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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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The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area 40 years on

The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA) meets seven of the ten criteria for World Heritage listing, an achievement not surpassed by any other property. The TWWHA was first inscribed in 1982. Since then, the world has changed significantly, and this is demonstrated by the issues that are arising in places like the World Heritage Area. This in turn has influenced how the area needs to be managed.

A recent paper published in Austral Ecology and called Natural Values and Threats of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area: Changed Perspectives Over Four Decades Since Listing (available here) considers how threats have changed over the past four decades and how management approaches have responded.

Continue reading “The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area 40 years on” →

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Backcountry magazine – the future of skiing in a melting world.

I’ve subscribed to Backcountry magazine for at least a decade. Wonderful images of glorious mountains, good stories, and a lot of practical info for backcountry people. And it makes me feel connected to a global community of snow freaks who enjoy doing the hard work and who are willing to ‘earn their turns’ through old fashioned uphill travel.

If you follow mainstream science you will know that climate change is impacting winters. Here in Australia, snow pack has been in decline since at least 1957. Yet there is still a lot of very weird denial about climate change in the snow community. So when you dare to link science and declining snow pack you’ll normally get yelled at. But that shouldn’t stop us for talking about the facts. And BC mag has done a good job of that in their current edition, subtitled ‘hidden routes, extinct lines and the future of skiing in a melting world’.

Continue reading “Backcountry magazine – the future of skiing in a melting world.” →

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The snow gum summit declaration

Friends of the Earth recently hosted the second ‘snow gum summit’. It was held in Jindabyne and around 120 people gathered to hear from experts in the fields of snow gum die back and the threats of more frequent and intense wild fire.

There was a strong First Nation presence at the forum, which is reflected in the summit statement, reprinted below.

Continue reading “The snow gum summit declaration” →

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Snow gum summit: Scientists warn climate change threatens ecosystems and water security

Top scientists have issued a dire warning that the widespread death of key eucalypt species in Australian ecosystems could be imminent, due to global heating. Scientists from leading institutions gathered at the Snow Gum Summit in Jindabyne last weekend March 14-15, 2026 to discuss combating the loss of an iconic tree of the Australian Alps, the Snow Gum.

Dr Matthew Brookhouse, a leading researcher investigating snow gum die-back at ANU, said proactive investment from government and industry was needed to contend with the unprecedented territory researchers and land managers are navigating.

“This is not just about snow gums – this is about climate affected change in ecosystems. This is a real warning. Wherever you are, die-back events could be coming for you,” said Dr Brookhouse.

The Snow Gum Summit, convened by Friends of the Earth Melbourne, was the second convergence since 2025 of top academics from Australian National University, Curtin University and Latrobe University, as well as ecologists from land management organisations from the ACT, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. Ngarigo Custodians and Taungurung Land & Waters Council also spoke powerfully on the rights and capacities of First Peoples to respond to ecological challenges in the Alps.

Continue reading “Snow gum summit: Scientists warn climate change threatens ecosystems and water security” →

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Listing snow gums as a threatened ecological community

Australia’s alpine landscape is a living archive of our continent’s cultural and environmental history. These stories can be found in First Nations Cultural Heritage, glacial landscape features, fossilised fish bones, and the fascinating physiology of our endemic alpine species. In recognition of its unique social, ecological and aesthetic values, the Alps are recognised as a National Heritage Place and largely protected in National Parks.

However, these measures have been insufficient to hold back the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, including rapid ecological decline in Snow Gum Woodlands. We are now seeing the beginning of ecosystem collapse – 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.

The first step towards a coordinated recovery effort is to recognise the risk of extinction nationally. This will trigger the development of a national recovery plan, increase opportunities for funding, and support research, monitoring, and management interventions.

Friends of the Earth has initiated a plan to have snow gum woodlands recognised as a ‘Threatened Ecological Community‘ under federal environment laws.

You can add your voice at support the proposal by signing this open letter.

If you are a researcher and would like to actively contribute your skills and experience to the application to list snow gums under the EPBC, please fill out this form so we can get in touch to discuss.

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A reflection

The 2026 edition of Mountain Journal magazine will be out next month. The theme is Our mountains are changing, are we ready. In this first installment from the magazine, Dave Herring reflects on a good life in the outdoors.

