant to the mountainous region of the south east and lutruwita/ Tasmania. Risks from climate change include increased stress from higher temperatures, increased fire risk and continued decline in snow pack.

Continue reading “National Climate Risk Assessment – what it means for mountain environments” →

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