national parks association of the australian capital ... · 2013/12/04 · national parks...

National Parks Association of the Australian Capital Territory Inc

Full steam ahead atGlenburn

Volume 50 Number 4 December 2013

NPA scholarshipawarded

NPA’s own artexhibition

NPA Bulletin Volume 50 number 4 December 2013

CONTENTS

From the President ...................................................................2

Rod Griffiths

The ‘Four Pillars’ approach to conservation the

federal Coalition’s environment policies ..........................3

Rod Griffiths

NPA Honours Scholarship........................................................4

Chris Emery

Promotion and Engagement working group ............................5

Graham Scully

Environmental Research in progress........................................6

Max Lawrence

‘Take a pencil too’ NPA art exhibition at NVC........................7

Farewell to Julie Henry, Life Member of NPA ACT ...............8

Fiona Brand

A ‘superb’ bird outing to Dananbilla Nature Reserve ..............9

Kevin McCue

Articles by contributors may not necessarily reflect association opinion or objectives.

With so much of the ACT held within conservation reserves itwould be easy to conclude that the ACT’s biodiversity is verywell protected and there should be few issues to concern anorganisation like the NPA ACT. And certainly we should bethankful for the natural values encapsulated within the bordersof Namadgi National Park. However, the highland biodiversityheld there represents only one end of the spectrum of theACT’s ecosystems. At the other end, the ACT’s lowlands facemany development pressures.

The NPA ACT has been pleased to be involved in theprocess that led to the Commonwealth strategic environmentassessment of Gungahlin. This assessment is expected to seethe reservation of many areas of high conservation value inthat area and should strengthen connectivity between YellowBox–Red Gum communities in the north of Canberra.

New threats to biodiversity

Elsewhere, the large urban developments in the MolongloValley will add to the threats facing the biodiversity in thatarea. The proposed river corridor reserve for the Molonglo isvery narrow and will be subject to intense recreationalpressures from the large populations proposed on both sides ofthe river. The NPA ACT is currently involved in thecommunity consultation surrounding the development of theplan of management for the river corridor.

To the west of Belconnen, the Riverview development (stillin proposal stage) will see a new area of land opened for urbanexpansion. The full effects on biodiversity as a result of thisproposal are yet to be verified, though it is expected that someland within the development area will be allocated asconservation reserves.

More tasks for Parks

and Conservation …

but same resources

All these proposedadditions to the reserveestate have to be managedover the long term.However, the budgetavailable to Parks andConservation has not beenincreased to adequately cover long-term maintenance. This has been a problem for many years.After the 2003 bushfires, former ACT Forest areas such as theLower Cotter and Glenburn are now managed by Parks andConservation, without commensurate budgetary increases.

A review into the funding of Parks and Conservation,currently in progress, has the potential to establish a baseline offunding for the ACT’s reserves. It needs to recognise that thecomplexities facing the protection of the ACT’s environmentcannot be adequately addressed through the annual budgetaryprocess. Surety of funding over the long term for Parks andConservation will improve the effectiveness of the protection ofthe ACT’s biodiversity.

First NPA ACT Honours scholarship awarded

Since my last President’s report there have been a couple ofdevelopments that I want to share with you. First, the NPAACT’s inaugural annual scholarship to support an Honoursstudent working in areas pertaining to ‘the conservation of floraand fauna in National Parks and Nature Reserves in the ACT

Glenburn/Burbong historic precinct: action continues

and the Minister visits......................................................10

Col McAlister

Classic books for a budding amateur naturalist ......................12

Klaus Hueneke

Forthcoming social events ......................................................13

Graham Scully

A trip along the Upper Murray River......................................14

Mike Bremers

Bushwalks ...............................................................................17

Brian Slee

PARKWATCH ..........................................................................19

Compiled by Hazel Rath

NPA notices.............................................................................22

Meetings and speaker information..........................................23

NPA information and contacts ................................................23

2 NPA BULLETIN − DECEMBER 2013

From the President

(continued next page)

NPA BULLETIN − DECEMBER 2013 3

The ‘Four Pil lars’ approach to conservation —

the federal Coalit ion’s environment policies

and surrounding areas’ has been awardedto Amy Macris. The NPA ACT is proudto contribute to ongoing research onbiodiversity and looks forward to hearingabout the results of Amy’s research intothe effect of the fungal disease,chytridiomycosis, on genetic diversity inAlpine Tree Frogs.

Bouquet for Glenburn group

Second, the NPA ACT has been a keen

supporter of the work being conducted bythe Friends of Glenburn. On a recent visitto the heritage sites at Glenburn, I wasvery impressed with the amount work thathas been completed at this importantheritage site. Well done to all concerned.

Vale Julie Henry

Finally, and on a sad note, I was informedrecently about the death of Julie Henry,one of the NPA ACT’s life members. Julie

was a past president of the NPA ACTand was a leader in the push for thecreation of Namadgi National Park. Thephoto of Julie standing on top of MtKelly during one of the earlyreconnaissance trips for the national parkproposal has stayed in my mind as aniconic representation of the NPA ACT’svalues. On behalf of all the members ofthe NPA ACT, I offer our condolences toJulie’s family.

Rod Griffiths

From the President (continued)

In October 2013, Greg Hunt, the newMinister for the Environment, held aroundtable for representatives of many ofthe nation’s environmental groups. Theobject of this roundtable was to presentthe new government’s plan for theenvironment. For over an hour and a halfthe Minister discussed the plan andfielded questions about it.

As a participant at the roundtable, Iwas impressed by the apparent opennessof the new Minister and his knowledge ofthe portfolio. It was a very competentperformance by the Minister, who spokewithout notes. And while I do not agreewith some aspects of the Coalition’s planI did come away from the meetingfeeling that dialogue was possible onthese differences.

The Coalition’s ‘A Plan for a CleanerEnvironment’ has four ‘pillars’:

• clean air• clean land• clean water• heritage protection.

Clean air

This has three major components: anEmissions Reduction Fund, One MillionSolar Roofs, and Twenty Million Trees.Under the Emissions Reduction Fund, thefederal government will abolish thecarbon tax and will seek to meetAustralia’s emissions reduction target(5 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020)by purchasing ‘the lowest-cost abatementvia reverse auctions — a ”carbon buy-back”’. This direct action approach is acontentious issue with a range of criticsstating that the funding available isinsufficient to allow even the modestemissions reduction target to be met.

The One Million Solar Roofs programwill provide $500 rebates to support theinstallation of one million solar rooftopsolar energy systems over 10 years.

The Twenty Million Trees program

seeks to fund tree planting until 2020. TheMinister indicated that the funding wouldbe available to both community and stateand territory projects.

Clean land

This pillar introduces the Green Army,Landcare Recovery and ApprovalsSimplification programs.

The Green Army program seeks tobuild the ‘largest standing environmentalworkforce in Australia’s history’ to com-bat land degradation, clean up waterways,and revegetate and conserve habitats.

The Landcare Recovery programseeks to merge the existing Caring for OurCountry and Landcare funding. For smalland medium size projects, local prioritiesand decisions will be made by naturalresource and catchment managementauthorities, while larger projects will beassessed and managed by the federalgovernment.

