Posts Tagged ‘Bushfire Mitigation Programme’

‘Prescribed Burning’ is a greenhouse gas

Saturday, June 16th, 2012
 
The following article is from the Tasmanian Times entitled ‘This is just plain wrong. Why is it allowed to continue?‘ contributed by Tasmanian resident Prue Barratt 20120614. Tigerquoll has contributed to the debate condemning prescribed burning.  Further investigation has revealed the extent of the bush arson culture on the Island and is included below.
What’s left of Tombstone Creek old growth rainforest in Tasmania after a ‘Planned Burn’
This wet forest was dominated by sassafras, myrtle, tree-ferns and tall Eucalyptus after logging and subsequent regeneration burn, 2006. It is situated at the headwaters of the South Esk River catchment water supply for the town of Launceston.
(Photo by Rob Blakers, 2006)

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‘My name is Prue Barratt and I live in Maydena in the Derwent Valley (Tasmania).  I’m writing this to highlight what small towns around this state have to deal with in Autumn and Winter.

Today (Wednesday) started off as a spectacular crisp winter’s day; one of a few really beautiful days we get through our colder months.  So I was excited to get outside for the day to enjoy the sun.  But by the time I organised myself to venture out it was too late … as I opened my front door I was confronted by smoke … it was literally blowing in my door.

I covered my nose and stepped out to see what was going on and realised there were fires right around our little town;  not one fire but a two or maybe three, I couldn’t actually see how many because I couldn’t see and I could hardly breath, I stepped back inside, grabbed the camera,  and took the pictures above; this was the view from my roof … 360 degrees surrounded by smoke.

It was one of the worst smoke-outs I had experienced whilst living here and by the time I got back inside I reeked of smoke.

This is just plain wrong. It is the 21st Century on a planet that is worried about carbon pollution!   Our leaders need to put an end to these archaic practices now. There is no need to subject communities or the environment in general to this kind off filthy practice.

Tasmania already has one of the country’s highest rates of asthma allergies and lung problems.  Why is this allowed to continue?  Tassie is supposed to be the “Clean Green State”.

I’m pretty sure the tourist bus loaded with people which crawled through town didn’t think it was a clean green state.  I’m pretty sure they were horrified that this happens in a supposed developed country every year.

When your eyes are stinging and you are too scared to open the doors of your home because your house will become unbearably flooded with smoke; when you are concerned for the wellbeing of old and frail family members because you just can’t get away from it unless you completely pack up and leave for the night …

You feel like a prisoner in your own home … in country in this day and age.. There is a serious problem!

Postscript:   I just needed to add to my article that three Norske Skog (Boyer pulp mill) employees just turned up on my doorstep and apologised for all the smoke.  They weren’t burning coupes but were asked by a couple of locals to burn piles close to their houses; most of the coupes were already burnt earlier in the season, so I need to acknowledge that … but the whole burning off thing needs to stop regardless. They said they were looking into alternatives but it needs to stop now; not later. They have had long enough to change the way they do things … at our expense.’

[end of article]

.Smoke-filled atmosphere engulfing Maydena, South West Tasmania
(Photo by Prue Barratt, April 2012)

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In 2009 paper maker, Norske Skog, with its pulp mill plant situated at Boyer on Tasmania’s Derwent River, axed 50 jobs as a combined consequence of its automation upgrade to its pulp mill plant and due to the structural downturn in paper sales by its newspaper clients. 

[Source: ^http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-10-02/norske-skog-paper-mill-boyer-tasmania/1088740]

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Ed:  Newspapers are losing advertising revenue to Internet based businesses like Seek.com, CarSales.com.au, and HomeSales.com.au and so selling less newspapers and so buying less paper from the likes of Norske Skog.

Pile burning and forest (coupe) burning by Norske Skog is typical business-as-usual deforestation across Tasmania, not only by the forestry industry but by National Parks, the Tasmanian Fire Service and by rural landholders.  It is all part of an inherited colonial cult of bush arson that is a key threatening process driving habitat extinctions across the island.  Prescribed burning, aka ‘hazard reduction’, is a euphemism for State-sanctioned bush arson which is endemic practice not only across Tasmania’s remanining wild forests, but throughout Australia.  It is a major contributor to Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, which are what many scientists argue are Man’s cause of global warming and climate change.

The Gillard Labor Government is about to introduce a Carbon Tax on 1st July 2012, whereby Australia’s major industrial polluters must pay a Carbon Tax of $23 per tonne.  Yet the many hundreds of thousands of tonnes of timber that are burnt by bushfires is somehow excluded – whether it be lightning ignitions allowed to get out of control, or deliberate State-sanctioned bush arson.  This makes the Carbon Tax nothing but discriminating political greenwashing, with minimal climate impact.  Meanwhile, and more critically, Australia’s ecology, regions by regions, is being driven closer to extinction by destructive bushfire management. 

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Comments to Prue’s article by Tigerquoll

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‘CEO Bob Gordon and his Forestry Tasmania (FT) forest marauders along with his partners in eco-crime Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) Chief Officer Mike Brown need to be paying Julia’s Carbon Tax.  But instead of $23 per tonne, it ought be $23 per cubic metre.

Send the two organisations broke. Do not donate to the TFS bastards.  They light more fires than they put out.  ‘Fuel’ Reduction is a euphemism for bush arson.  It gives ‘em somthing to do in the off season.  It reflects the helpless defeatism of Tasmania’s non urban fire emergency service denied proper and effective government resources to put out serious wildfires when they occur.’

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TFS bastards setting fire to native forests is defeatism, knowing that unless native vegetation is converted to sterile parkland that in a real wildlife it is every man for himself.

They even have removed the ‘Low Fire Risk’ category and added a ‘Catastrophic Fire Risk’ category.  They may as well add an ‘Armageddon’ category and be done with it!  It is defeatism at its worst.

Local case in point – look recent Meadowbank Fire near Maydena in February this year east of Karanja.  It started on Saturday, reportedly by “accident” at the Meadowbank Dam and  burnt out 5000 hectares.  Two days later was still officially ‘out of control’.  The meaningless and flawed motto of ‘Stay or Go’ was supplanted by the false sense of security of ‘Prepare, Act, Survive’.  In reality the pragmatic community message ought to be ‘You’re On Your Own’.

This Tassie Dad’s Army fire agency is more adept at starting bushfires than putting them out.

The under-resourced, raffle funded volunteer dependent model is abject Government neglect of emergency management.  Every time someone criticises the non-urban fire fighting performance, the government bureaucracy and politicans hide behinds the nobleness of community volunteers.

Imagine if URBAN fire fighting was volunteer dependent on someone’s pager going off?  Goodbye house.

I feel for the volunteers, but have no respect for the policy or organisation.’

Tasmania’s Derwent Valley 20120401
..a Forestry Industry April fool’s joke
[Source: ^http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/04/02/314811_tasmania-news.html]

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Here’s a question..what is the impact on Tasmanian fauna?

Here’s some research…

“It’s spring, and soon we’ll start to get sensationalist stories predicting a horrendous bushfire season ahead. They will carry attacks on agencies for not doing enough to reduce fuel loads in forests close to homes, for unless those living on the urban fringe see their skies filled with smoke in winter they panic about losing their homes in January.

Fighting fires with fear is a depressing annual event and easy sport on slow news days. Usually the debate fails to ask two crucial questions: does hazard reduction really do anything to save homes, and what’s the cost to native plants and animals caught in burn-offs?

…A new scientific paper published in the CSIRO journal Wildlife Research by Michael Clarke, an associate professor in the department of zoology at La Trobe University, suggests the answer to both questions is: we do not know.

Much hazard reduction is performed to create a false sense of security rather than to reduce fire risks, and the effect on wildlife is virtually unknown.’

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[Read More:  ‘The dangers of fighting fire with fire‘ by James Woodford, Sydney Morning Herald, 20080907, ^http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-dangers-of-fighting-fire-with-fire/2008/09/07/1220725850216.html]

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~ Tigerquoll.

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State-sanctioned bush arson in Tasmania
[Source: http://www.forestrytasmania.com/fire/fire1.html]

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Bushfires, their smoke and heat, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.  So Bushfire Management has an obligation to reduce bushfires, not create them.  Bushfire Management needs to pay a Carbon Tax just like any other industrial polluter.

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‘Forestry tries to spin results of CSIRO Emissions Study’

..more smoke and mirrors from an out-of-touch agency.

 

‘The Tasmanian Greens today said that a CSIRO study comparing smoke emissions from wood-heaters with forestry burn-offs did nothing to justify Forestry Tasmania’s outdated and unsustainable management practices.  The study, commissioned by Forestry Tasmania, found that the majority of smoke pollution in specific parts of the Huon Valley during 2009 and 2010 was caused by wood-heater emissions.

Greens Forestry spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that these results aren’t surprising, particularly in the more densely populated areas such as Geeveston and Grove where the study was conducted.

“This is not a case of one type of smoke pollution being better than another.  All smoke emissions are an unwanted nuisance for the community, particularly for those with pre-existing respiratory problems such as asthma.”

