--- On Sat, 11/8/08, Denise Goodfellow <> wrote:
> I've been in the Top End since1975 and a biological
> consultant/specialist guide since 1983-84.
Hi Denise, good to hear from someone as qualified as yourself.
> dead, the other in her eighties), and wherever we chanced
> upon country that hadn't been burnt for years and was a
> tangle of grass, they'd burn it telling me they had to
> "clean it up". They said others gossipped if one's
> country was not burnt to keep it (tidy).
This sounds like the kind of traditional use of fire I was thinking of, along
with the ue of fire to drive animals for food. My understanding is that the
fires were usually small. It would be interesting to hear from indigenous
people whose lands are more forested.
> I gave up visiting Gunlom years ago. It was being burnt
> too regularly for White-throated Grasswren, to re-establish.
So it sounds like fire is being used too often in some places. I was
criticised on this list for talking about the use of fire to reduce the risk of
crown fire. The two incidents I was thinking of were crown fires in Gibraltar
Range in about 1981 and more recently in Namadgi. As far as I know, neither of
these national parks had experienced controlled burns for a long time prior to
the crown fires. It took Gibraltar Range many years to recover, and it will
take large areas of Namadgi a long time as well. It sounds like fire is being
misused in some parts of Australia. But on the other hand I'm not sure that
it's a good idea to let the fuel load build up over a really long time with no
management only to result in crown fires that kill the big trees and destroy
habitat for birds and animals.
Prior to large areas of Australia being deforested, birds and animals could
have moved into nearby habitat that escaped a bushfire. Now a lot of forests
are isolated, and if the whole forest burns, the birds and animals have nowhere
to go.
I haven't had enough experience of Australia's drier habitats to make much
meaningful comment about their management. But I appreciate the input from
those who do!
It seems like too many Australian forests have become eerily quiet through
mismanagement. :(
Rob
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