Approvals Simplification seeks tocreate a ‘one-stop shop’ for environmentalassessments and approvals under nationalstate laws. The Minister has stated thatthis process would not lessen federalgovernment environmental responsibility,but it is difficult to see how this will notoccur.

Clean water

The three key programs under this pillarare the Murray–Darling Plan, WaterSecurity, and Reef 2050.

It is pleasing to see continued federalsupport for the Murray–Darling Plan. Thefederal government states that it seeks to‘achieve the best outcomes for theGovernment’s investment in the Basin bydelivering effective national management,fixing inefficient infrastructure andempowering local communities to deliverwater reduction targets’.

Water Security comprises of thecreation of a ‘panel of water experts,

measures to harness stormwater and thepotential for new dams in northernAustralia’.

Reef 2050 comprises three majorcomponents: the establishment of a$40 million Reef Trust comprised ofprivate and Commonwealth funds; a$2 million Crown of Thorns starfisheradication plan; and a $5 million turtleand dugong protection plan. It will beinteresting to see how effective theseprograms are in light of continuedpressure from coal and other interests tofurther develop areas in and around theReef.

The Minister has stated that existingmarine park boundaries will not changebut there may be changes to the plans ofmanagement that regulate activitieswithin the marine parks.

Heritage

Again, this pillar has three keycomponents: Community Heritage,Antarctic Strategic Plan, and HeritageIcons.

The Community Heritage programwill include a number of communityheritage grants, and looks to boostfunding for federal Australian historicalsocieties and the Australian HeritageCouncil.

The Antarctic Strategic Plan willdevelop a 20-year strategic plan forAntarctic and Southern Ocean researchand establish a new Centre for Antarcticand Southern Ocean Research.

The Heritage Icons program willinitiate a National Icons awards programand contribute $1.5m to restoration workat Port Arthur.

The above forms a very brief précisof the environment plan. I wouldwelcome NPA ACT member discussionon the plan either through theEnvironment Sub-committee or theBulletin.

Rod Griffiths


NPA Honours ScholarshipOver 18 months ago yourcommittee decided to fund auniversity scholarship andapproached the ANUFenner School ofEnvironment and Societyfor advice. The schoolrecommended we award anHonours candidate to getthe greatest benefit, andtogether we settled on anaward of $9 000 for onecandidate a year for 3 years.The scholarship will beavailable to students who:

• have been successful ingaining entry into theHonours year of aprogram of study throughthe Fenner School ofEnvironment and Society;

• have an excellentacademic record;

• are intending to undertake research inareas pertaining to the conservation offlora and fauna in National Parks andNature Reserves in the ACT andsurrounding areas;

• have willing and suitable supervision; and• hold Australian Citizenship.

The first round of advertisingundertaken towards the end of last year,for an awardee to start in first semesterdid not yield a candidate meeting ourcriteria, so the advertising was repeatedfor someone to start in semester two of2013.

In September we learnt that thesuccessful candidate was Amy Macris,who comes from Bateman’s Bay. Ratherthan précis her very nice thank you letterwe thought you should read it in full.

I would like to sincerely thankthe National Parks Association ofthe ACT for providing thescholarship in biodiversitymanagement in National Parksand Nature Reserves.

My research will investigate theeffects of the fungal disease,Chytridiomycosis, on geneticdiversity in Alpine Tree Frogs. It islikely that declines induced by thisdisease have caused a loss ofgenetic diversity in local AlpineTree Frog populations but this hasnot been assessed. Anunderstanding of genetic diversitylevels in remnant populations isessential to determining theirviability and will have importantimplications for the managementof this species. Chytridiomycosisaffects approximately half of allfrog species worldwide, so myresearch may contribute to theconservation of other frog speciesin the ACT area and beyond.

For my project I will becollecting mouth swab DNAsamples in Canberra andsurrounds, as well as using someexisting samples covering theentire range of the species. The

scholarship will allow meto sample morecomprehensively and alsoto use a method ofsequencing that canprovide great insight intomy research question. Iwill be using novelgenotyping by sequencingmethods to comparegenome-wide diversitybetween chytrid affectedand unaffected sites andto measure patterns ofgenetic differentiationacross the range of thespecies. The scholarship willalso assist with my livingexpenses and easesignificant financialpressures, meaning thatI’ll be able to spend less

time doing casual work and moretime on my thesis. It will bewonderful to be able to focuscompletely and produce a morein-depth analysis.

I am very grateful for thisopportunity which will make anenormous difference to myhonours year and project. Pleasecontact me if you would like anymore information, and I lookforward to sharing my findingswith you at my final presentationin June next year or any othertime that is convenient toAssociation members.

Many thanks and kind regards,Amy Macris.

We look forward to arranging a suitableGeneral Meeting date when Amy canmeet members and present her findingsor perhaps a progress report.

Chris Emery

NPA ACT Christmas Partyat Nil Desperandum (Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve)

Sunday 8 December from 11:00 am

Bring your picnic lunch and Christmas cheer. Nibbles, Christmas cake and some drinks will be provided.

Meet at the double locked gates off the Cotter to Tidbinbilla road (western side) a few hundred metres south of the turn off to theDeep Space Tracking Station. If travelling from Tuggeranong/Tharwa, the gates are on the left hand side of the road about 1.5 kmnorth of the turn off to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. Given dry conditions most cars should be able to drive right into Nils.

Check Burning Issues and the NPA website for any last-minute changes.

Please contact an NPA committee member if you need a lift (details page 23).

Amy (left) with NPA’s Chris Emery and her supervisor

Dr Ceridwen (Crid) Fraser. Photo by Clive Hilliker, ANU .


After several years of admiring thesuccesses of our Committee in so manyareas I have joined in and offered to helpout with encouraging more activeinvolvement by existing members andattracting new ones.

Supported by the Committee, I nowconvene the Promotion and Engagementworking group, whose other membersare Bernard Morvell and Steve Small.

All voluntary groups face thechallenges of the ageing of the oldfaithfuls and attracting and engaging newmembers. Our society has seeminglyinsatiable demands on our time, resultingin an overall reduction in volunteering,especially amongst the younger membersof our community.

My background involves workingwith individuals and groups in a socialsystems/networking model and thisunderpins our approach. We have begunby getting an understanding of the manydifferent aspects of our varied programs,and are following up by telephonecontacts with all members who havejoined since the beginning of 2011. Thishas been a most useful exercise and allhave appreciated our contact to welcomethem to NPA.

Our membership database has beenvery helpful in providing details of theinterests of these new members. Resultsso far are encouraging, examples beingone member considering joining theenvironment subcommittee and othersinterested in helping out with graphicdesign and Waterwatch, in leading walksand in assisting with exhibitions andstalls. We are inviting those we contactwho do not attend our general meetingsto do so. When full details are known,we will make personal invitations to ourChristmas party at Nil Desperandum.

At some future time we may surveyall our membership for information ontheir interests, their ideas on how we canbetter use the skills of our members andother suggestions about how we canbecome even more effective.

How you can help

Please consider whether you, or someoneyou know, can help out by makingcontact with one of the groups below.

