National Parks Journal, DECEMBER 1998, pages 18 to 23
Burning wilderness
Last summer's experience
Roger Lembit*
Over the 1997-98 summer, bushfires occurred in a number of wilderness areas in New South Wales. The combined effect of these bushfires, back-burning and other fire-fighting strategies affected large tracts of these wilderness areas.
Fires which caused significant damage to wilderness values occurred in the Pilliga, the northern section of Wollemi National Park, Blue Mountains and Kanangra-Boyd national parks and Deua National Park. There were lessdamaging fires in other wilderness areas.
The Wollondilly fire
A fire in the Wollondilly area affected large areas in the south-eastern part of the Kanangra wilderness. Popular bushwalking areas south and east of the Kowmung River around Church Creek Caves, Mount Armour, the Tonalli River and the Axehead Mountains were affected by these fires.
Some aspects of control of this fire were carried out in a most environmentally destructive manner with almost no concern for wilderness values.
Whilst initially the National Parks and Wildlife Service were responsible for incident control, this role was subsequently taken over by the Rural Fire Service.
There were anecdotal reports that at one stage during this fire operation a National Parks and Wildlife Service plant operator was clearing a line for back-burning of standard blade width. He was confronted suddenly from the opposite direction by two Rural Fire Service bulldozers clearing a swathe through the bush - supposedly as a line for back-burning! Restoration of the damage has cost considerable sums of money.
In the Blue Mountains the Service have spent $350,000 repairing fire trails and temporary fire lines constructed during the emergency.
Over 150 km of fire trails and fire lines have been rehabilitated in this operation.
Fires in Deua
Fire-control activities in Deua National Park also had a severe impact on wilderness values. A new road was bulldozed south from Dampier Trig to the ridge overlooking Mother Woila, a distance of over 4 km (this is in the Woila Creek section of the Deua wilderness). Mother Woila previously had been described by Dave Noble in an article in Wild as one of the most `elusive peaks in NSW': no longer.
The road appears to have served no obvious fire-fighting function, apart from linking two large helipads (one expanded site at Dampier Trig and the other a new site close to the fire boundary on the ridge out to Mother Woila). The latter area is the habitat for a number of rare or threatened plant species including Woila gum (Eucalyp-tus olsenii).
No thought seems to have been given to the possible impact on rare plants of the clearing activities, the impact on sensitive habitats (at one point the road carves through a patch of dwarf she-oak heath) and the opening of access to the area.
At one of the helipad sites clearing of trees has been done at the cliff edge at locations where the chain-saw operator must have been at serious risk if a mishap had occurred. This would appear to have been a breach of occupational health and safety requirements.
Nearby, rubbish had been left in the wilderness, apparently by an individual involved in fire-fighting operations.
Burnt forest - Wollangambe wilderness Photo: Roger Lembit PHOTO NO 5 EXPAND BY 3
DECEMBER 1998 19
The rehabilitation works have been minimal and largely restricted to piling very large mounds of dirt close to Dampier Trig to stop use by 4WDs and trail bikes. Substantial soil disturbance has resulted, due to both the manner of construction of the fire track and the rehabilitation works - in excess of that needed to close the road to ongoing use.
The manner of road construction also damaged soil profiles.
NPWS roading guidelines require minimal disturbance to soils and avoidance of side cutting wherever practical.
In previous years, the NPWS would not have had access to the equipment or resources to construct such an environmentally damaging road and the wilderness would have been better off.
The Yalwal fire
Another fire at Yalwal on the eastern edge of the Ettrema wilderness resulted in a far more low-key and environmentally sensitive approach from the NPWS. The fire was controlled by use of limited back-burns, use of helicop-ters and remote-area teams without recourse to the construction of new roads in wilderness.
The Yalwal fire demonstrates that wildfires in wilderness can be controlled without undue damage.
NPWS policies
The NPWS, following community disquiet about the impact of firefighting activities on wilderness, have issued a draft position paper on Fire Management in Wilderness. They have also released statements from time to time relating to the need to keep wilderness roads open for firefighting purposes (to appease rural interests and reassure the general public).
As an example of the Service's normal practice, the Draft Plan of Management for Blue Mountains National Park includes no specific provisions for fire management in wilderness areas.
The general approach by the Service is to treat fires in wilderness in virtually the same way as fires in national parks generally. There is, however, added emphasis on rehabilitation post-fire.