“The commissioning and release of this study by Forestry Tasmania is another obvious attempt to justify their so-called regeneration burns. That’s despite the Environment Protection Authority identifying numerous breaches of guideline safety levels for particle emissions caused by burn-offs.”

“We need to be working as a community to reduce all smoke emissions and improve air quality.  This means that we must work to educate people on the importance of installing heaters that burn efficiently, and comply with Australian standards.”

“Forestry can’t play down the negative impact of its burn-offs.  The Greens receive many complaints from people suffering from respiratory problems, such as asthma, who have no option in some cases but to pack up and leave home during the forest burns season.”

“Proper systems need to be put in place, or its time these burns were stopped once and for all.”

[Source:  ‘Forestry tries to spin results of CSIRO Emissions Study’ – more smoke and mirrors from an out-of-touch agency, by Kim Booth MP, Tasmanian Greens Forestry Spokesperson, 20110825, Tasmanian Times, ^http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php/article/smoke-from-regeneration-burns-exceeded-healthy-limits-only-three-times]

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[Source: Water S.O.S Tasmania, ^http://www.water-sos.org/forestry-tasmania/index.html]

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2010:  Escaped Controlled Burn at Ansons Bay in mid-Summer

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‘The derived fire location..corresponds to a wildfire at Ansons Bay (north-east Tasmania, near Bay of Fires) , listed on the Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) webpage on the 23rd of January.

This fire had burnt out 100 ha on 23rd January 2010, and had burnt a total of 200 hectares when reported as extinguished on the 26th.

The fire was reported as an escaped permit burn.  The permit burn was ignited on the 22nd of January 2010. The local TFS brigade responded to the wildfire at 14:00 EDT on the 23rd. The wildfire burnt mainly in grassland.

Smoke from a bushfire at Ansons Bay on the 23rd of January 2010 moved westwards towards the Tamar River. The BLANkET air stations at Derby, Scottsdale and Lilydale each detected the smoke as it moved. Ti Tree Bend station(Launceston) and the Rowella station in the lower Tamar also detected the smoke. Derby is approximately 35 km from the fire location, while Ti Tree Bend and the Rowella stations are approximately 100 km from the burn. The peak 10–minute PM2.5 concentrations at these stations were of order 10 to 15 μg m−3.

At Rowella the hourly–averaged PM2.5 reached to near 20 μg m−3 near 21:00 AEST.

[Source:  ‘Blanket Brief Report 7: ‘Smoke from a bushfire at Ansons Bay, north–east Tasmania moving into to the Tamar Valley 23rd January 2010’, Air Section, Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Tasmanian Government, February 2011, ^http://epa.tas.gov.au/Documents/BLANkET_Brief_Report_07.pdf, Read Report]

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Tasmanian Forest Industry – its case for burning native forests every year

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‘The Tasmanian forest industry planned burning program, which includes both burning for forest regeneration, and burning for property protection generally commences in mid-March if conditions are suitable.

.. The Coordinated Smoke Management Strategy developed by the Forest Practices Authority is being used by the Tasmanian forest industry.

As of 2011, all smoke complaints are being received and investigated by the Environment Protection Authority, a Division of the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment.  [Ed.  But the EPA has no watchdog besides the community, so it can be as incompetent, as negligent, as complicit, as dismissive, as colluding with its sister Tasmanian Government agencies all it likes.  The EPA does not have any law that requires it to be publicly transparent.  The photos in this article evidence the Tasmanian EPA as an ineffectual and spurious organisation.]

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Forest Regeneration


Fire is an important part of the life cycle of Eucalypts. In nature most eucalypt species require the disturbance provided by fire to regenerate. Eucalypt seeds and seedlings need a mineral soil seedbed, abundant sunlight and reduced competition from other plants to establish and grow. In nature this situation is provided by a major wildfire. Tasmanian forest managers mimic nature by using fire in a planned and controlled way to re-establish healthy fast growing trees after harvesting.

Planned burns are part of an industry-wide programme by :

  1. Forestry Tasmania (FT)
  2. The Forest Industries Asssociation of Tasmania (FIAT).
  3. Tasmania Fire Service
  4. Parks & Wildlife Service, Tasmania.

Forests & Timber


Forests managed for timber production take more carbon out of the atmosphere over time than unmanaged  forests locked up in reserves.  Tasmania currently has 47% of forests locked up and unmanaged.

Timber from managed forests is used to build an array of structures from houses to multi-level buildings, sports arenas to architecturally designed public spaces.  Timber is light and easy to work with and allows for flexibility and efficiency in design.  Timber is warm, aesthetically pleasing and most importantly, renewable.  Environments rich in timber have a kinship with nature and make people living and working in them feel at one with the outdoors.

It is so important, in these tough economic times, to use local products.  Tasmanian timber produced in the state comes from sustainably managed forests, administered under processes established by Government. In addition, all public and most private forests in Tasmania are third party certified as being sustainably managed by the Australian Forestry Standard.  Tasmanian timber is a particularly environmentally friendly choice and we should be using more wood to help combat climate change.

Wood is stored greenhouse gas – held together with stored sunlight.  If we are serious about trying to address greenhouse and climate change problems, we should be growing and using more forests, for sustainable energy-efficient products that store carbon and for sustainable biomass-based energy systems.

Harvesting a forest results in the release of some carbon dioxide back into the air from which it came however a considerable portion remains stored in resulting forest products such as furniture, timber for housing and a myriad of paper products.

Use more wood not less.’

[Source: Forestry Industry Association of Tasmania (FIAT), ^http://www.fiatas.com.au/]

 

Ed:  Fire is unnatural in old growth wet Eucalypt forests.  Many forest plant species are fire sensitive so will not recover in teh evnt of a fire.  No fauna are fire tolerant – they either burn to death or die after fire from starvation, exposure or predation.  Those who burn forests have no idea of the impacts upon fauna populations, nor the impacts of fire upon biodiversity.   Their lay observation upon seeing regrowth of some species is that setting fire to forest habitat must be ok. 

Those who perpetuate and extend this myth, fabruicate the notion that fire is healthy and indeed essential for forest regeneration and survival.  All new recruits of the Tasmanian Forest Industry, Tasmania Fire Service and Parks & Wildlife Service are duly indoctrinated to this dogma.  Of course it is unsubstantiated crap.  Al one needs do is walk through an ancient Styx forest that has not been burnt for hundreds of years to disprove the myth.

Those vested interests who stand to profit from deforestation and exploitation of native forests, brandish all protected forest habitat as being ‘locked up’ and ‘unmanaged’.  The ecological values of the forests are dismissed as worthless.  It is no different to 17th Century traders denied access to Africans for the slave trade.

Timber that is from native old growth forests is not “renewable” unless the industrial logger is prepared to wait 500 plus years to harvest.  Logging old growth is eco-theft and irreversibly ecologically destructive.

Tough economic times means that the smart investment is into sustainable industries where there is strong market demand and growth for products not vulnerable to buyer rejection on the basis of immoral sourcing or production.

Biomass-based energy is a technical euphemism for burning forests, which is unacceptable because is causes green house gas emissions.  Buring natiuve forests also drive local habitat extinctions.

Use LESS wood NOT more!

 

2010:  Smoke rises into the sky above the Huon Valley in southern Tasmania
as the state’s Forestry Department (Forestry Tasmania) conducts fuel-reduction burns on April 18, 2010
[Source:  ‘Anger over smoke haze prompts review’ , ABC Northern Tasmania, ^http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/19/2877011.htm?site=northtas]

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Parks & Wildlife Service – its case for burning native forests every year

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‘Planned burning is an important part of fire management designed to maintain biodiversity and to reduce the risk posed by bushfires to people, houses, other property and the natural environment.   Fire plays a major role in the ecology of the Tasmanian natural environment. Fire can be a vital force in maintaining healthy bush. But in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can also lead to the destruction of unique vegetation communities, human life and property.

Our diverse vegetation communities have differing responses to fire, from potentially devastating impacts in alpine areas and conifer forests, to ecologically sustainable effects in buttongrass moorlands and dry scelerophyll forest.  Tasmania’s unique fauna has some interesting adaptations to fire. For some species, it is essential for their habitat requirements.

‘The Parks and Wildlife Service is responsible for the management of bushfires on all reserved land in Tasmania.

This management includes:

  • control of unplanned bushfires
  • planned burning to reduce fuel loads and make fire control easier and safer
  • planned burning to help maintain biodiversity, promote regeneration of plants that depend on fire and to maintain suitable habitat for animals
  • maintaining assets that assist with bushfire control, for example, fire trails, firebreaks and waterholes.