Environment subcommittee: collab-orative submission writing and research(for example, whether voluntary landsagreements can be arranged under aleasehold jurisdiction); organise aseminar. Contact Rod Griffiths6288 6988 or 0410 857 731.

Website: visit the website more often,send in news items, report broken links.Contact Chris Emery 6249 7604.

Office administration: designing forms,occasional help with mail-outs, ad hocbackup for office volunteers. ContactSonja Lenz 6251 1291.

Publications subcommittee: the nextNPA ACT book being worked on is oninsects of the ACT and region and (inaddition to the author) another withknowledge about insects would behelpful. Contact Kevin McCue6251 1291. Kevin also uploads photos toour website in the Gallery section andalways welcomes additional photographs.

General meetings: arranging guestspeakers; setting up meeting room andequipment; co-ordinating supper. ContactGraham Scully 6230 3352.

Assistance at stalls and public events tosell our publications and attract newmembers: join a pool of people to helpout occasionally. Contact Graham Scully6230 3352.

Bulletin working group: the NPA Bulletinis published four times a year, and has avoracious appetite for short articles,photos and any other items of literary orartistic merit that might appeal to ourmembers. Letters to the editor on mattersof concern are also very welcome, butunfortunately are seldom received. Offersto help with the production of the Bulletinwill also be very welcome. Contact MaxLawrence 6288 1370.

NPA working parties: the focus isNamadgi National Park but the groupalso undertakes tasks in ACT and NSWnature reserves: weed control; track andhut maintenance; in NSW, fence removalin Dananbilla Nature Reserve and handweeding of rare and endangered plant(Swainsonia recta) plots establishedalong the railway verge between Royallaand Williamsdale. Contact Martin Chalk6292 3502.

Outings subcommittee: please help keepour outings program alive byvolunteering to lead outings. New leadersare welcome and the Outings Convenor ishappy to give orientation and get youstarted. Contact Mike Smith 6286 2984.

Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Group(GBRG) work parties: weed control inthe Gudgenby Valley, with the main focuson blackberries and briars; a plantingprogram including collecting seed and

growing local species; erosion gully andinternal forestry road rehabilitation;barbed wire fence removal; mapping ofrabbit warrens, and undertaking researchand rainfall monitoring. ContactMichael Goonrey 6231 8395 or CliveHurlstone 6288 7592.

Waterwatch: an ACT Governmentprogram which GBRG assists inNamadgi by regular measurements ofwater quality. This comprises bi-monthly water physical/chemicalobservations and wildlife reports, anannual macro-invertebrate count (inOctober) and an annual riparianassessment (in February). ContactMartin Chalk 6292 3502.

The Friends of Glenburn: scheduledwork parties are held on the firstTuesday of February, May, August andNovember to help the parks serviceprotect and conserve sites in theGlenburn/Burbong historic precinct inthe Kowen Forest. The area includes theACT’s oldest marked graves; GlenburnHomestead, comprising a slab home anda pisé home; and several homesteadruins and their orchards. Tasks includemowing, weeding, digging out andpoisoning blackberries, painting post-and-rail fences and other jobs negotiatedwith the parks service. ContactCol McAlister 6288 4171, [email protected] .

Graham Scully

Promotion and Engagement working group


contract the diurnal window suitable forlizard activity and drive individuals toseek thermal refugia for longer periods,compromising opportunities to secureresources.

Post-fire recovery and the Burned

Area Assessment Team

Margaret Kitchin, Manager, Con-servation Research

The Burned Area Assessment Team(BAAT) is a joint ACT — NSW multi-disciplinary team that undertakes rapidassessment of affected areas immediatelyfollowing a bushfire. The unit wasdeployed to the Wambelong fire in theWarrumbungles National Park in Januaryto identify the post-fire assets at risk andthe mitigation options available to landmanagers. In this way some of thelessons learned from our own 2003experience are getting wider application.

The Casuarina Sands fishway

Matt Beitzel, Aquatic/Riparian Ecologist,Conservation Research

The Casuarina Sands weir and fishwaywere rebuilt in 2000, with effective fishpassage uncertain. Funding was recentlyobtained from the Murray–Darling BasinAuthority for a trial fish passage. Fishhave been tagged and several modi-fications to the fishway have been tested.This will continue until reliable fishpassage is achieved. Additional workincludes further tagging to assesspopulation levels, angler take, fish move-ments, and regular monitoring.

Small mammal surveys — Broad-

tooth Rat and Smoky Mouse

Murray Evans, Senior Ecologist, Conser-vation Planning and Research

Richard Milner, Senior Ranger, Parksand Conservation Service, TAMS

Until recently there have been nosystematic ACT surveys for the Broad-tooth Rat or the Smoky Mouse for atleast 20 years. There have been only twoconfirmed sightings of the SmokyMouse, both dating back nearly 30 years,so it is uncertain whether any at all stillexist within the ACT. In the ACT theBroad-tooth Rat is confined to highelevation bogs in Namadgi, and a recentsurvey found them in 13 of 14 bogssurveyed. This survey did not usetraditional trapping methods, and insteadused evidence of occupation (runways,feeding areas and scats) along transectswithin bogs.

A new survey of small mammals in

Responsibility for ACT scientificresearch on environmental matterscurrently lies with the Environment andSustainable Development Directorate(under Minister Corbell). The actualhands-on management of conservationand land management occurs within theTerritory and Municipal Services port-folio (under Minister Rattenbury). Whilethis separation of functions is not some-thing the NPA ACT is comfortable with,NPA has benefited from having beeninvited to attend the major seminars runby ESDD’s Conservation Planning andResearch unit to showcase their ongoingscientific research to their TAMScounterparts, among others.

This year’s exercise — ECO FOCUSSEMINAR 2013 — was held on21 August at the CSIRO’s facilities atGungahlin Homestead. Well over 100people turned up and, as expected, therewere many familiar faces in Parksuniforms, and also a few from our fellowconservation groups. Nine papers werepresented in the space of three hours, sothere was little opportunity fordiscussion. Also, because the papersrelated to ongoing research it was notalways possible to be very definitiveabout the conclusions to be drawn.Subject to these caveats the following isa brief summary of proceedings.

Vegetation mapping

Emma Cook, Vegetation Ecologist,Conservation Research

This presentation described progress onmapping vegetation communities of theKowen, Majura and Jerrabomberradistricts. Over 20 000 hectares have beenmapped, with an overall classificationaccuracy of 83 per cent. Native vegeta-tion covered 58 per cent of the studyarea. A combined area of 2 778 hectaresof Yellow Box–Apple Box woodland andBlakely’s Red Gum–Yellow Box wood-land was mapped within the study area.Both are listed as Endangered EcologicalCommunities under the Nature Con-servation and EPBC Acts.

Grassland Earless Dragon —

genetics and movement study

Professor Stephen Sarre, University ofCanberra

This endangered species has experiencedboth gradual long-term and dramaticshort-term declines in range and pop-ulation size. This research is inves-tigating potential mechanisms behindthat decline, including a hypothesis thatincreases in ambient temperatures

Namadgi is planned, with a particularfocus on detecting the Smoky Mouse.This will use new camera technologyinstead of the traditional tunnel trappingmethods. Between 50 and 100 sites willbe surveyed.