Post-fire restoration
The Service's efforts at post-fire rehabilitation of tracks and roads in wilderness areas are both extensive and costly. One wonders whether much of this expense could be avoided by a more consistent and less interventionist approach during fire-control operations.
The use of aerial incendaries (AIs) rather than road construction can avoid the need for massive soil disturbance. If carefully planned and with favourable weather conditions, natural fire boundaries such as deep gorges and rainforest and other fire-containment lines can be linked to provide a secure barrier to further spread of wildfires. Unfortunately, some use of aerial incendaries over the past fire season was not done in an environmentally sensitive manner.
In the Wollangambe area, some of the AI work took place in areas of hanging swamps where the peat beds had the potential to burn for days. This created the possibility of a long-term threat for escape rather than containment of the fire.
Future management
The first necessary steps are for the Service to develop a consistent approach to the management of fire in wilderness areas, as well as standards for post-fire rehabilitation.
These need to be developed in an open manner with the opportunity for public involvement and consultation. The Service has started this process by organising a meeting with community groups on the issue and circulating its position paper.
Whilst the NPWS and the Rural Fire Service have conducted debriefing sessions on the fires, they have not provided community conservation organisations an opportunity to take part in these sessions. If we are to achieve best practice in fire management and control, the process needs to be open and accountable. Whilst Coronial inquiries provide for accountability, they are not required for all fire incidents, particularly many of those likely to occur in wilderness areas since property and human lives may not be affected.
There also needs to be more focus on asset-based fire management and control. In other words, fire management and control should be more directed at actual and potential threats to life and property rather than undertaking fuel management and fire control in areas where there are no particular assets to protect and no threat to human life (apart from the people called upon to fight the fire).
* Roger Lembit is Convenor of the NPA Biodiversity Committee.
Helipad in Deua wilderness Road through Deua wilderness Photos: Roger Lembit PHOTO NO 6 EXPAND TO 225% PHOTO NO 7 EXPAND TO 225%
20 DECEMBER 1998
Jabiluka -Undermining the future Benjamin Garrett*
T he campaign to stop the controversial Jabiluka uranium mine gained momentum during late September with the timely arrival of three busloads of protesters, myself included, at the Jabiluka blockade. We were there to participate in a week of preelection action, planned to coincide with the Strong Country Celebration Week. Responding to an invitation by the Mirrar people, who are traditional owners of Jabiluka country and unequivocally opposed to this development, we joined their struggle to fight for land rights and social justice, as well as uphold the cultural and environmental values of Kakadu.
Despite overwhelming opposition in Australia and condemnation overseas, our government has approved mining of Jabiluka, with the mine currently under construction (see October NPJ). Jabiluka uranium deposit lies in the heart of the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park, an outstanding national treasure of immeasurable international significance. Famous for its spectacular scenery, extraordinary wildlife, and its ancient and continued occupation and use by the oldest living culture on Earth, Kakadu is one of the most diverse and ecologically rich areas of the planet. It is the home and life blood for an intriguing array of native fauna and flora, as well as the Mirrar people who have lived and loved this paradise since time began.
This development is a direct threat to these priceless values which enrich our spirits and sustain all life on Earth. It has been shown that uranium mining is incompatible with the protection of both the cultural and environmental values of Kakadu, for which reasons the area was listed as a World Heritage site. As such, the development represents a blatant breach of the government's international obligations under the World Heritage Convention.
The extraction process will result in the dumping of 20 million tonnes of radioactive waste or "tailings", ground to a fine sludge, which will be buried on site or alternatively added to the 40 million tonnes of toxic waste already produced from Ranger uranium mine, some 20 km away. The radioactive contamination from these tailings will remain deadly for some 25 billion years.
This represents an ecological and social catastrophe, one which has already adversely affected the Mirrar people. In an area renowned for heavy rains and spectacular flooding, this radioactive waste dump will lie within 500 m of the magnificent Magela wetlands. The climate and geological nature of the area should prohibit this type of tailings storage, since leaching, seepage and erosion are inevitable. This has been demonstrated by the significant water contamination problems which have plagued Ranger uranium mine, with regular releases of contaminated water entering Kakadu.
The consequences of this waste for life in the wetlands and the indigenous people they sustain is indeed grim. Radiation causes cancers, genetic mutations and damage, as well as foetal abnormalities. For each year that Energy Resources Australia (ERA) operates its two uranium mines (Jabiluka and Ranger), an estimated 200,000 future Australians will die from radiation cancer.
