War on the environment nears crisis

[David McDonald <>]

The article Alastair has posted does not contain the source. It is the
second of two excellent contributions by David Horton; references follow.
I strongly recommend the first as well. It seeks to refute the twin
arguments that (1) Aboriginal people burned the bush and in so doing
created the present environments and so we should resume a regime of
burning and (2) Australian woodlands and forests are 'fire adapted' and
even benefit from fire. We will need these types of data and arguments if
we are to preserve bird habitats from those who want to burn and log the
woodlands and forests in the name of 'hazard reduction'.

The articles are:
Horton, D 2003, 'Why it's wrong to fight fire with more fire',
Canberra Times, 13 February, p. 23;
http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?story_id=209163&y=2003&m=2&class=Your+say&subclass=General&category=Columns+%2D+Opinions&class_id=11

Horton, D 2003, 'War on the environment nears crisis' Canberra Times, 17 February 2003  http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?story_id=209852&y=2003&m=2&class=Your+say&subclass=General&category=Columns+%2D+Opinions&class_id=11 

Horton's 1982 article remains a valuable source: Horton, DR 1982, 'The burning question: Aborigines, fire and Australian ecosystems', Mankind, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 237-51.

David

At 12:33 PM 18/02/2003 +1100,  wrote:
> While searching on the web last night for news of the latest HANZAB launch
> (which by the way, I didn't find anything) I found this interesting article.
> While not purely bird related I post it with the assumption it may be of
> interest to other birding-aus subscribers
>  
> Publisher: The Canberra Times
> Publication: The Canberra Times , Page 13 (Mon 17 Feb 2003)
> Keywords: Australia (4) Birds (1)
> Edition: CT