Monitoring Murray River cray-

fish in the ACT

Katie Ryan, Aquatic/Riparian Ecologist,Conservation Research

An initial survey of this species in 1988revealed that despite evidence of dis-tribution throughout the length of theMurrumbidgee within the ACT, catchrates were patchy and low in comparisonwith other parts of their range.Accordingly the ACT Governmentbanned fishing of the species in 1993and put in place a monitoring program.A review of this program has revealedthat the species is still at risk in the ACT,and that in fact more work needs to bedone to the monitoring program to estab-lish better insight into the size, character-istics and distribution of the ACT popu-lation. Work is proceeding on a numberof alternative sampling techniques.

Endangered bog and fen plants —

off site conservation and seed ecology

Lydia Guja, Seed Conservation Ecologist,Australian National Botanic Gardens

Alpine Sphagnum Bogs and AssociatedFens (ASBAFs) are an endangeredecological community listed under theEPBC Act. Because of their inherentlysmall, fragmented and isolated popu-lations, they are particularly threatenedby processes such as climate change.The ANBG is working to conserveplants through genetically diverse, long-term ex situ seed collections, and byresearch designed to inform managementand restoration practices on the seedecology and biology of such plants.

As well as laboratory work, theproject includes a seed burial experimentat Ginini Flats to reveal the longevity ofseeds in peat and moss substrates in thefield. The experiment will also revealnatural conditions that drive germinationand its the timing, and any patterns ofdormancy cycling.

Improving cat management in

the ACT

Kathryn Eyles, PhD candidate, ANU

In 2011 the ACT Government, withfunding from the Invasive Animals CRC,commissioned a telephone survey ofACT residents to determine cat owner-

(continued on page 7)

Environmental research in progress


NPA art exhibition at Namadgi Visitor Centre

No matter how much or how little time you have to spend in NamadgiNational Park, take a hat, sunscreen, water, camera, notebook and don’tforget to

�Take a pencil too�

“The ‘Take a pencil too’ exhibition at the Namadgi Visitor Centrefeatures some brilliant artwork from members of the National ParksAssociation (NPA) who, each year, take part in an art week inNamadgi,” said Brett McNamara, Manager of Regional Operations,National Parks and Catchments.

“For one week, members of the NPA stay [at Gudgenby Cottage] …to sketch, photograph, paint, sew and write about the beautiful bushsetting that surrounds them.

“The group takes the time to observe Namadgi’s naturalenvironment, watching the way the light falls on the valleys andmountains as the sun sets and listening to the tunes the birds whistlewhile nestled in the trees. As a result, they have created someinspirational pieces,” Mr McNamara said.

NPA President Rod Griffiths said “Members don’t often have the time to really explore the flora and fauna of Namadgi, oftennot fully absorbing the beauty of the area. Art week, however, gives them the opportunity to take it all in”.

ship and community attitudes to manage-ment controls. The declared catcontainment suburbs of Forde andBonner were particularly targeted. It wasfound that ACT residents were generallyresponsible cat owners, and that theystrongly supported cat containment.

Other research shows that domesticcats have been recorded travelling390 metres and 900 metres into ACTnature reserves. Fifty per cent ofCanberra suburbs are within 500 m ofthreatened fauna habitat, and a further27 per cent are within 1000 m of faunahabitat. It was concluded that furthersteps were needed to promote respon-sible pet ownership and ensure pro-tection of vulnerable wildlife. Suchactions might include a system of catregistration, a targeted extension of cat

curfews, and increased public education,compliance and enforcement.

Monitoring wildlife by spotlight

counts 1976–2006

Claire Wimpenny and Don Fletcher,Fauna Ecologists, Conservation Research

This presentation emphasised theimportance of spotlight counts as a recordfor land managers of the abundance orotherwise of both feral animals and wild-life; the need for consistency of counts interms of timing and frequency, speciescovered, geographic coverage, timing inrelation to control measures and otherevents; and the maintenance of consistentrecords. Originally the counts were oftenestablished to monitor rabbit populations,but they were found to be very useful in

keeping track of the abundance of otherspecies including foxes, dingoes, pigs,the Red-necked Wallaby and EasternGrey Kangaroo, and even deer.

Guidelines were laid out for theefficient running of the spotlightprogram, and some deficiencies in theway the program was run in the pastwere mentioned. Sites covered by theprogram include Googong, Tidbinbilla,Gudgenby and experimental sites atBoboyan, Mt Clear, Orroral andGlendale. The Gudgenby site is par-ticularly promising because of thelength of transect and the relationshipevident between dingoes, foxes, theRed-necked Wallaby and rabbits.

Max Lawrence

Environmental research in progress (continued)

Setting up at NVC. Photos Rod

Griffiths, Adrienne Nicholson

Take a pencil too


Remembrances of Julia Henry

Julie Henry came from Queensland towork in the Commonwealth PublicService in 1961. As she had a back-ground of pack walking in the bushlandand concern for the natural environment,she joined the newly formed NationalParks Association of the ACT andquickly became a member of thecommittee.

Dr Nancy Burbidge, the founder ofthe NPA ACT and its aim ‘A NationalPark for the National Capital’ suggestedthat a sub-committee be formed toexplore the mountainous area of the ACTto find a site for a national park.

Dr Robert Story, Julie Henry andNPA Secretary Fiona Brand con-sequently joined an Alpine Club bush-walk led by Alan Bagnall to walk to andclimb Mt Kelly in 1962.

finally, in 1984, Namadgi National Parkwas declared.

In those early years another issue wasthe building of the Black MountainTower. Opposition was expressed byconservation groups as the ridges andhilltops surrounding the city of Canberrawere regarded as conservation areas.

The matter was taken to court andJulie became NPA’s spokesperson atmeetings held about the plans forbuilding and in the court proceedings. Aswe all know, the project went ahead anda road was built to the summit, and thetower and buildings appeared.

When Julie retired from the PublicService, she left the ACT to live closer tofamily in NSW. However, she wasalways interested in the ACT NationalParks Association and enjoyed readingthe NPA Bulletins.

The National Parks Association ofthe ACT owes much to this forcefulmember, as her initial interest and drivefor a national park was the basis forNPA’s final achievement.

Note: Members of theNPA ACT always called her Juliebut her signature on the firstclimbers’ book on Mount Kelly isJulia Henry.

Fiona Brand

We walked through beautifulforested areas, beside a clear creek,across clear frost hollows, and finallydumped our packs where we wouldcamp overnight. Unburdened weclimbed Mt Kelly, 6 001 feet high.From the rocky summit the viewswere magnificent in all directions. Wehad found our national park area.

Julie, Robert and Nancy wrote thenational park proposal using expertinformation about the geology, plants,mammals, birds and reptiles fromCSIRO and ANU scientists. Julie andFiona compiled four copies of theproposal, with maps and photographsadded, in Julie’s small room inHavelock House.