Unfortunately, the consequences do not end there. The uranium is destined to be shipped overseas to enter the nuclear fuel cycle, where it is used principally to fuel nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors. Put simply, nuclear weapons threaten all life on Earth, and the electricity generated from nuclear reactors relies on one of the most inherently dangerous, costly and unclean industrial processes.
Understandably, there is widespread condemnation of this absurd development, with both the European and Australian senates passing a resolution against it.
Despite this, our government is being ruthless in its pursuit to mine Jabiluka. It is considered crucial for breaking public resistance to uranium mining, and thus freeing government plans to push ahead with at least 30 proposed uranium mines throughout Australia. Although our pre-election action sent a strong message to Australian voters, the Coalition still holds power. It is critical and urgent that all Australians unite and mobilise to voice our concerns about this social and environmental injustice.
Your support is crucial to this campaign, as we all have a moral obligation to take responsibility for the future of humanity and all life on Earth. We have an ethical responsibility to recognise traditional land rights, reconcile wrongdoings, respect Aboriginal people, culture and the land, and restore our balance with nature. Regrets about Australia's active role in the nuclear cycle will not bring us a clean environment and future; only the will to change through community empowerment can do so.
Call NPA now and see what you can do to help.
* Benjamin Garrett has a degree (BASC) in natural systems and wildlife management, and is currently a volunteer campaign assistant for NPA.
DECEMBER 1998 p21
Letters to the Editor
Readers are welcome to respond by letter or e-mail to other letters or articles in the National Parks Journal, or to write in about any topic you choose. Preference will be given to short, concise letters. Other letters may be edited or not included, depending on space limits. Please be aware of libel and defamation laws! All views expressed are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared or endorsed by NPA.
The burning bush
Thanks to John Benson for his article on "Fire and Vegetation" in the August Journal, and to John Asquith for his letter arguing against burning the bush to protect it.
But it seems that there may be more facets to this question than either author has mentioned.
John Benson argues that Aborigines probably didn't burn the bush on a regular basis. And John Asquith points out that the NPWS must be managing bushfires very well, since there haven't been many fires in parks.
Well, last December just one fire burnt a gigantic piece of the Wollemi National Park - over 1000 sq km. And in 1994 just one fire killed large numbers of birds, reptiles and even insects in the vast area of the Grose River catchment.
The issue is not really how well the Aborigines managed fire, but how we might better manage it now.
If you travel west from Mount Tomah on the Richmond to Lithgow road, the devastation caused by the bad fires of 1979, 1983 and 1994 is plain to see.
Many trees have died, and others have dead canopies. This is allowing the understorey to thicken, so that the next fire in that area will be even more devastating.
Hazard reduction carried out in the cooler months in a patchwork pattern in strategic areas could help end the devastating, widespread fires in the Blue Mountains.
Rick Jamieson Grose Vale 20 August 1998 See also the article "Burning Wilderness" in this issue. Ed.
Wilderness - the last bastion
While strongly endorsing Haydn Washington's call in the August Journal for us not to forget the significant role of wilderness reserves in nature conservation, I believe there are some further critical aspects which must be recognised if wilderness is to survive.
The first is the importance of wilderness for recreation. The change in the meaning of the word, from the pejorative (as in Daniel Defoe's "but a waste and howling wilderness", 1724) to the appreciative, mirrored the industrialisation of European society the greatest alienation event in history. The wilderness movement is a part of that history and the new culture it forged, a reaction to the extreme and sudden cutting off of people from their environment - a searching for something important which had been lost, a desperate attempt to find it in surviving non-industrialised wild areas. In contrast, wilderness was an unnecessary concept for indigenous people, who enjoyed a more wholesome relationship with the environment as the main feature of their culture.
The second matter which Haydn has overlooked or played down is the value of wilderness for science, because it is only in large protected wilderness areas that the environment can evolve in response to the forces and processes of nature. This translates into the fundamental management principle for wilderness reserves of "hands off". In other words, consistent with the primary objective of maintaining wilderness conditions over the long term whilst providing for wilderness recreation, the aim should be to minimise human interference with nature to the maximum extent.
What the environment was in 1788 is largely irrelevant to the management task - it is what evolves that is important.
Here then is a major conflict with indigenous land use. Unlike the people of the Industrial Revolution, Aborigines see themselves as a part of nature, not separate from it, and this includes their interaction with environment as, for instance, when they burn the bush.
