Bundarrah Days

EXCLUSIVE REPORT:

This is a copy of a letter to be sent to DSE Benalla, Region 22 Headquarters, local members of Parliament.

To Whom It May Concern:

We, the volunteer members of the Picola Rural Fire Brigade, have serious concerns in regards to the future management of the Barmah Forest, should the cattle be removed in the future.

Our concerns are as stated:

Lack of management of the undergrowth and fuel loading due to removal of cattle
Lack of consultation with local fire brigade members
Lack of access tracks and bridges
Future maintenance of these tracks and bridges
Reference areas


In regards to the management of the undergrowth and fuel loading should the cattle be removed, the Parks past history, for example the high country, shows us that they do not have a workable plan in action to reduce large fire risks.

Generally, the local volunteer CFA members are first called to incidents in the forest, however, our input into safety and time is not taken into consideration. As locals, our knowledge is invaluable in relation to this issue.

We feel that the tracks are not being maintained adequately to allow fire trucks safe access to and from incidences as CFA policy states that for safety purposes, we need at least two escape routes.

Bridges also are a concern in that they are not being replaced or maintained quickly enough to provide safe access for not only the fire trucks but also the safe exit of campers and tourists. The Bendy Bridge at Hut Lake has not been replaced; Top Island has only two other access points. Also the bridge at Tarmah has been out of action for many years, McDonalds Bridge over smiths creek is in dire need of replacement. This is just to name a few.

At a recent fire where a Reference area was involved, Parks Victoria would not allow DSE to put an access track/fire break in high ground as this was in the reference area, hence sending the trucks through low wet ground causing a truck to become bogged. The CFA need to have unrestricted access to all areas should they be expected to put their lives on the line and fight fires in the bush.

Our members have voiced their concerns that if the cattle are removed from the forest and fuel loadings increase, we will seriously consider not going out there due to increased risks to our safety and accessibility.

We hope these concerns are given high priority when decisions on the forest are made in the future.



Picola Rural Fire Brigade
Secretary Jack Corry

Cross posted at The Great Divide

You might get a laugh of of out this. Have a listen. Phil and his mates on the political bandwagon.

The National Climate Centre yesterday warned it could take years for Victoria's water catchment areas to recover after years of drought and record low stream inflows.

Isn't it interesting that while the centre is prepared to blame the drought it studiously avoided mentioning that stream inflows will continue to be at record lows, not because of the drought once it's broken, but because of the wildfires of the past four years.

People who get their information via the media will read the warning and assume the low inflows are a hangover from drought years, they'll read elsewhere that the drought is a consequence of global warming, that fire is a consequence of the drought and true reasons for our water crisis will remain hidden forever. Sad but true.

A good story by Fiona Allen based on The Push For The Bush news release appeared in the Weekly Times today. It's not available online unfortunately or I would have posted a link.

Basically, it describes the wedge technique Parks Victoria has tried to employ to divide rural communities. Of course, they're denying it but deliberate or not that's the effect it's having. We're reliably informed that some people have already been interviewed by police due to incidents attributable to the tensions created by PV's actions.

They're going to have to find another strategy.

I COMMITTED a capital offence over at the Andrew Bolt Forum. I offered the hand of friendship to a couple of Moslems who responded by offering theirs and as an indirect result I was decapitated by either AB or his moderators. Rather hypocritical when you consider that one of the main complaints against Islamists is their fondness for head lopping.

Anyway, I offered these two blokes, Sammer and Hakan, who are pretty much Aussie (Sammer is a mad keen Hawks supporter) the chance to bring a few kids up to our place for a horse ride and to experience some Australian heritage and culture. They jumped at the chance, responded very graciously, and I knew then that I was dealing with genuine blokes.

But the abuse I got from some alleged fellow Aussies was unbelievable. There were even threats to which I responded in kind and for which I've apparently been lopped. Not that I mind. They have a saying there that the lunatics have taken over the asylum and based on recent occurrences that's right on the knocker. I'd reckon there will be a continuing exodus of rational posters because sooner or later they'll get fed up with having to deal with mad leftists, lunatic greens and blatant racists.

Sammer, Hakan and a few kids are coming up here on Sunday. We'll have a great time and I might try to organise an annual camp for these kids to give them a sense of bush life and culture which it's impossible to get in the city.

UPDATE: I appear to have been mistaken by assuming that a barring out had taken place at Andrew's Blog.

This morning he posted the following:

Sorry - I’ve just noticed that there’s a snafu that’s stopped people from being able to comment. I’ll try to get it fixed.

I don't know what went wrong there but we thought it must have been a blocking out yesterday when I was unable to post but Lou was from the same computer. Apologies to Andrew for thinking he might have been engaging in censorship.