A copy of the proposal was handedto the Minister for the Department ofTerritories in 1963. The issue wasreintroduced again and again until

Farewell to Julie Henry, Life Memberof NPA ACT

Julia Henry, born in 1917, recently passed away in Sydney at the age of 95.Known to her NPA friends as Julie, she was made a life member of NPA in 1973.The following words about Julie appeared in the Golden Anniversary edition ofthis Bulletin (March 2010):

Julie’s long involvement in conservation and with environmental groups isbased on a great love of the bush and a determinatuion to inspire others to‘cherish it and protect it fiercely.’ She joined the NPA ACT committee in1961, soon after arriving in Canberra, and served for nine years, includinga term as President. Julie worked hard on the proposal for an ACTnational park, convening the sub-committee which explored for, and com-piled the initial submission for, a national park in the ACT (Gudgenby/Mount Kelly area). She also represented the NPA, speaking to the SenateCommittee inquiry into the Black Mountain Tower.

Julie is perhaps best knownamong younger members of theNPA for fellow life member FionaBrand’s photo of her on the sum-mit of Mt Kelly, taken during thenow legendary 1962 bush walk tocheck out the area as a possiblenational park site. Fiona workedwith Julie on those early submis-sions. Her memories of Julie areas follows. Julie on Mt Kelly in 1962

Vale Allan Fox Allan Fox was a notable New SouthWales conservationist, and a friend tomany in NPA ACT. Sadly, he passedaway early in November as a result of astroke he suffered a few weeks earlier.Allan is remembered by his friends inNPA NSW as having made a long andlasting contribution to the conservation,management and interpretation of

interpreter, educator, story teller andfriend, Allan touched many lives. Hewas a guest speaker at NPA ACTGeneral Meetings on several occasions.

A memorial service for his Canberrafriends to celebrate his life was held atthe Australian National Botanic Gardenson 20 November.

Australia’s natural and culturalheritage. From his early daysbushwalking with the Caloola Club tohis work life in the NSW EducationDepartment, the Fauna ProtectionPanel, the NSW National Parks andWildlife Service, and his lives asconsultant, author, photographer,advocate for the environment,


My interest in joining the NPA ACTworkparties to the former Elliot familyproperty ‘Barrelli’ (see September 2013Bulletin) was not to learn from Martin,Mike and Brian how to dismantle andremove barbed-wire fences, but more tocatch a glimpse of the Superb Parrot andperhaps a Babbler or two. Finally on myfourth tour of duty, Sonja’s third, we didsee the Superb Parrot, actually a smallflock of them, overflying the HumeHighway just north of Yass and thenanother two near Boorowa, beforemaking the obligatory stop at the SuperbBakery to join the other NPA members.

The team dismantled nearly akilometre of fences in the first day-and-a-half so eyes were quite focused on thefence, down not up, but we were amplyrewarded with bird sightings around thefarmhouse as we relaxed after work andKlaus took notes. I have included a fewphotos to share with you.

Casual investigation revealed a pairof vocal, melodious Rufous Songlarksbuilding a nest in the long grass justmetres from the house, a shy but anxious

Grey Shrike-thrushnesting in the roof of thehouse out back, whilethe old engine room hadbecome the haven ofswallows and a pair ofWilly Wagtails, the latterwith two rather largeresident ‘teenagers’. Adrienne spent herwaking moments in thehouse glued to the bignorth-facing windowsoverlooking the powerline and a large fig tree

which was a hive of activity for all sortsof avian visitors, including a family offour Weebills. After breakfast on the firstday, Ranger Andrew Moore arrived andwas giving a post-breakfast prep-talk onthe land restoration project outside thefront door when a Diamond Fire-tailperched in the tree behind him whistlinghis hypnotic quiet song.

There were surprisingly few raptorsand Sonja made the only snake sightingthough we all enjoyed the BeardedDragon which had to be helped downfrom his sunny fence-post before wecould begin to dismantle the fence. Kathyhad made a delicious fruit cake which wedemolished over the days with muchpleasure, lounging in the shade of the oldnature reserve boundary. Meals were ado-it-yourself affair back in the housefollowing welcome hot solar-poweredshowers and then shared pre-dinnernibbles and wine. Martin brought alonghis trusty guitar and we all enjoyed hismusic after dinner.

The pleasure wasn’t over for the drivehome to Canberra via Boorowa was

through Grey Box woodland i.e. SuperbParrot territory. We took a shortcutdown Fishers Lane where a large flockof White-Browed Wood swallows,obviously parents and their fledglings,were feeding. A single Bee-eater flashedby and there were all the other usualsuspects including Ravens, Magpies,Peewees, Galahs, Cockatoos, BlueWrens etc; and then there were theSuperb Parrots.

All in a day’s work.

Kevin McCue

Fencer

A ‘superb’ bird outing to DananbillaNature Reserve

Photographs by the author

Top left. Superb Parrot

Above. The ‘teenage’ pair of Willie Wagtails.

Below left. Martin on guitar and vocals.

Below right. The work party at lunch (l to r)

Sonja Lenz, Martin Chalk (Leader),

Rupert Barnett, Brian Slee, Adrienne

Nicholson, Kathy Saw and Mike Smith.

Klaus Hueneke was absent and Kevin

McCue took the photo.


Since my last report in the June NPABulletin many things have happenedincluding a visit by the Minister, ShaneRattenbury MLA.

The key actions have been:

• wrapping the headstones of theColverwell graves with black plasticfor three months and then removing thedead lichen with soft brushes.

• erecting two more interpretive signs —one at Coppins Homestead ruins andone inside Glenburn Homestead. Thisbrings to five the number of signs inthe historic precinct. They help visitorsunderstand the historical context of thesites. Thanks Parks Service.

• liberating the ruins of Curleys Hutfrom blackberries. Recent research hasrevealed that it was built in 1882–83 byWilliam Collier. It was a five-roomslab cottage with a full-length verandahand a separate kitchen.

• staff and students of the CanberraInstitute of Technology (CIT) visitingColliers orchard. Aspects of theorchard are being included in somecourses. One group of students ispreparing a detailed map of the orchardand it will make specificrecommendations for the orchard’spreservation.

• publishing an article on the NPAwebsite <www.npaact.org.au> underThe Friends of Glenburn describing theprotection and conservation work thathas been carried out in the past eightyears by the Parks Service and TheFriends of Glenburn. A second articlewill update my 2007 monograph on theprecinct in the light of newinformation, including the location ofthe Kowen School, the fabric ofCurleys Hut, who lived there andwhen, and the Edmonds time at

• showing some of the descendants ofJohn James and Agnes May Edmonds(who built Glenburn Homestead)Colliers Homestead ruins and orchardand Glenburn Homestead on19 October. The Edmonds family wasassociated with Colliers Homesteadprior to building Glenburn Homestead.It was some years since thedescendants and some of their familieshad seen both homesteads and theywere pleasantly surprised to see themajor protection and conservationwork that had been carried out,particularly the removal ofblackberries at Colliers, thestabilisation of both homes ofGlenburn Homestead and its new post-and-rail fence to protect the homesteadfrom rabbits and stock.