The background to Haydn's letter is a move by the Australian Conservation Foundation to develop a policy which would see all wilderness reserves restored to Aboriginal ownership. If adopted by Australian governments this would be disastrous for the future of wilderness. It would introduce mechanised access for cultural purposes, permanent habitations and indigenous land-use practices, as well as uncertainty of long-term commitment to the wilderness purpose.
The proposals are driven primarily by social justice concerns, but they have not come from indigenous communities. Regrettably, cultural diversity is a potential 22 DECEMBER 1998 victim (as well as biological diversity) of this misguided attempt to blend two quite different cultures.
At stake is the last bastion against the industrialised world's evergrowing assault on nature and the maintenance of a bridge to a "recreated" humanity.
Geoff Mosley Hurstbridge,
Victoria 9 August 1998
I'm not familiar with the original charter of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, but the name implies that the "service" is wholly to the parks themselves and their fauna and flora.
People should be regarded as visitors only, any overnight "accommodation" being, literally, in their own hands. I've experienced a few camping walks with genuine wilderness lovers, and it is a privilege to witness their expertise.
Walking is almost the sole means of travel, and everything required is carried. Not a trace of their presence is ever left behind. They are the keenest of observers, and invaluable information is carried back to the Service - at no cost, of course.
It is very sad that now the NPWS looks like becoming the enemy of these dedicated people - robbing them of the pristine wilderness they love. The Service seems to be adopting the policy that nothing is satisfactory unless money is an outcome. Their training is now as likely to be in tourism as in earth and natural sciences. Enormous amounts of money are expended in provision for nearly all sports and recreations. The wilderness walker is simply asking "Please don't do (spend) anything".
With wonderful advances in photography and sound recording (the walkers can even squeeze something in their packs) people can view (and hear) incredibly realistic records of wilderness places. Let the actual being there be granted the most deserving.
There is a lot of accommodation now near national parks, and in non-park areas with amounts of remnant natural forest. Roads often run close to the borders of national parks. Tourist buses are able to stop a while and let passengers sample, on foot, a little of the character of the park. A tourist, indeed, may be inspired by this to join a bushwalking club.
If just one trafficable road is cut across a national park, it is a body blow to the true bushwalker. Imagine planning a long walk with overnight camping largely just to avoid all roads (and traffic). Once one magnificent place is made accessible, and the dollars pour in, the end result will be a network of criss-crossing roads. If some of the target places are quite a long drive, pressure for overnight (built) accommodation will be enormous.
Of course, toilet blocks will have to be erected at all bus stopping places. It is a shameful betrayal that NPWS is encouraging developers of accommodation in Kosciuszko National Park, when a modern town just outside has all the services required.
I really believe the "professional" wilderness walker finds his/her unspoilt parks sacred, in something of the way the Aboriginal Australian does. It is wonderful when our Aborigines share camping/walking with newer Australians. It is surely a way of being reconciled with each other. Apart from good salaries for work well done, the government should not require a lot of money for the NPWS. Their officers should be able to detect invading animals and plants, and set processes in motion to confine then, hopefully, eradicate them. While walking tracks are an important feature of their work, road building ought scarcely to concern them.
All readers will be familiar with the heartbreaking sight of foul waste dumped in a beautiful spot.
Our towns and roadsides are littered with the rubbish of lazy Australians. There is no case for giving them easier access to national parks. Are the last vestiges of the real Australia to be sacrificed to the dollar god?
Harold & Winsome Grant
Dubbo
9 July 1998
Litter bugging you
I am writing to you regarding my concern for a very important issue - litter. Whilst out bushwalking I am increasingly noticing rubbish which has been dumped. This seems to be at camp sites rather than on tracks, which would suggest it is the work of overnight walkers or inexperienced walkers.
On a recent overnight walk to Monolith Valley, I was horrified to find by my tent a bin liner which contained all kinds of opened and unopened food containers. The rest of the camping area had litter scattered throughout. My horror was magnified when I also came across several unburied and decaying faeces.
Litter is a hazard to wildlife as animals may ingest or suffocate on plastic bags, or cut themselves on opened tins. Plastic and aluminium do not biodegrade but just sit there. Unburied faeces attract flies and vermin, and wash into waterways causing giardia and other such organisms to grow, making the water quite undrinkable.
I'm sure I'm not the only bushwalker whose pack often leaves the bush heavy with other people's litter.
Perhaps walkers need to be reminded of some of the rules of the bush. Maybe Bushwalking News could run educational articles centred around bushwalking behaviour, such as "Take only memories, leave only footprints".
