fire

Grass rings of the outback and trees of the artificial wilderness

Fire has helped the flammable spinifex invade this vast land, and that spinifex has helped fire to dominate the landscape”. Peter Latz

So I’ll see you out on the mulga and spinifex plain; Anytime, Tjilpi, I’ll be coming back this way; See you out on the mulga and spinifex plain; Just light me a fire and I’ll soon be home again

“Mulga and spinifex plain”, Warumpi Band (Track 10 on Big Name, No Blankets)


As we have travelled through large arid and semi-arid areas of Australia, two vegetation communities have dominated the country – spinifex grasslands and mulga shrublands.… Read more

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70 years of bushfires – have the lessons learnt been ignored ?

This blog focuses on two Victorian bush fire disasters 70 years apart. It highlights a failure of governance, a failure to heed fire expert advice, a preoccupation with an emergency response model that has failed in North America and is failing forests and residents in Australia, and an arrogant contempt towards previous bushfire inquiries.… Read more

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Bladensburg – a cultural experience in the Outback

It is always good to get the opportunity to visit a historic site that represents the area you are visiting. In this case, I am talking not about an old building or monument in town but a sizeable pastoral station in the Outback.

Bladensburg was one of the original stations in the Winton district, grazing thousands of sheep and around one thousand cattle.… Read more

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Woody weed invasion of the rangelands

As you travel north from Winton to Cloncurry along the Landsborough Highway, you see spectacular open Mitchell grass (Astrebla app) plains with their distinctive golden colour under the relentless sunshine. I had heard about these magnificent plains but had no idea how extensive and beautiful they really are.

 

Mitchell grass plains in north-west Queensland

After McKinlay, you start to see a change in the soil from the black-grey clays to the red mineralised earth soils.

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From Cania Gorge to the highlands of Tasmania and lots of places in between – the mismanagement of Australia’s forests

While on a bushwalk through Cania Gorge National Park near Monto last June, I tended to do what I always do. I studied the forest around me as I walked up a particular gully off the main gorge and looked for clues about the history of the forest and its condition.… Read more

From Cania Gorge to the highlands of Tasmania and lots of places in between – the mismanagement of Australia’s forests Read More »