• appearing on ABC Radio 666 on theafternoon of 21 October to beinterviewed by Melanie Tait aboutGlenburn/Burbong. I was nervous but Ithink it went OK. I also showed

Colliers Homesteadand their departurefrom GlenburnHomestead.

• conducting drives/walks to some of thehistoric sites for theNational ParksAssociation of theACT. These toursprovide an idealopportunity for thegeneral public to visitand appreciate theearly Europeanhistoric sites, which are otherwisebehind locked gates in an operatingpine forest.

• tidying up the sites of GlenburnHomestead, the Colverwell gravesand Colliers Homestead ruins andorchard by mowing and poisoninggrass, and digging up and poisoningemerging blackberries before the19 October visit by the Minister forTerritory and Municipal Services,Shane Rattenbury MLA.

• showing Minister Rattenbury someof the protection and conservationactions that have been undertaken bythe Parks Service and The Friends ofGlenburn over the past five years.Parks Service staff and members ofThe Friends explained what hadbeen done at Glenburn Homestead,the Colverwell graves and ColliersHomestead ruins and orchard andwhat still needs to be done. TheMinister was most interested in thelittle known but rich early Europeanheritage in the Glenburn/Burbongarea of the Kowen forest. Hethanked the National ParksAssociation of the ACT, The Friends

of Glenburn, the CanberraBushwalking Club, TheCanberra Institute ofTechnology and the Officeof the Surveyor-General ofthe ACT for their supportand help to the ParksService.

Glenburn/Burbong historic precinct:action continues and the Minister visits

Photographs

Top right. The Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Shane Rattenbury

MLA, talking to Park staff and a member of the Friends of Glenburn betwe-

en the two homes of Glenburn Homestead. Photo Len Haskew.

Above right. Diane Thorne and her sons Andrew and James at Colliers

Homestead ruins. Diane is the granddaughter of John James and Agnes May

Edmonds. Photo, Col McAlister.

Left. Curleys Hut ruins in July 2013 after being liberated from blackberries.

Note the two stone steps at the front of the ruins. Photo Col McAlister.



Stephen Easton from City News theColverwell graves, GlenburnHomestead and Colliers Homesteadruins and orchard on 24 October. I amhopeful that an article will appear inCity News. I also hope both activitieswill lead to a wider knowledge andappreciation by Canberra andQueanbeyan residents of the earlyEuropean heritage in the area.

• planting three pine seedlings atGlenburn Homestead to replace thevery large dead and dying pines thatwere cut down in 2008 because theythreatened to crash onto both homes.

• on 27 October, showing 16 descend-ants of John and Catherine Coppins theruins of Coppins Homestead. Apartfrom Rhonda Boxall, who had came upfrom near Wollongong on a couple ofoccasions to assist The Friends clearthe blackberries from around the ruins

provided through the National ParksAssociation of the ACT from a grant andfrom donations by individuals.

The second is the replacement/repairof the corner posts of the GlenburnHomestead slab home. This skilled workwill be done by the Parks Service staff.

The Friends will also be busy overthe next few months with generalmaintenance of the sites includingmowing/whipper-snipping grass,poisoning/digging out re-emergingblackberries and also painting the newpost and rail fences at GlenburnHomestead and the Colverwell graveswith a second coat of decking oil.

Col McAlister

and the large OsageOrange tree, none of theother descendants hadseen the site; and

• commencing work onthe capping andrepointing of the wallsof Colliers Homesteadruins. The workcommenced inNovember with theParks Service providingthe skilled labour andThe Friends the ‘grunt’to mix and transport thecement mortar. Several wheelbarrows of rocks were removed fromthe ruins site so that the grass can bemowed safely.

Over the next few months two newimportant actions will be undertakenby the Parks Service.

The first is the erection of arabbit-proof fence aroundColliers Homestead ruins andorchard. This will not onlyhelp control rabbits but alsopigs and cattle that aredamaging the site. TheFriends of Glenburn willassist with the cost of thefence by drawing on funds

Above right. CIT students laying out part of the string grid prior to preparing the

map of Colliers orchard.

Left. Four generations of the descendants of John and Catherine Coppin in front of

Coppins chimney ruins (from a great grandson aged 87 to a great, great, great,

great, grandson aged four). Photos Col McAlister.

Glenburn/Burbong historic precinct (continued)

Mapping our world: Terra Incognito toAustralia, National Library of Australia

Wednesday 8 January. Bookings have beenmade for 15 people, entry is free. To ensure aplace, contact Graham Scully 6230 3352 orscullymob @southernphone.com.au. Meetin the National Library foyer at 10:00 am. Itis planned to follow the exhibition viewingwith a light lunch.

This remarkable exhibition brings togethersome of the world’s greatest maps, atlases,globes and scientific instruments, many ofwhich have never before been seen in theSouthern Hemisphere.

Treasured items from some of the world’sgreatest map collections tell the remarkablestory of how Australia came to be on the map,and reveal the history of and struggle toimagine and document the world: from theearliest imaginings of the Earth and the nightsky, through to Matthew Flinders’ landmarkGeneral Chart of Terra Australis or Australiain 1814.

Canberra’s early bush schools and teachers. Hall School Museum

Thursday 23 January. Entry is free, but a gold coin donation iswelcomed. Hall School Museum, 10:00 am. We will conclude ourvisit with lunch at the delightful local Gumnut Cafe. ContactGraham Scully, 6230 3352 or [email protected] sothat a table can be reserved.The exhibition tells the stories of the Australian Capital Territory’s firstpublic schools and teachers, and the families and communities they served.

A dozen small schools had already closed by 1913. Many former schoolsites are obscure and forgotten. The Nerrebundah (‘Long Gully’) Schoolsite lies under the tarmac of Yamba Drive. A few are commemorated withplaques, such as at Church Rock Valley and Gibraltar in the TidbinbillaNature Reserve, or marked with heritage signage like Mulligan’s Flat andWeetangera schools. All of them, however, have considerable significanceamong the families and communities they served, or the descendants ofthose who taught in them.

This exhibition tells the stories of the small and scattered bush schoolsabsorbed into the Federal Capital Territory in 1911 and still in operation in1913 when the city was named. The first of these schools opened in 1870and the last, at Hall and Tharwa, closed in 2006.

Graham Scully

Forthcoming NPA social events


Classic books for a budding amateurnaturalist

book had come about because Adam haddeveloped a friendship with David Stead,a pioneer conservationist, and becauseDavid was, in today’s unrestrainedjargon, Thistle’s lover. Years later, AdamFoster’s paintings were donated to theNational Library which published themin 2010 as A Brilliant Touch — AdamFoster’s Wildflower Paintings. Thecharming little hardback was designedby Sarah Evans who also did MatthewHiggins’ Rugged Beyond Imagination,the history of the Namadgi area.

Some 20 years ago Thistle put out acall for seeds of the happy wanderer.They were intended for planting on roadbatters. I sent her a bag full to which shesoon applied some heat to open them upfor germination and placing in little pots.The Department of Main Roads wentwith the idea and in late winter one nowsees banks of purple cascading downotherwise barren embankments.