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Planned Burning of Tasmania’s National Parks (to date) for 2012

Burn Date Location  Hectares
 16/05/2012 Narawntapu 796
10/05/2012 Binalong Bay  21
 8/05/2012 Peter_Murrell_(private_land?)  15
 7/05/2012  Arthur River  75
 30/04/2012  Lime Bay  175
 30/04/2012  Fisheries, Coles Bay  20
 30/04/2012  Wineglass Bay Walk Track  4
 26/04/2012  Mt William  710
 18/04/2012  Coles Bay  43
 17/04/2012  Rifle Range  251
 4/04/2012  Mt Field  16.5
 3/04/2012  Dora Point  20
 2/04/2012  Seaton Cove  9.5
 27/03/2012  Arthur River  532
 27/03/2012  Arthur River  50
 26/03/2012  Stieglitz  5
 19/03/2012 Peter_Murrell_(private_land?)  3
 14/03/2012  Mt Field  6
 23/02/2012  Trevallyn  9
 23/02/2012  Trevallyn  7
 23/02/2012  Trevallyn  3
 2,771 ha
 
[Source: ^http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=26614]

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The first planned burn area in the table above labelled as ‘Narawntapu‘ applied to Narawntapu National Park, specifically at Cosy Corner, Bay of Fires Conservation Area, in north-east Tasmania.  The ecology is renowned for its Wombats and Tasmanian Devils.  Where do they go when Parks Service starts fires?

Tasmania’s famous ‘Bay of Fires’
(Narawntapu National Park)

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The posted notice read:  

‘Parks and Wildlife Service is today (Tuesday 8 May) conducting a fuel reduction burn in the Bay of Fires Conservation Area south of St Helens at the Cosy Corner North campground.  The burn is about 20 hectares. The objective is to reduce fuel loads to provide protection for the campground in the event of a wildfire.’

[Source:  Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania, 20120508, ^http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?sys=News%20Article&intID=2575]

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So somehow the planned burn of 20 hectares extended to nearly 800 hectares inside the protected National Park!  Was this yet another escaped burn?  Where is the ecological report of damage to flora and fauna?   So much for the National Parks motto ‘leave no trace’.  How hypocritical!

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“How can walkers help keep Tasmania wild and beautiful?

Leave No Trace is an internationally accepted way of minimising impacts on the places we visit.”

~ Parks and Wildlife Service, Tasmania

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The National Park before the burn

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A wombat in Narawntapu National Park cannot run from fire

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The Burn Area of nearly 2800 hectares of Tasmania’s National for 2012, translates to 28 square kilometres.
This is that aggregate area relative to Hobart – the entire map above!
It’s like Hobart’s 1967 Black Tuesday every year in Tasmania’s National Parks

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Forest Smoke across southern Tasmania, from planned burning, April 2008

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Tasmania Fire Service – its case for burning native forests every year

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Ed:   It doesn’t just have one programme, but two.  One programme to burn native forests every year, the other to slash and bulldoze access to get good access to burn the native forests.

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Fuel Reduction Programme

‘Each summer, bushfires in our forests pose a significant threat to communities in rural areas, and on the rural-urban interface. Large, uncontrollable bushfires can have serious consequences for Tasmanians. The Tasmanian Government has committed funds towards a program of planned fuel reduction burns to help protect Tasmanians from the threat of wildfires. The program will see the State’s three firefighting agencies, Forestry Tasmania, the Tasmania Fire Service and the Parks and Wildlife Service combine their expertise in a concerted program aimed at reducing fuel loads around the state.

The objective of the inter-agency Fuel Reduction Burning Program is to create corridors of low fuel loads to help prevent large wildfires.  The program complements but does not replace fuel reduction burning and other means of fuel reduction close to houses and other assets.’

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Bushfire Mitigation Programme

‘The Bushfire Mitigation Programme provides funds for construction and maintenance of fire trails and associated access measures that contribute to safer sustainable communities better able to prepare, respond to and withstand the effects of bushfires.

The program is administered by Australian Emergency Management (AEM) within the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department. Tasmania Fire Service is the lead agency in Tasmania for the Bushfire Mitigation Program.

In the 2009 Budget the Australian Government announced funding of $79.3m over four years for a new Disaster Resilience Program (DRP).

The DRP will consolidate the existing Bushfire Mitigation Program (BMP), the Natural Disaster Mitigation Program (NDMP) and the National Emergency Volunteer Support Fund (NEVSF) in an effort to increase flexibility for the jurisdictions and streamline the associated administration for both the Commonwealth and the States and Territories.

The Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department is currently working with representatives from each jurisdiction to ensure that the transition to the new DRP is as smooth as possible.

The DRP will commence in 2009-10 and details of the funding arrangements, program guidelines and implementation plans will be announced by the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s department and disseminated to the relevant agencies and stakeholders in each jurisdiction in due course.’

[Source:  Tasmania Fire Service, ^http://www.fire.tas.gov.au]

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‘Burnoffs’ Chemical Cocktail’

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Smoke haze from burnoffs pushed Tasmania close to breaching air safety standards last week.

In one 24-hour period, emission levels from the forestry regeneration and fuel-reduction burns “were approaching the standard”, state environmental management director Warren Jones told the Sunday Tasmanian.

Elevated particle levels had been detected in Launceston and Hobart on several days during the week.

A Sunday Tasmanian investigation into the smoke haze has revealed:

  • Between 5000ha and 7000ha is earmarked for forestry regeneration burns this season.
  • About 70,000ha of the state’s forest was razed by wildfire in the past summer.
  • The smoke contains a mix of carbon monoxide, tar, ash, ammonia and known carcinogens such as formaldehyde and benzene.’
[Source:  ‘Burnoffs’ Chemical Cocktail’, April 2008, This Tasmania website, ^http://www.thistasmania.com/burnoffs-chemical-cocktail/]

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Forestry burn offs continue to threaten…’

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The Tasmanian Greens today said that the Parliament needs to commission an independent study into the total social, environmental and economic costs of forestry burns, as they continue to emit pollutants into the air causing distress to the many Tasmanians suffering from respiratory complaints, and also impacting on Tasmania’s clean, green and clever brand.

Greens Health spokesperson Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP burn-off practice as outdated, old-school and not in line with appropriate practice today, especially when it continues to put thousands of Tasmanians with respiratory complaints in distressing situations. These airborne emissions impact disproportionately on children.

“Once again Tasmania’s beautiful autumn days are blighted by the dense smoke plumes blocking out the sun and choking our air,” Mr O’Halloran said.

 

Tasmanian forests – planned burn
http://www.discover-tasmania.com/smoke-fire/

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“This is an unacceptable situation. It compromises Tasmanians’ health, our environment, and is an insult to common-sense.”

“The Greens are calling for the Minister to commission independent social, environmental and economic impact study of these burns.”

“Tasmania’s tourism industry also has reason for concern over this due to the plumes of smoke that choke up the air sheds and appear as a horrible blight on the Tasmanian Landscape.”

“We also want to see an end to these burns, and are calling on the Minister to consult with the community to establish a date by which this polluting practice will end once and for all.”

“It is also concerning at the impact these burns have on Tasmania’s biodiversity and threatened species such as the Tasmanian Devil, burrowing and freshwater crayfish, and a myriad of other plant and animal species.”

“The annual so-called forest regeneration burns have just commenced with Forestry Tasmania alone intends to conduct 300 coupe burns over five districts, and this will emit copious amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change, not to mention the risk this poses for the many Tasmanians who suffer from respiratory complaints such as Asthma,” Mr O’Halloran said.

[Source:  ‘Forestry burn offs continue to threaten…’,  20110315, Paul ‘Basil’ O’Halloran MP, Health spokesperson, Tasmanian Greens, ^http://mps.tas.greens.org.au/2011/03/forestry-burn-offs-continue-to-threaten-health-and-well-being-communities-animals-and-plant-life-being-threatened-by-forestry-burn-offs/]

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The Killing of Wild Tasmania – Extinction by a Thousand Fires

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These photographs provide an illustration of current Tasmanian forestry practices. The photos are from Coupe RS142E, in the upper valley of Tombstone Creek, one kilometer upstream from the Tombstone Creek Forest Reserve in the northeast highlands of Tasmania. Tombstone Creek is a tributary of the upper South Esk River, the headwaters of the water supply for Launceston.

Majestic ancient Rainforest in Tombstone Creek (c.1000 AD to 2006)
BEFORE the Tasmanian Government’s State-sanctioned arson
(Photo taken in 2003)

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AFTER
(Photo taken in October 2006)

 

‘I first came upon this forest in May 2003, and was so struck by it’s beauty that I made several return visits during the following 12 months. This steep valley-side supported a wet and mossy forest characterized by myrtles, blackwood, tall eucalypt emergents, groves of tree-ferns up to eight meters high and some of the largest sassafras that I have seen anywhere in Tasmania. Many of the sassafras trees had trunk diameters of one meter or more at chest height.

