Hi all,
Yesterday I received an email from former Canberra resident and COG member Warren Martin who works for the NSW Department of the Environment in Armidale. In it he told me that several various former State Forests in southern NSW have now been transferred to the NSWNPWS National Park and Nature Reserve system. These include the former Jindalee State Forest, an area that several members of COG have fought to have transferred to NPWS control. Other areas that Warren mentioned are Buddigower State Forest , not to be confused with the already gazetted Buddigower NR that I have been banding in for several years, not far from The Charcoal Tank NR near West Wyalong, and the Bendick Murrel SF – I’m not sure where that is. There are quite a few small patches of State Forest in the area around West Wyalong that I believe should also be incorporated in the NPWS system. I have asked Warren to let me know if there is a website that we can use to check what else has been added. I will keep the group informed.
With Jindalee the biggest problem it faces is from trail bike riders. Driving past the reserve you can see a network of tracks created by the bike riders. It now needs to be properly fenced and sign posted to keep the bikes out and also, “shock, horror”!!!!, it needs a light fire through it to stimulate some regrowth after years of sheep grazing. It is now almost impossible to see any Cootamundra Wattle growing in the reserve where it was once reasonably common. Believe it or not, it is actually a rare plant now in its natural environment.
Let’s hope for more good news like this in the not too distant future with all the other small patches of State Forest in NSW.
Mark