Birds

The illustrations in What Bird is That?are not quite as animated as in modernbird guides like Simpson and Day, Slateror Pizzey, nor do they show thedifference between males and femalesand juveniles but they are crisp, to scaleand rich in colour. The text placed moreemphasis on distribution, migrationpatterns, calls made, the nature of thenest and the colour of the eggs than thedetailed plumage of the birds. Caley’sdescription of the habits of the LittleTern, i.e. ‘usually in flocks nesting onsand spits near an inlet with two or threespotted and blotched eggs in a shallowdepression’, accords with what I knowfrom the south coast. He did not mentionthe, ‘Do a turn for a Tern’, slogan coinedby NP&WS to save the endangeredspecies but would no doubt agree if hewere still alive.

Wild Flowers of Australia, by Thistle Y.Harris (1938)

What Bird Is That?, by Neville W.Cayley (1931)

Furred Animals of Australia, by EllisTroughton (1941)

Australian Seashores, by W.J.Dakin(1952)

In 1967, after a fleeting career as ateacher of woodwork and metalwork, Iwas able to slip into the back door ofMacquarie University as a mature-agestudent. It had a wonderful collection ofhalf-year courses which I could try andpass or fail, and fail again, without beingkicked out. After two years bellyflopping in English, Philosophy and theabhorrent Sadistics (!?), I swan dived inthe Earth Sciences and Ecology. Withlimited means I even went out andbought the above classics in hardback at$5.95 each (perhaps $60 today) and,intending they last a lifetime, coveredthem in plastic.

It was before quality colourphotography so the plates were carefullydone by hand with colour pencils orwatercolours. Dakin’s book was a littlemore advanced with strong black andwhite photo plates. The text was printedon lightweight, highly absorbent, creamycoloured paper and the plates on dense,shiny paper commonly used today. Theyhad a look, a feel, a smell and a stylewhich I love to this day.

Wild flowers

In her book, Thistle Harris (what a namefor a botanist who adored native flora)depicted numerous species from ourregion, including native raspberry, nativecherry, kurrajong, happy wanderer,trigger plants, various tea-trees andseveral grevilleas. All were illustrated byAdam Foster, formerly Carl LudwigWiarda from Emden in Germany. The

Furry animals

Three defining features of EllisTroughton’s book on furry wild thingsare the easily understood, not-too-scientific text, the long descriptions oftheir habits and the use of oral history. AMiss Lily Ivey reared a sugar glider insuburban Sydney: ‘The baby was smallerthan a dollar piece and could only be fedtwo drops of sugary water at a time.Even then it was quite distended. Oncegrown up it enjoyed cooked vegetablessuch as cauliflower, pumpkin andpotatoes, as well as arrowroot biscuitsdipped in tea’. It seemed incongruous butI could almost imagine Lily and theglider sitting down to high tea. If therewere any small mice around the gliderwould, according to Lily, pounce onthem with great speed and kill them bybiting them in the back of the neck.

On a recent trip to Central Australia aranger told us about Stick-nest Rats thatused to build elaborate homes out ofsticks and body excretions. I looked upEllis’ book when I got home. WhenMajor Mitchell first came across them in1838 he thought they were piles ofbrushwood for Aboriginal signal fires butafter breaking some nests open they weresurprised to discover soft nestscontaining small animals with ears likerabbits, downy fur and short hind legs. In1844 Charles Sturt found that the metre-high structures had about five entranceholes around the base and a hole into theground which may have been used as acooling off place. Fascinating.Unfortunately, and as foreshadowed byEllis’ book, the species soon becameextinct. Damn.

The seashore

As well as being easy to understand andchatty in style, William Dakin’s bookdisplays a penchant for poetry,


something rarely seen in biology booksof today. The Flotsam and Jetsam chapteris introduced by these pertinent linesfrom Emerson.

I wiped away the weeds and foam,I fetched my sea-borne treasures

home;But the poor, unsightly, noisome

thingsHad left their beauty on the shore,With the sun and the sand and the

wild uproar.

Perhaps the poetic touch was due toIsobel Bennett and Elizabeth Pope whocompleted the book after William’sdeath. They also observed that ‘lonelybeach wonderers are often romantic andmay see nothing except what is in eachother’s eyes’. All this in a scientific text!

It was their book that helped meverify the hard to believe notion that athing that looked like a seed cone couldactually be the egg case of a shark. Italso taught me that the white limy lumps

‘crowded in inextricable confusion’ atmid-tide level was a worm calledGaleolaria caespitosa, that what hadinspired some artistic ceramic activitywere the dried up holdfasts for kelp andthat the intricate necklaces of little sandyballs lying on the beach were made by acrab called the Sand Bubbler. Thephotogenic balls are left over after theorganic matter has been sifted out.

These are books to be treasured andpassed on to a keen nephew or niece andnot to be put out at the next Lifeline bookfair.

Klaus Hueneke


Classic books for a budding amateur naturalist (continued)

I Don’t Know Your Name

I don’t know your namesilent majestic oneI seeyour buttressed trunkthe vines that wrap you

bird callsin your dark tangledcanopyfor two thousand yearsthe sound of dripping rain

way down belowI’m on a slippery trackrain pattersmy parka hoodturning me inwards

my right hip groansmy left knee wobbleshow longcan I go on foryou ... will outlive ... me

Gerry Jacobson

The Biggest Estate on Earth

NPA’s guest speaker at its first 2014 General Meeting — on Thursday20 February — will be Professor Bill Gammage, author of the awardwinning book ‘The Biggest Estate on Earth: How Aborigines MadeAustralia.’

This book was reviewed in the June 2012 edition of the NPA Bulletin.The first paragraph of the review read:

The central thesis of this weighty but very readable tome … is thatprior to European settlement Aboriginal people used fire to verycarefully manage the entire Australian landscape. The result was afar more open panorama than we know today, more akin to theparkland estates held by European gentry in their northern hemi-sphere homelands. Gammage maintains that once Aboriginalpeople were no longer able to tend their country, it became over-grown and vulnerable to the hugely damaging bushfires we nowexperience. Importantly … he maintains that ‘what we think of asvirgin bush in a national park is nothing of the kind.’

For the full review, check out the NPA website www.npaact.org.auand follow the links Our Publications, The Bulletin, Back Issues. Orbetter still, buy the book and read it. Or best of all, come to the FebruaryGeneral Meeting and discuss it with the man himself.

Sketches of the Glenburn historic precinct by NPA member Gary Thompson

The shearing shed from the west Glenburn homestead across the paddocks from the east


ago we did not know if the track stillexisted. After our trip I found that RodWellington, a Canadian, had walked andmainly rafted down this section of theriver as part of his source to seaexpedition in December 2009–March2010. His account2 of this section of theriver would not have given much hope ofan easy walk. Rod is the veteran of manyexpeditions and recently paddled theMissouri–Mississippi River system fromsource to sea. Even later I read Crossingthe Ditch by James Castrission, which ishis account of paddling across theTasman Sea with his mate Justin Jones.Their first expedition in kayaks was withfriend Andrew on the Murray fromsource to sea in late 2001. In it he brieflydescribes how walking below CowombatFlat they became ‘surrounded by bluffsin scrub that was near impenetrable’ sothey surfed their packs down the rapidsin freezing water for three days. All theirgear got wet including their sleepingbags and matches sothey spent the nightsshivering in their wetthermals and neededto resort to ‘spooning’each other. Fort-unately, when westarted our walk wewere not aware ofthese horror storiesfrom intrepid adven-turers who hadpreceded us.