This forest was clear-felled by cable-logging in the summer of 2005 and burnt in an exceedingly hot fire in April 2006. All of the rainforest trees were killed outright. The site is steep and soils are sandy and the valley side was left in a condition which was highly vulnerable to severe soil erosion. This coupe is bordered by some areas that were logged within the last 10 years or so, and the regrowth in these adjacent coupes is a mix of wattle and eucalypt. A narrow strip of rainforest remains at the new coupe’s lowest edge, along Tombstone Creek, but recolonization by the rainforest trees cannot occur, due to the competitive advantage of the eucalyptus and wattles in a full sunlight situation. This is especially so in the context of a drying climate. Simply put, the process enacted here is conversion, in this case from a mature mixed rainforest dominated by myrtle and sassafras, with eucalypt emergents, to an uncultivated crop of wattle and, presumably, the aerially sown eucalypt species.

In this process of conversion, which is far from being confined to this particular coupe, two options are precluded. Firstly, the option for the natural forest to continue to exist for it’s own sake and to develop towards rainforest, a point from which, given the age of the eucalypts, it was not far removed. The second opportunity forgone is for the possibility of alternative uses of species other than wattle and eucalypt, including wood uses, for future generations of people.

Other negative and significant ecological impacts have occurred here, including devastating effects on wildlife, altered hydrology, atmospheric pollution, weed invasion and not least, the release of massive amounts of carbon, previously sequestered within the soil and the living vegetation, into the atmosphere.

The scenes depicted here are all within 100 meters of each other. The forest scenes were photographed in 2003, the other scenes in October 2006.

[Source:  ^http://www.water-sos.org/before-after/index.html]

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[Source: The Observer Tree, Styx Valley South West Tasmania^http://observertree.org/]

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Further Reading

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[1]   Bush Arson excuse by Forestry Tasmania  ^http://www.forestrytas.com.au/uploads/File/pdf/pdf2012/regen_burn_program_insert_2012.pdf  [Read Document (PDF, 1.4 mb)]

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[2]   Fuel Reduction Programme, March 2008, Tasmania Fire Service, ^http://www.fire.tas.gov.au/Show?pageId=tfsFuelReductionProgramme, [Read Document  (PDF, 1.7 mb)]

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[3]   ‘The burning of Tasmania’, 20080425, various contriubutors Vica Bayley, Dave Groves, Tim Morris, Matthew Newton, Tasmanian Times,  ^http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/tassie-burns/

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[4]   ‘The dangers of fighting fire with fire’, by James Woodford, 20080908, Sydney Morning Herald, ^http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/the-dangers-of-fighting-fire-with-fire/2008/09/07/1220725850216.html]   Text extract below:

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‘It’s spring, and soon we’ll start to get sensationalist stories predicting a horrendous bushfire season ahead. They will carry attacks on agencies for not doing enough to reduce fuel loads in forests close to homes, for unless those living on the urban fringe see their skies filled with smoke in winter they panic about losing their homes in January.

Fighting fires with fear is a depressing annual event and easy sport on slow news days. Usually the debate fails to ask two crucial questions: does hazard reduction really do anything to save homes, and what’s the cost to native plants and animals caught in burn-offs?

A new scientific paper published in the CSIRO journal Wildlife Research by Michael Clarke, an associate professor in the department of zoology at La Trobe University, suggests the answer to both questions is: we do not know.

What we do know is a lot of precious wild places are set on fire, in large part to keep happy those householders whose kitchen windows look out on gum trees.

Clarke says it is reasonable for land management agencies to try to limit the negative effects of large fires, but we need to be confident our fire prevention methods work. And just as importantly, we need to be sure they do not lead to irreversible damage to native wildlife and habitat.

He argues we need to show some humility, and writes: “The capacity of management agencies to control widespread wildfires ignited by multiple lightning strikes in drought conditions on days of extreme fire danger is going to be similar to their capacity to control cyclones.” In other words, sometimes we can do zip.

Much hazard reduction is performed to create a false sense of security rather than to reduce fire risks, and the effect on wildlife is virtually unknown.

The sooner we acknowledge this the sooner we can get on with the job of working out whether there is anything we can do to manage fires better. We need to know whether hazard reduction can be done without sending our wildlife down a path of firestick extinctions.

An annual burn conducted each year on Montague Island, near Narooma on the NSW far South Coast, highlights the absurdity of the current public policy free-for-all, much of which is extraordinarily primitive. In 2001 park rangers burnt a patch of the devastating weed kikuyu on the island. The following night a southerly blew up, the fire reignited and a few penguins were incinerated. It was a stuff-up that caused a media outcry: because cute penguins were burnt, the National Parks and Wildlife Service was also charcoaled.

Every year since there has been a deliberate burn on Montague, part of a program to return the island to native vegetation. Each one has been a circus – with teams of staff, vets, the RSPCA, ambulances, boats and helicopters – all because no one wants any more dead penguins.

Meanwhile every year on the mainland, park rangers and state forests staff fly in helicopters tossing out incendiary devices over wilderness forests, the way the UN tosses out food packages. Thousands of hectares are burnt, perhaps unnecessarily, too often, and worse, thousands of animals that are not penguins (so do not matter) are roasted. All to make people feel safe. Does the burning protect nearby towns? On even a moderately bad day, probably not. Does it make people feel better? Yes.

Clarke’s paper calls for the massive burn-offs to be scrutinised much more closely. “In this age of global warming, governments and the public need to be engaged in a more sophisticated discussion about the complexities of coping with fire in Australian landscapes,” he writes.

He wants ecological data about burns collected as routinely as rainfall data is gathered by the agricultural industry. Without it, hazard reduction burning is flying scientifically blind and poses a dangerous threat to wildlife.

“To attempt to operate without … [proper data on the effect of bushfires] should be as unthinkable as a farmer planting a crop without reference to the rain gauge,” he writes.

In the coming decades, native plants and animals will face enough problems – most significantly from human-induced climate chaos – without having to dodge armies of public servants armed with lighters. Guesswork and winter smoke are not enough to protect our towns and assets now, and the risk of bushfires increases with the rise in carbon dioxide.

James Woodford is the editor of www.realdirt.com.au.

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Rural Fire Service strategy misguided

Friday, March 30th, 2012
This article was initially written by this editor and published in the Blue Mountains Gazette newspaper on 20051005 as a letter to the editor, entitled ‘RFS strategy misguided‘.
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19th Century heritage-listed ‘Six Foot Track’
..bulldozed by the Rural Fire Service in July 2005, widened into a convenient Fire Trail for its fire truck crews.

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It has been revealed that the June bulldozing or grading of the Six Foot Track near Megalong Creek (Blue Mountains, New South Wales) was a mere drop in the Rural Fire Service (RFS) Bushfire Mitigation Programme.

Across the Blue Mountains, some twenty natural reserves including the Six Foot Track were targeted under the RFS 2004-05 Fire Trail Strategy:

  • Edith Falls
  • McMahons Point
  • Back Creek
  • Cripple Creek
  • Plus some 95 hectares inside the Blue Mountains National Park.

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Read: [>RFS Fire Trail Policy]

Read: [>RFS Fire Trail Classification Guidelines]

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According to the Australian Government’s (then) Department of Transport and Regional Services (DOTARS) website, some $151,195 was granted to the RFS in the Blue Mountains alone, for it to bulldoze and burn 144 hectares of native bushland under the euphemism of “addressing bushfire mitigation risk priorities”  (Ed: Read ‘bush arson

The Six Foot Track Conservation and Management Plan 1997, Vol II’ lists numerous vulnerable species of fauna recorded near Megalong Creek – the Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Clyptorhynchus lathami), Giant Burrowing Frog (Heleioporus australiacus), Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus).

Glossy Black-Cockatoo
[Source: Dubbo Field Naturalist & Conservation Society
http://www.speednet.com.au/~abarca/black-cockatoo.htm]

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Giant Burrowing Frog
[Source:  Frogs.org.au, ^http://frogs.org.au/community/viewtopic.php?t=4876&sid=0dc45ef08e12cd5e1d27524bca2269f9]

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Spotted-tailed Quoll
(Dasyurus maculatus)
Blue Mountains top order predator, competing with the Dingo

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The RFS contractors wouldn’t have had a clue if they were within 100 metres or 1 metre of rare, vulnerable or threatened species.

The RFS is not exempt from destroying important ecological habitat; rather it is required to have regard to the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD).

Read: >RFS Policy 2-03 Ecologically Sustainable Development

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The ‘Rationale‘ of this RFS ESD policy states at Clause 1.2:

‘The Bush Fire Coordinating Committee, under the Rural Fires Act 1997 Sec 3 (d), is required to have regard to ESD as outlined in the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991, which sets out the following principles:

a)   The precautionary principle namely, that if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent environmental degradation. In the application of the precautionary principle, public and private decisions should be guided by:

i.   careful evaluation to avoid, wherever practicable, serious or irreversible damage to the environment, and
ii.   an assessment of the risk-weighted consequences of various options.

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b)   Inter-generational equity namely, that the present generation should ensure that the health, diversity and productivity of the environment are maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations

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c)   Conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity should be a fundamental consideration in all decisions.

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d)   Recognising the economic values that the natural environment provides. The natural environment has values that are often hard to quantify but provide a benefit to the entire community. By recognising that the natural environment does have significant economic and social values we can improve decision making for the present and future generations.’