It seems to me that certain people (and it is only a few) need to learn to respect and take care of our beautiful bush in a responsible manner, or simply stay away.
Margaret Richardson
North Bondi
7 September 1998
What does the bush mean to you? Contributions invited for the February issue on this theme.
Send us your thoughts in a short article by 21 December -although publication is not guaranteed! Ed.
DECEMBER 1998 23 INSIDE BACK COVER
About This Life;
Arctic Dreams
The works of Barry Lopez Harvill Press, London Barry Lopez is perhaps the finest nature writer working today. He has written about a dozen books of both fiction and non-fiction, including (in addition to the above two books) Of Wolves and Men, Field Notes, Desert Notes and River Notes, and Crossing Open Ground.
Arctic Dreams was first released in 1986, to great critical acclaim. It has been reissued to accompany the release of Lopez's most recent book - a collection of essays entitled About This Life - Journeys on the Threshold of Memory.
Lopez's main concern as a writer is the fate of western culture.
He uses the human encounter with nature and with landscape as metaphors for examining issues associated with this major theme, which is perhaps carried to its greatest heights in Arctic Dreams.
This book was the product of four years that Lopez spent travelling in the Arctic regions of Alaska.
It includes the most wonderful chapters on the animals that live in this region (such as muskoxen and narwhals); how the landscape influences the consciousness of the traditional peoples who live in these areas; beautiful accounts of some of the phenomena, such as icebergs and the strange quality of the light; as well as riveting accounts of the voyages of early explorers of this forbidding region.
About This Life is a different type of book. It is a collection of essays, addressing both the inward and outward journeys that Lopez has undertaken in his life. The book includes interesting chapters on Lopez's travels in Hokkaido, the Galapagos, as well as very erudite essays on the concept of the sense of place in an American context, the meaning of community and the importance of obligations within communities.
Both these books (as indeed are all of Lopez's writings) are characterised by a dignified and respectful approach to his subject matter, balanced and careful observations of nature, as well as a vast range of enquiry and a sense of wonder before the mystery of life. It is indeed nature writing at its finest.
Although they are not set within Australia, NPA members should enjoy these books. There is simply no counterpart to this depth and quality of nature writing in an Australian context. I can honestly say that my readings of Barry Lopez's books have greatly influenced my perceptions of nature, and have greatly enhanced my own bushwalking and other naturebased experiences.
Martin Beveridge
Sydney Branch
Layers of Time
The Blue Mountains and Their Geology
NSW Dept of Mineral Resources/ NPWS, 34pp, pb, $9.95
This A4-size publication is a joint effort between two State Government departments and the resulting text, illustrations and photographs are of a very high standard.
The booklet is in two sections.
The first is a summary of the geology of the whole area of the Blue Mountains. The second section consists of descriptions of 36 places of mainly geological interest, explaining what you can see there. The descriptions follow the Great Western Highway westwards through the mountains, returning via the Bells Line of Road.
Many bushwalkers will be familiar with most of the places mentioned here, but few will have realised the significance of the geological features of each area described. In the words of the author: "For all the complexity of the landscape, the underlying geology of the Blue Mountains is not complex, and the area is therefore a good one for an introduction to geological principles." I can vouch for this being an absolutely fascinating publication that is easy to understand.
The Blue Mountains are not really mountains at all, but a plateau, and much emphasis is made of the Kurrajong Fault and the Lapstone Monocline, the major rise at the eastern edge of the Blue Mountains Plateau.
There is a clear explanation about the remarkable course of the Nepean River. The Nepean flows north from Camden, suddenly turns westward at Wallacia - cutting deep into the Blue Mountains Rise - picks up the Warragamba River and Erskine Creek, then turns northwards again, still cutting a deep gorge, until it emerges at the junction of Glenbrook Creek, and so flows on through the flat areas of the Cumberland Plains.
Another point of interest ... have you noticed the large steel knobs protruding from the rock face as you drive up Lapstone Hill on the Great Western Highway, and wondered what they are for? The answer is in the booklet and once you have browsed through it, I feel sure you will want to buy it.
From Lapstone you are taken on a journey with diagrams and photos to help you see for yourself where volcanic diatremes, intrusions, folding, joints, flow patterns in sandstone, and many more geological features may be found, making future visits to the Blue Mountains more enjoyable.
Available from the Bureau of Mineral Resources at 29-57 Christie St, St Leonards 2065; ph 02 9901 8888; fax 02 9901 8246; or from NPWS outlets and some Blue Mountains shops.
Michael Allen Sydney Branch