Dave was lucky enough to have a childhood where the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains was just up the road. From his early discovery of the magic of snow, Dave has pursued a lifetime of skiing and touring in mountains around the world.

Growing up in the high country around Batlow on the north end of the Main Range in the 1960s and ‘70s was an absolute privilege. Riding horses wherever we wanted, fishing in mountain streams and learning to ski on a rope tow at Kiandra, run at that time by the Myer family from Tumut. We travelled in convoy up Talbingo Mountain, helping each other around the steep switchbacks through the slushy mud on unsealed roads just to ski on a 100m rope tow at Kiandra. When the weather dictated, we camped on the floor of what was originally the Kiandra Hotel with staff and others trapped by the elements. My dad put the skinniest tyres he could buy on our old Cortina as it helped with traction when 4×4 was not yet a thing.

Continue reading “A reflection” →

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Speakers announced for snow gum summit

Friends of the Earth will be hosting the 2nd snow gum summit in mid March. You can read a report on the first summit, which happened at Dinner Plain in Victoria in February 2025.

It will take place over the weekend of March 14 and 15 on Ngarigo Country in Jindabyne. The Summit will bring people together from across the Australian Alps bioregion spanning Victoria, NSW and the ACT, to address the threats facing these iconic landscapes we all know and love.

There will also be some day walks on the Monday March 16 – details to be announced shortly.

We are delighted to be able to announce the line up of confirmed speakers. They include:

Continue reading “Speakers announced for snow gum summit” →

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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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Fire: how do we control things when we can’t control things?

The Tasmanian National Parks Association (TNPA) recently dedicated an issue of their newsletter to the question of how to manage wild fire in Western Tasmania. As has been widely noted, including here at Mountain Journal, fires having been getting more intense in western lutruwita/ Tasmania since a ‘tipping point’ sometime around the year 2000. Since then, there has been an increase in the number of lightning-caused fires and an increase in the average size of the fires, “resulting in a marked increase in the area burnt”.

As TNPA notes in the introduction:

The direct impacts of climate change for Tasmania are changes to weather patterns with corresponding changes to levels of temperature, rainfall and evaporation – most likely a warmer, drier climate overall.

The outcomes of some of these changes are beyond our ability to influence. For example, there are no options for protecting an entire landscape from drought, although it may be possible to save examples of individual species.

As discussed in the following essays, the increased frequency and intensity of wildfires is already resulting in demonstrable impacts on some of Tasmania’s most highly valued species and ecosystems (paleoendemics and alpine ecosystems) and options do exist for how it is managed.

  Continue reading “Fire: how do we control things when we can’t control things?” →

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Skiing in the Pyrocene

Back in 2022, I helped host an event at Mt Hotham called Climate change, fire and the Alps. I remember being struck by something that was said by one of the speakers. Craig Hore, who at that point was a Ranger in Charge of Fire and Emergency Operations North East District, at Parks Victoria, reflected on his long connection to the mountains. Fire regimes in the high country have changed in the last quarter century, with more frequent and intense fires.

Craig reflected on the fact that since the fires of 2002/3, the mountains have been transformed. With ever more frequent fire and drier conditions, he doesn’t think that we can go back to what the Alps used to be like. In his early days as a Ranger he could drive through older forests for hours. But now so much of the park has been badly impacted by fires. “I doubt we will ever see those old forests again.”

Continue reading “Skiing in the Pyrocene” →

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Oregon ash. Whitebark Pine. Ponderosa pine. The Cider Gum. All heading in the same direction.

One of the regular themes here at Mountain Journal is the threats posed to mountain environments by climate change (also called global heating). Climate change is already impacting all ecosystems in the mountains, and we have been seeing declining snow pack since at least 1957. Longer droughts, more intense fires, warmer temperatures, species moving to higher elevations. The impacts are quantifiable and incredibly depressing.

While this information is readily available, there is a strange denial that exists in large parts of the outdoors and mountain communities and certainly in the snow industry. And many others, who are willing to acknowledge what is happening, seem unwilling to commit either time or money to reduce the impacts of climate change. When we have a normal(ish) sort of winter as we experienced in 2025, the snow and mainstream media herald it as a ‘bumper’ winter.

Continue reading “Oregon ash. Whitebark Pine. Ponderosa pine. The Cider Gum. All heading in the same direction.” →

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