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Yet the RFS policy on hazard reduction is woefully loose in the ‘Bushfire Co-ordinating Committee Policy 2 /03 on ESD‘ – which (on paper) advocates protecting environmental values and ensuring that ESD commitments are adopted and adhered to by contractors.

Experience now confirms this policy is nothing more than ‘greenwashing’.  The RFS wouldn’t know what environmental values were if they drove their fire truck into a Blkue Mountains upland swamp.  There is not one ecologist among them.

While the critical value of dedicated RFS volunteer fire-fighters fighting fires is without question, what deserves questioning is the unsustainable response of the RFS ‘old guard to fire trails and hazard reduction with token regard for sensitive habitat.  Repeated bushfire research confirms that bushfires are mostly now caused by:

  1. Bush arson (hazard reduction included, escaped or otherwise)
  2. More residential communities encroaching upon bushland.

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Under the ‘Blue Mountains Bushfire Management Committee Bushfire Risk Management Plan’ (Ed: their bureaucratic name), key objectives are patently ignored:

  • ‘Ensure that public and private land owners and occupiers understand their bushfire management responsibilities’
  • ‘Ensure that the community is well informed about bushfire protection measures and prepared for bushfire events through Community Fireguard programs’
  • ‘Manage bushfires for the protection and conservation of the natural, cultural, scenic and recreational features , including tourism values, of the area’.

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Instead, the Rural Fire Service is content to look busy by burning and bulldozing native bushland.  The RFS actively demonises native vegetation as a ‘fuel hazard‘, in the much the same way that ignorant colonists of the 18th and 19th centuries demonised Australia’s unique wildlife as ‘vermin‘ and ‘game‘.

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Further Reading:

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[1]   Previous article on The Habitat Advocate:  ‘RFS Bulldozes Six Foot Track‘  (published 20101220):  [>Read Article]

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[2]  Tip of the Bush-Arson Iceberg

What these government funded and State-sanctioned bush-arsonists get up to, deliberately setting fire to wildlife habitat, is an ecological disgrace.

The following list is from just 2005 of the vast areas of native vegetation deliberately burnt across New South Wales in just this one year.  [Source: DOTARS].

Not surprisingly, this State-sanctioned bush-arson information is no longer published by government each year for obvious clandestine reasons, as the bush-arson continues out of the public eye.

The hazard reduction cult is similarly perpetuated across other Australian states – Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, West Australia as well as Northern Territory and the ACT.   No wonder Australia’s record of wildlife extinctions tragically leads the world!  There is little precious rich wildlife habitat left.

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National Park and Wildlife Service  (NSW) Bush Arson:

(Note: ‘NR’ = Nature Reserve, ‘NP’ = National Park, ‘SCA’ = State Conservation Area… as if these bastards care)

Reserve / Activity Name Treatment Area (km2)
Baalingen NR 5
Baalingen NR 6
Bald Rock NP 7
Banyabba NR 0.5
BANYABBA NR 3
BANYABBA NR 24
BANYABBA NR 8
Barakee NP 6
Barool NP 20
Barool NP 6
Barool NP 5
Barool NP 4
Barool NP 2
Barool NP 5
Barrington Tops NP 2.5
Barrington Tops NP 2
Barrington Tops NP 6
Barrington Tops NP 18
Barrington Tops NP 6
Barrington Tops NP 16
Barrington Tops NP 11
Barrington Tops NP 1
Barrington Tops NP 4
Barrington Tops NP 2
Barrington Tops NP 1
Barrington Tops NP 3
Basket Swamp NP 1
Basket Swamp NP 12
Basket Swamp NP 2
Basket Swamp NP 4
Bellinger River NP 1
Ben Boyd NP 0.8
Ben Boyd NP 3
Ben Boyd NP 0.9
Ben Boyd NP 0.9
Ben Boyd NP 5
Ben Boyd NP 13
Ben Boyd NP 5
Ben Boyd NP 0.4
Ben Boyd NP 1
Ben Boyd NP 2
Ben Boyd NP 3
Ben Boyd NP 5
Ben Boyd NP 3.6
Ben Boyd NP 1.9
Ben Boyd NP 1.6
Ben Halls Gap NP 3
Bindarri NP 2
Black Bulga SCA 8
Black Bulga SCA 12
Black Bulga SCA 21
Blue Mountains NP 42
Blue Mountains NP 8.3
Blue Mountains NP 23
Blue Mountains NP 10
Blue Mountains NP 12
Bogendyra NR
Bolivia NR 1
BOLLONOLLA NR 2
Bondi Gulf NR 8
Bondi Gulf NR 6
Bondi Gulf NR 10
BONGIL BONGIL NP 0.3
BONGIL BONGIL NP 0.5
Boonoo Boonoo NP 9
Boonoo Boonoo NP 10
Booti Booti NP 0.5
Booti Booti NP 0.3
Booti Booti NP 3
Booti Booti NP 0.3
Booti Booti NP 3
Border Range NP 6
Border Ranges NP 4
Border Ranges NP 3
Border Ranges NP 4
Border Ranges NP 2.8
Bouddi NP 0.5
Bouddi NP 0.3
Bouddi NP 0.9
Bouddi NP 0.9
Bouddi NP 0.5
Bouddi NP 1.1
Bouddi NP 0.5
Bouddi NP 1.9
Bouddi NP 1.1
Bouddi NP 0.6
Bouddi NP 2.3
Bournda NR 10
Bournda NR 5
Bournda NR 0.5
Bournda NR 0.5
Bournda NR 0.5
Brindabella NP 20
Brisbane Water NP 4.4
Brisbane Water NP 2.4
Brisbane Water NP 3.7
Brisbane Water NP 3.6
Brisbane Water NP 0.3
Brisbane Water NP 3.1
Brisbane Water NP 0.6
Budawang NP 4.8
Budderoo NP 10
Bugong NP 3.1
Bundgalung NP 2
BUNDJALUNG NP 7
BUNDJALUNG NP 4.5
BUNDJALUNG NP 8
BUNDJALUNG NP 1.5
BUNDJALUNG NP 0.5
BUNDJALUNG NP 6
BUNDJALUNG NP 3
BUNDJALUNG NP 3
BUNDJALUNG NP 4
BUNDJALUNG NP 2
BUNDJALUNG NP 1
Bundundah Reserve 1.94
Bundundah Reserve/Morton NP 4.7
Bungawalbyn NP 2
Bungawalbyn NP 2.25
Bungawalbyn NP 4
Bungawalbyn NP 5
Bungawalbyn NP 3
Bungawalbyn NP 4.5
Bungawalbyn NP 6.5
Bungawalbyn NP 5
Bungawalbyn NP 1.65
Bungawalbyn NP 1.5
Burnt Down Scrub NR 2
Burnt School NR 2
Burrinjuck NR 8
Burrinjuck NR 15
Burrinjuck NR 3
Butterleaf NP
Butterleaf NP 3
Butterleaf NP 3.2
Butterleaf NP 1.2
Butterleaf NP 1.6
Butterleaf NP 1.2
Butterleaf NP 2
Butterleaf NP 1.8
Butterleaf NP 1.4
Butterleaf NP 0.5
Butterleaf NP 2.3
Butterleaf NP 3.3
Butterleaf NP 3.9
Butterleaf NP 5.3
Butterleaf NP 0.4
Butterleaf NP 0.5
Butterleaf NP 1.5
Butterleaf NP 2.9
Butterleaf NP 5.3
Butterleaf NP 4
Butterleaf NP 3.3
Butterleaf NP 3.6
Butterleaf NP 1.5
Butterleaf NP 8.8
Butterleaf NP 0.5
Capoompeta NP 10
Cataract NP
Cataract NP 1.5
Cataract NP 2
Cataract NP 2
Cataract NP 1.5
Cataract NP 2
Cataract NP 1
Clayton Chase 5
Clayton Chase 10
Clayton Chase 3.5
Clayton Chase 4
Clayton Chase 3
Clayton Chase 3
Clayton Chase  4
Conjola NP 5.7
Conjola NP 1.8
Conjola NP 8.3
Conjola NP 4.8
Conjola NP 2.9
Conjola NP 4.5
Conjola NP 6.5
Coolah Tops NR 28
Coolah Tops NR 1
Coolah Tops NR 6
Copeland Tops SCA 3
Copeland Tops SCA 3.5
Corramy SCA 0.7
Cottan-bimbang NP 6
Cottan-bimbang NP 16
Cottan-bimbang NP 15
Culgoa NP 30
Curramore NP
Curramore NP 8
Curramore NP 8.9
Curramore NP 11
Curramore NP 5.5
Dapper NR 10
Deua NP 15.2
Deua NP 1.4
Deua NP 1
Deua NP 4
Deua NP 21.5
Deua NP 2.1
Deua NP 1.4
Deua NP 3.3
Deua NP 8.5
Deua NP 20.8
Deua NP 5.3
Deua NP 6.6
Deua NP 28.2
Deua NP 5.65
DUNGGIR NP 4
Eurobodalla NP 0.8
Eurobodalla NP 2.5
Eurobodalla NP 0.8
Eurobodalla NP 2.4
Eurobodalla NP 2
Flaggy creek  NR 3
Flaggy creek  NR 1.8
GANAY NR 2
GANAY NR 2
Garawarra SCA
Garby NR 2
Gardens of Stone NP 18
Gibraltar NP 14
Goobang NP 5
Goobang NP 25
GUMBAYNGIR SCA 12
GUMBAYNGIR SCA 7
GUMBAYNGIR SCA 6
Ironbark NR 13.5
Jerrawangala NP 6.83
Jervis Bay NP 2.37
Jervis Bay NP 5.42
Jervis Bay NP 0.56
Jervis Bay NP 0.82
Jervis Bay NP 1.45
Jervis Bay NP 1.72
Jervis Bay NP 0.21
Jervis Bay NP 0.32
Jervis Bay NP 0.7
Jervis Bay NP 0.4
Jervis Bay NP 0.35
Jervis Bay NP 0.35
Jervis Bay NP 0.48
Jervis Bay NP 1.03
Jervis Bay NP 0.65
Jervis Bay NP 1.91
Jervis Bay NP 0.34
Jervis Bay NP 0.95
Jervis Bay NP 1.46
Jervis Bay NP 0.71
Jervis Bay NP 1.07
Jingellic NR 20
Karuah NR 10
Karuah NR 28
Karuah NR 10
Karuah NR 12
Karuah NR 1
Kings Plains NP 7
Kings Plains NP 0
Kings Plains NP 4
Koreelah NP 6
Kosciuszko NP 30
Kosciuszko NP 9.5
Kosciuszko NP 22
Kosciuszko NP 22
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 12
Kosciuszko NP 12
Kosciuszko NP 17
Kosciuszko NP 5
Kosciuszko NP 28
Kosciuszko NP 9
Kosciuszko NP 6
Kosciuszko NP 6
Kosciuszko NP 26
Kosciuszko NP 8.9
Kosciuszko NP 15
Kosciuszko NP 15
Kosciuszko NP 2.5
Kosciuszko NP 8.9
Kosciuszko NP 10
Kosciuszko NP 11
Kosciuszko NP 4.8
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 19
Kosciuszko NP 7.2
Kosciuszko NP 7.2
Kosciuszko NP 13
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 33
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 18
Kosciuszko NP 15
Kosciuszko NP 12
Kwiambal NP 7
Kwiambal NP 3
Kwiambal NP 2
Kwiambal NP 2.25
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.3
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.4
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.4
Lake Macquarie SCA 0.4
Ledknapper NR 15
Linton NR 12.5
Meroo NP 2.4
Meroo NP 0.9
Meroo NP 0.6
Meroo NP 3.3
Meroo NP 3.9
Meroo NP 3.5
Meroo NP 0.5
Morton NP 5.9
Morton NP 8.3
Morton NP 3.8
Morton NP 6
Morton NP 13
Morton NP 0.4
Morton NP 4.5
Morton NP 5
Morton NP 2.7
Morton NP 0.7
Morton NP 2.1
Morton NP 1
Morton NP 6
Mt Canobolas SCA 1
Mt Clunnie NP 6.5
Mt Dowling NR 2
MT NEVILLE NR 11
MT NEVILLE NR 1
MT NEVILLE NR 1.5
MT NEVILLE NR 11
MT NEVILLE NR 1.5
MT NEVILLE NR 3.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 4
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 1.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 1.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 4
MT PIKAPENE NP 7
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 6
MT PIKAPENE NP 3
MT PIKAPENE NP 0.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 0.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 1
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 6
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 1
MT PIKAPENE NP 2.5
MT PIKAPENE NP 2
MT PIKAPENE NP 1.5
Mummell Gulf NP 3
Mummell Gulf NP 7
Mummell Gulf NP 5
Munmorah SRA 0.7
Munmorah SRA 0.8
Munmorah SRA 0.45
Munmorah SRA 1
Munmorah SRA 2
Munmorah SRA 0.9
Munmorah SRA 1.6
Muogamarra NR 1
Murramarang NP 0.9
Murramarang NP 8
Murramarang NP 1
Murramarang NP 5.1
Murramarang NP 8.2
Murramarang NP 3.1
Murramarang NP 6.8
Murramarang NP 16
Murramarang NP 4.3
Murramarang NP 4
Myall Lakes NP 5
Myall Lakes NP 5
Myall Lakes NP 1.5
Myall Lakes NP 2
Myall Lakes NP 1
Myall Lakes NP 5
NGAMBAA NR 2
NGAMBAA NR 5
Nombinnie NR 10
Nymboida NP 6
Nymboida NP 12
Nymboida NP 3
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 1
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 3.2
Nymboida NP 4.5
Nymboida NP 2
Nymboida NP 4
Nymboida NP 2.8
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 4.2
Nymboida NP 7
Nymboida NP 6
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 10.7
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 19.1
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 13.4
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 18
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 18
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 15
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 33
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 33
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 5
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 5
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 4
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 3
Oxley Wild Rivers NP 7
Parma Creek NR 0.21
Parma Creek NR 0.07
Parma Creek NR 0.3
Parma Creek NR 0.01
Parma Creek NR 0.29
Parma Creek NR 5
Paroo Darling NP 60
Policemans Cap 10
Razorback NR 17
Richmond Range NP 3.9
Richmond Range NP 6.5
Richmond Range NP 3.8
Richmond Range NP 4.5
Richmond Range NP 5.5
Richmond Range NP 9
Royal NP 1
Seven Mile Beach NP 1.09
Seven Mile Beach NP 1.79
Seven Mile Beach NP 2.24
Seven Mile Beach NP 0.74
Seven Mile Beach NP 2.03
Severn River NR 6
Single NP 21
South East Forest NP 5
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 2.6
South East Forest NP 3
South East Forest NP 10.9
South East Forest NP 1.3
South East Forest NP 1
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 2.8
South East Forest NP 2
South East Forest NP 1.2
South East Forest NP 2
South East Forest NP 5.1
South East Forest NP 3.5
South East Forest NP 0.5
South East Forest NP 6
South East Forest NP 3
South East Forest NP 1
South East Forest NP 5.5
South East Forest NP 0.8
Stoney Batter NR 6
Tapitallee NR 0.52
Tapitallee NR 0.33
Tapitallee NR 0.36
Tapitallee NR 0.32
Tarlo River NP 3.8
Tarlo River NP 2.1
Tarlo River NP 2.9
Tarlo River NP 5.9
Tarlo River NP 6.5
Tarlo River NP 2.7
Tarlo River NP 2.1
Tarlo River NP 6
Tollingo NR 150
Tomaree NP 1.8
Tooloom NP 3
Toonumbar NP 31.9
Toonumbar NP 8.5
Toonumbar NP 17
Toonumbar NP 21.5
Triplarina NR 0.71
Triplarina NR 0.32
Triplarina NR 0.66
Triplarina NR 0.75
Triplarina NR 1.34
Triplarina NR 0.31
Triplarina NR 1.24
Triplarina NR 1.35
Ungazetted (Kalyarr NP) 48
Ungazetted (Kalyarr NP) 26
Unknown 7
Wa Hou NR 10
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 7
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 11
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 7
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 1
Wa Hou NR 1
Wallaroo NR 3
Wallaroo NR 1.5
Wallaroo NR 8
Wallaroo NR 5
Wallaroo NR 11
Wallaroo NR 7
Wallaroo NR 7
Wallaroo NR 16
Wallaroo NR 6
Wallingat NP 2
Wallingat NP 1.3
Wallingat NP 3.6
Wallingat NP 3.3
Washpool Np 18
Washpool NP 5.3
Washpool NP 5.6
Washpool NP 7.1
Washpool NP 6.4
Washpool NP 1.6
Washpool NP 7
Washpool NP 2.8
Watson’s Creek NR 5
Wereboldera SCA 9
Woggoon NR 144
Wollemi NP 21
Wollemi NP 12
Wollemi NP 10
Wollemi NP 30
Wollemi NP 7
Wollemi NP 11
Wollemi NP 7
Wollemi NP 16
Wollemi NP 2
Wollemi NP 8
Wollemi NP 5
Woodford Island NR 1.5
Woodford Island NR 2
Woodford Island NR 3
Woodford Island NR 3
Woollamia NR 1.51
Woollamia NR 0.77
Woollamia NR 1.95
Woollamia NR 1.88
Woollamia NR 0.74
Woomargama NP 15
Yabbra NP 8
Yabbra NP 45
Yango NP 0.45
Yanununbeyan NP 11
YARRIABINNI NP 2
YARRIABINNI NP 3
YARRIABINNI NP 5
YARRIABINNI NP 6
YARRIABINNI NP 4
Yuraygir NP 4
Yuraygir NP 3.5
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 1
YURAYGIR NP 0.03
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 3.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 1.5
Yuraygir NP 28
Yuraygir NP 10
Yuraygir NP 12
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 1
Yuraygir NP 4
Yuraygir NP 3.5
    3,785.10 Ha

i.e.  An area 6km x 6km

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NSW Local Government Areas (LGAs)

Bush Fire Management Committee / LGA Reserve / Activity Name Treatment Area (km2)
Blue Mountains Northern Strategic Line -Primary 8
Blue Mountains De Faurs Trail – Mt Wilson -Primary 2.8
Blue Mountains Mitchell’s Creek Fire Trail – Primary 3.5
Blue Mountains Nellies Glen Fire Trail 2.8
Blue Mountains Back Creek Fire Trail – Primary 3.2
Blue Mountains Mt Piddington Trail – Hornes Point N/A
Bombala Gibraltar Ridge Fire Trail (2) (PT) 20
Bombala Mt Rixs Fire Trail (PT) 6
Bombala Roaring Camp Fire Trail (PT) 12
Cooma-Monaro Brest Fire Trail (2) (PT) 15
Cooma-Monaro Calabash Fire Trail (2) (PT) 22
Cooma-Monaro Murrumbucca Fire Trail (2) (ST) 15
Cooma-Monaro Bridge Fire Trail (2) (PT) 6
Cooma-Monaro Log In Hole Fire Trail (2) (PT) 5
Gloucester Upper Avon Fire Trail 11
Greater Argyle Mountain Ash Fire Trail 10
Greater Argyle Mootwingee Fire Trail 6
Greater Hume Murphy’s Fire Trail 0.2
Greater Hume Mandaring Fire Trail 1
Greater Queanbeyan City Queanbeyan River Fire Trail 5.5
Greater Queanbeyan City Gourock Fire Trail 5.8
Hawkesbury District Jacks Trail 1.6
Hawkesbury District Duffys Trail (2) ?tenure 3
Mallee Various Fire Trails N/A
Mallee No 21 Fire Trail 20
Namoi/Gwydir Warialda State Forest 6.5
Namoi/Gwydir Zaba-Kaiwarra-Kiora Fire Trail (check) 10
Namoi/Gwydr Blue Nobby Fire Trail (check) 8
Namoi/Gwydr Araluen Fire Trail (check) 6
Snowy River Snowy Plain Fire Trail (2) (PT) 18
Snowy River Crackenback Fire Trail (PT) 10
Snowy River Devils Hole Fire Trail (PT) 18
Snowy River Golden Age Fire Trail (2) (PT) 8
Sutherland Sabugal Pass Fire Trail N/A
SW Mallee Various Fire Trails N/A
SW Mallee Oberwells Fire Trail 28
SW Mallee Mandleman Fire Trail 40
Upper Lachlan Johnsons Creek Fire Trail 15
Warringah/Pittwater Lovett Bay Trail (2) 2.5
Warringah/Pittwater Elvina Bay Trail (2) 1.5
Yass Valley Nelanglo Fire Trail 21
Yass Valley Hayshed Fire Trail 1 7
Yass Valley Hayshed Fire Trail 2 7
       391.90 km2

i.e.   An area 20km x 20km

.

Forests NSW (government’s industrial logger of NSW remnant forests).

(Forests NSW did not publish the area burnt, only the cost. As a rule of thumb use $3000/square km)

Bush Fire Management Committee Reserve / Activity Name NSW
Allocation
Clarence Zone Dalmorton SF $30,000
Future Forests Swan $20,050
Future Forests Tindall $10,680
Future Forests Tooloom $10,425
Future Forests Mazzer $7,341
Future Forests Kungurrabah $4,435
Future Forests Morpeth Park $3,773
Future Forests Loughnan $3,155
Future Forests Inglebar $3,000
Future Forests Lattimore $2,604
Future Forests Byrne $1,755
Future Forests Ziull 4 $1,677
Future Forests Lejag $1,670
Future Forests Ziull 2 $1,600
Future Forests Bates $1,563
Future Forests Ziull 3 $1,454
Future Forests Envirocom $1,410
Future Forests Morgan $1,361
Future Forests McNamara $1,279
Future Forests Neaves $967
Future Forests Zuill $872
Future Forests Boyle $807
Future Forests Fitzpatrick $791
Future Forests Morrow $785
Future Forests Morrow $785
Future Forests Morrow $785
Future Forests Wallwork $665
Future Forests Smith $665
Future Forests Wilson $622
Future Forests Jarramarumba $600
Future Forests Hession $597
Future Forests Edwards $563
Future Forests Maunder $558
Future Forests Kuantan $515
Future Forests Billins $484
Future Forests Cox $475
Future Forests Paterson $461
Future Forests Gladys $415
Future Forests O’Keefe $371
Future Forests Woodcock $369
Future Forests Pratten $346
Future Forests Truswell $323
Future Forests Divine $323
Future Forests Hastings $323
Future Forests White $300
Future Forests Miller $300
Future Forests Koop $300
Future Forests Lacy $277
Future Forests Nosrac $277
Future Forests Tully $277
Future Forests Baker $277
Future Forests Yaganegi $277
Future Forests Siezowski $254
Future Forests Zuill $254
Future Forests Atcheson $254
Future Forests Dissevelt $254
Future Forests Hoy $254
Future Forests Woods $254
Future Forests Dawson $254
Future Forests Hagan $254
Future Forests Skelly $231
Future Forests Robards $231
Future Forests Maunder $231
Future Forests Day $231
Future Forests O’Connell $231
Future Forests Kompara $231
Future Forests Carmen $231
Future Forests Maurer $231
Future Forests Cunin $208
Future Forests GCC $208
Future Forests White $208
Future Forests Hayer $208
Future Forests Southgate $208
Future Forests Peck $208
Greater Taree Kiwarrak SF $40,000
Hastings Cowarra SF $30,000
Hastings Caincross SF $4,000
Hume Clearing fire trails $100,000
Hume New FT $6,000
Hunter Pokolbin SF $13,600
Hunter Myall River SF $12,800
Hunter Myall River SF $12,800
Hunter Heaton SF $12,400
Hunter Bulahdelah SF $6,100
Hunter Watagan SF $3,200
Hunter Awaba SF $3,200
Hunter Myall River SF $3,100
Macquarie Warrengong $16,250
Macquarie Vulcan & Gurnang $11,519
Macquarie Kinross SF $8,800
Macquarie Mount David $6,101
Macquarie Newnes SF $5,199
Macquarie Printing 25 fire atlas’ $2,048
Macquarie Black Rock Ridge $447
Mid-Nth Coast – Taree Knorrit SF $36,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Taree Yarratt SF $16,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Boonanghi SF $37,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Northern Break $9,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Caincross SF $3,000
Mid-Nth Coast – Wauchope Western Break $2,000
Monaro Clearing fire trails $114,685
North East Thumb Creek SF $46,000
North East Candole SF $29,535
North East Various State Forests $20,000
North East Mt Belmore SF $12,115
North East Candole SF $8,900
North East Lower Bucca SF $5,500
North East All North Region $3,300
North East Wild Cattle SF $3,000
North East Orara East SF $1,900
Northern -Casino Barragunda $11,522
Northern -Casino Yaraldi 2003 $8,847
Northern -Casino Yaraldi 2004 $3,207
Richmond Valley Bates $20,000
Richmond Valley Whiporie SF $13,154
Richmond Valley Swanson $12,000
Richmond Valley McNamara $10,180
Richmond Valley Whiporie SF $9,582
Southern  Pollwombra FT $6,360
Southern-Eden Various – whole district $112,019
Tamworth Nundle SF $40,000
Walcha Nowendoc SF $30,000
Walcha Styx River SF $20,000
$1,073,482

i.e.  Approximately an area 20km x 20km

 .

NSW Department of Lands    (what native vegetation’s left).

Bush Fire Management Committee Reserve / Activity Name Treatment Area Ha / Other Treatment Area (km2)
Baulkham Hills Porters Rd / Cranstons Rd 5
Baulkham Hills Porters Rd / Cranstons Rd (2) 4
Baulkham Hills Pauls Road Trail 5
Baulkham Hills Mount View Trail 1
Baulkham Hills Idlewild 2
Baulkham Hills Maroota Tracks Trail 7
Baulkham Hills Yoothamurra Trail 1
Baulkham Hills Kellys Arm Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Dargle Ridge Trail 5
Baulkham Hills Dargle Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Days Road Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Dickinsons Trail 6
Baulkham Hills Fingerboard Trail 3
Baulkham Hills Floyds Road Trail 8
Baulkham Hills Neichs Road Trail 4
Bega Eden Strategic Fire Trail 3
Bega Illawambera Fire Trail 1
Bega Merimbula/Turu Beach Strategic Protection 2
Bega Yankees Gap  2
Bega Millingandi Special Protection (Trail) 1
Bega Wallagoot Strategic Protection (Trail) 1.2
Bega South Eden Strategic Protection (Trail) 1
Bega Merimbula/Pambula Strategic Protection (APZ) 1
Bega Pacific St Tathra 0.5
Bland Bland Villages (FTM)  2
Bland Water Tower Reserve FTM 3
Blue Mountains Cripple Creek Fire Trail Stage 2 5
Blue Mountains Cripple Creek Fire Trail Complex 5
Blue Mountains Caves Creek Trail 0.4
Blue Mountains Edith Falls Trail 2
Blue Mountains Boronia Rd – Albert Rd Trails 1
Blue Mountains Perimeter Trail – North Hazelbrook 1.5
Blue Mountains McMahons Point Trail – Kings Tableland 7
Blue Mountains Back Creek Fire Trail 3.2
Blue Mountains Mitchell’s Creek Fire Trail 3.5
Bombala Gibraltar Ridge Fire Trail 11
Bombala Burnt Hut Fire Trail 5
Bombala Merriangah East Fire Trail 12
Bombala Bombala Towns & Villages (Trails) 10
Campbelltown St Helens Park – Wedderburn Rd (Barriers) 0.3
Campbelltown Barrier / Gate
Campbelltown Riverview Rd Fire Trail 0.65
Canobolas Calula Range FTM
Canobolas Spring Glen Estate FTM
Cessnock Neath South West Fire Trail 2
Cessnock Neath South East Fire Trail 1.5
Cessnock Neath North Fire Trail (2) 1
Cessnock Gates – Asset Protection Zones
Cessnock Signs – Asset Protection Zones
Cessnock Signs – Fire Trails
Cessnock Kearsley Fire Trail 0.5
Cessnock Neath – South (Trail) 4
Cessnock Neath – North (Trail) 2
Clarence Valley Bowling Club Fire Trail 1
Clarence Valley Brooms Head Fire Trail 0.2
Clarence Valley Ilarwill Village 0.3
Cooma-Monaro Chakola Fire Trail 21
Cooma-Monaro Good Good Fire Trail 12
Cooma-Monaro Inaloy Fire Trail 19
Cooma-Monaro Cowra Creek Fire Trail 4
Cooma-Monaro David’s Fire Trail 2.1
Cooma-Monaro Clear Hills Fire Trail 5
Cooma-Monaro Mt Dowling Fire Trail 16
Cooma-Monaro Towneys Ridge Fire Trail 6
Cunningham Warialda Periphery 2 20
Cunningham Upper Bingara Fire Trail
Dungog Dungog Fire Trail Signs
Far North Coast Byrangary Fire Trail 1
Far North Coast Main Arm Fire Trail (NC67) 2
Far North Coast Burringbar Fire Trail (NC69) 1
Far North Coast Mill Rd Fire Trail (NC95) 1
Far North Coast Broken Head Fire Trail (NC68) 0.5
Far North Coast New Brighton Fire Trail (NC44) 0.5
Far North Coast Mooball Spur Fire Trail 1
Far North Coast Palmwoods Fire Trail (NC06) 0.5
Gloucester Coneac Trail 6
Gloucester Moores Trail 6
Gloucester Mt Mooney Fire Trail 6
Gosford District Signs – Fire Trails
Great Lakes Ebsworth Fire Trail 1
Great Lakes Tuncurry High Fire Trail 0.6
Great Lakes Monterra Ave Trail – Hawks Nest 0.7
Greater Argyle Browns Rd Komungla 12
Greater Argyle Greater Argyle Fire Trail Maintenance
Greater Argyle Cookbundoon Fire Trail 2
Greater Taree District Tinonee St Road Reserve 0.25
Greater Taree District Beach St SFAZ – Wallabi Point 0.35
Greater Taree District Sth Woodlands Dr – SFAZ 1.3
Greater Taree District Cedar Party Rd – Taree 2
Hawkesbury District Sargents Road (2)  ?tenure 0.75
Hawkesbury District Parallel Trail (2) 2.5
Hawkesbury District Parallel Trail (1) 1.1
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Tunks Ridge, Dural 1
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Radnor & Cairnes Fire Trail 0.5
Hornsby/Ku-ring-gai Binya Cl, Hornsby Heights 1.5
Shellharbour District Saddleback – Hoddles Trail 3
Shellharbour District Rough Range Trail 1
Lake Macquarie District Kilaben Bay Fire Trail 1.5
Lake Macquarie District Gates – Access Management
Lake Macquarie District Signs – APZ
Lake Macquarie District Signs – Fire Trails
Lithgow Wilsons Glen Trail 6.1
Lithgow Kanimbla Fire Trail No 314 7.8
Lithgow Camels Back Trail No 312 4.5
Lithgow Crown Creek Trail No 206 7
Lithgow Capertee Common Trail No 203 3
Lower Hunter Zone Access Infrastructure – All Districts
Lower North Coast Cabbage Tree Lane Fire Trail, Kempsey 1.5
Lower North Coast Bullocks Quarry Fire Trail 0.66
Lower North Coast Perimeter Protection, Main St, Eungai Creek, Nambucca 0.6
Mid North Coast Urunga Lagoon, Bellingen 4
Mid North Coast Wenonah Head, Bellingen 4
Mudgee Munro’s Fire Trail 24
Mudgee Munro’s Fire Trail 5.25
Penrith Londonderry/Castlereagh 6
Port Stephens Bobs Farm Fire Trails 4
Port Stephens Salamander Way Fire Trail 1.5
Port Stephens Gan Gan Hill West Fire Trail 1.2
Port Stephens Nelson Bay – Gan Gan Hill (Trail) 1.5
Port Stephens Taylors Beach Fire Trail 1
Port Stephens Nelson Bay – Wallawa Rd (SFAZ) 0.7
Port Stephens Taylors Beach East Fire Trail 3.5
Port Stephens Nelson Bay – Wallawa Rd (Gates)
Port Stephens Port Stephens Fire Trail Signs
Port Stephens Corlette – Salamander Way (Trail) 1
Shoalhaven APZ Access Works
Snowy River Southern Boundary Fire Trail 3
Snowy River Somme Valley Fire Trail 5
Sutherland District Forbes Creek North Trail 1.3
Sutherland District Still Creek Complex (Trail) 3.8
Sutherland District Mannikin Trail 1.5
Sutherland District Viburnum Trail 0.8
Sutherland District Mill Creek Complex 2.6
Sutherland District Loftus Creek Complex 1.9
Sutherland District Cranberry Trail 0.8
Sutherland District Turella Trail 0.8
Sutherland District Freemantle Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Illaroo Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Yala East Trail 0.9
Sutherland District Bunyan Fire Trail 1.2
Sutherland District Rosewell Service Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Belarada Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Belbowrie Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Leawarra Fire Trail 0.9
Sutherland District McKenzie Service Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Walsh Close Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Yala West Trail 0.7
Sutherland District Barnes Cres Service Trail 0.6
Sutherland District Illumba Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Penrose Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Tatler Place Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Torumba Service Trail 0.5
Sutherland District Friendship Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Kippax – Rosewall Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Tallarook Service Trail 0.4
Sutherland District Billa Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Chestnut Trail 0.2
Sutherland District Croston Rd Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Kingswood Rd Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Roebourne Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Whimbrel Service Trail 0.3
Sutherland District Shearwater Trail 0.1
Tamworth Moore Creek Dam Reserve 3.5
Tamworth Moore Creek Dam Reserve 1
Tumut Bundarbo Fire Trail (Stage 1) 30
Tumut Yammatree Reserve 2
Tumut Thomas Boyd Track Head 2
Tumut Tumut Bush Common 5
Tumut Batlow Hill 2
Tumut Rimmers Ridge – Adelong
Tumut Bangadang 7
Upper Lachlan Upper Lachlan Fire Trail Maintenance
Upper Lachlan Isabella Fire Trail 10
Wagga Wagga Silvatite Reserve (Trails) 5
Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga Towns & Villages (Trails) 10
Wagga Wagga Kyeamba Gap 4
Wagga Wagga San Isadore 3
Warringah/Pittwater Sandy Trail 0.1
Warringah/Pittwater Lovett Bay Trail 2.5
Warringah/Pittwater Elvina Bay Trail 1.5
Warringah/Pittwater Aumuna Cooyong Trail 0.2
Wingecarribee P3 Fire Trail 6
Wingecarribee Weir Fire trail 3.8
Wingecarribee Lukes Fire trail 0.1
Wollondilly Bargo Weir Fire Trail 10
Wyong District YMCA North / South Link Fire Trail 2
Wyong District YMCA South / Kanangra Dr Fire Trail 2
Wyong District Lake Munmorah Fire Trails 3.25
Wyong District Hyles St Fire Trail, Chittaway Pt 0.1
Wyong District Big “T” and YMCA Link Fire Trails 1.5
Wyong District Lake Road Fire Trail, Chittaway Point 0.1
Wyong District Big “T” Fire Trail – Crangan Bay 1.1
Wyong District Wyong APZ Signs
Wyong District Lake Road Fire Trail, Tuggerah 1
Wyong District Doyalson North, 219-225 Pacific Hway (Trail) 0.8
Yass Valley Yass Valley Fire Trail Maintenance
               565.16

i.e.  Approximately an area 24km x 24km

. .

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