The first 100 km of the Murray Riverpasses through some very rugged andscenic countryside, much of it veryinaccessible. In this first stretch, the riverdescends about 1 100 metres through theKosciuszko and Alpine national parks. Itthen flows into a broad fertile valley thatis used extensively for farming. It takes2 400 km to descend the final 300 metresto sea level.

Having paddled over many yearsmost of the Murray River I wasinterested in walking along the upperreaches of the river. During a CanberraBushwalking Club (CBC) walk withKaren, the idea arose of walking alongthe Murray from the source to TomGroggin — a distance of about 70 km.Karen had already walked the Black–Allan Line (the straight NSW–Victorianborder from the Murray source to CapeHowe), so for both of us it was anextension of our earlier travels alongopposite ends of the NSW–Victorianborder.

Earlier accounts

The problem with planning this walkwas the lack of information. My FirstEdition 1:100 000 Jacobs River mapshows a ‘Foot Track’ that leads from theCascade Trail down to the confluence ofTin Mine Creek with the Murray Riverand from there closely follows theMurray downstream on the Victorianside to Tom Groggin. However, we didnot know of anyone who had walked thistrack and the track did not appear onlater maps. Also, with respect to theUpper Murray, the July 1982 edition ofthe ‘it’ (the CBC Newsletter) stated:

There are few tracks in this area.Fishermen’s tracks continue forsome way up the River fromBuckwong Creek. An old 1909Mines Department map shows amining track along the river fromTom Groggin to ‘Pendergast’s OldHut’ on Limestone Creek, butthere is no trace left of it.

Furthermore, the only report1 ofanyone travelling along the river fromthe source to Tom Groggin was a partywho walked and li-loed in several stagesin the 1980s taking about a weekfollowing the river. On their final daythey followed a track along the riverfrom Tom Groggin Top Flat down toTom Groggin but since that was 25 years

Murray source to Tom Groggin

One of our party had contacts in highplaces so, after leaving a car at TomGroggin, we were able to gain vehicleaccess to the Cascade Trail to be droppedoff near the Murray source to begin ourwalk. This would allow us up to eightdays walking along or in the river. Thewalk was set for 24–31 March 2013.There were only three walkers in this‘party of peers’ — Karen, Bob andmyself. By the end of the first day wewere camped about one kilometredownstream of Cowombat Flat afterhaving visited the metal pole at theMurray source. We had mixed feelingsabout finding brumby tracks that assistedour progress through the forest below theflat.

On Day 2 we continued to follow thebrumby tracks. These would peter outoccasionally or head away from wherewe wanted to go, so there was a bit ofscrub bashing before picking up anothertrail. We had lunch beside the Murrayjust before the Surveyors Creekconfluence. Downstream of here thevalley falls steeply on both sides down tothe river so we decided to gain someheight on the NSW side and thentraverse along the 1 100 metre contourfor a couple of kilometres. This was adifficult climb through trackless scrubwith full packs on a warm day. We thendescended down a spur to the river at theupper end of McHardies Flat, crossed theriver and found our drivers of Day 1camped at the Poplars Camping Area atthe end of McCarthys Track near RoundMountain. We had walked about eightkilometres for the day. That night wewere well fed and ‘watered’ and a veryenjoyable evening followed.

Progress on Day 3 was very good. Onthe NSW side we found numerous

A trip along the Upper Murray River

(continued on next page)

Photographs. Top. Mike Bremers on Forest Hill above the Murray source.

Right. Sometimes walking in the river was preferable.


brumby tracks along the river flats. Bythe end of the day we had covered about13 km. We camped about 4 km, as thecrow flies, upstream of the Tin MineCreek confluence.

On Day 4, progress soon becamemuch more difficult. The vegetationbecame lusher and thicker and we couldfind only faint animal tracks at best. Ourspeed dropped to about 500 m per hour.We then decided that walking in the riverwas quicker (1.5–2 km per hour) than onthe banks and by lunchtime we hadreached the Tin Mine Creek confluence.Later in the afternoon we camped aboutthree kilometres, as the crow flies,downstream of the Tin Mine Creekconfluence. Our campsite was a rocky/sandy beach that required somelandscaping to ensure a good night’ssleep.

It started raining early on Day 5 andwe continued the river walking. Progresswas slow because the river was nowbecoming narrower and deeper andflowing through a steep-sided valley;walking in it was becoming difficult.During the day we saw two dark-coloured deer standing in the rivershallows. Campsites were difficult tofind but we pitched our tents early on thewet afternoon on a rocky ledge and smallsandy beach not far above water level.While we had walked only about 4 kmfor the day, the scenery on Day 5, as onDay 4, was the most beautiful of the trip.

Our campsite was only 2.5 km, as thecrow flies, from Tom Groggin Top Flatbut we knew it would take us all ofDay 6 to get there. The weather hadcleared and, in order to cut off a largebend in the river, we crossed to the NSWside and climbed about 150 m up to the800 metre contour, crossing several spurs

along the way, before descending backdown to the river. By lunchtime, we wereexhausted and had covered only 2 km butwe had now reached the river flats and‘rejoiced’ at finding brumby tracks onceagain, while simultaneously cursing anyenvironmental damage that they maycause. Progress then was relatively fastto Tom Groggin Top Flat. This area hadevidence (e.g. tarps, frying pan) ofregular visitors over many years. It gaveus great confidence that we now had arelatively easy walk out to Tom Grogginthe next day.

Our optimism at the end of Day 6started to disappear early on Day 7 as wefollowed brumby tracksthat either petered outor headed in the wrongdirection — we cursedthose brumbies evenmore! We decided toclimb high up a spurand descend anotherback to the river wherewe were pleased to finda distinct track withevidence of prunedbranches. This trackfollowed the river allthe way to BuckwongCreek camping area onthe Davies Track. Sinceit was Easter Saturdaythere were peoplecamped in the campingarea. Unfortunately, ourfirst sight of anotherhuman in almost fivedays was a boy havinga crap behind thebushes that shieldedhim from the campsitebut this was next to the

track that we were walking along.Welcome to civilization! We campednear here, which left an easy walk to thecar at Tom Groggin the next morning.

Tom Groggin to Damms Bridge

Close scrutiny of the Rooftop’sCorryong–Omeo–Thredbo AdventureMap shows that the Harrington Trackfollows the Murray River for about20 km downstream of Tom Groggin andthen fire trails generally follow the riverfor most of the way to Damms Bridge.Damms Bridge is where the Murray

Photographs. Top. Clover Flat rapids, Murray River

Right. Upper Murray River


A trip along the Upper Murray River (continued)


flows out of Kosciuszko National Park.From this point downstream the MurrayRiver flows through a broad fertile valleyused for dairy farming. Damms Bridge iscalled ‘Maguires Bridge’ on thetopographic maps but other maps androad signs refer to it as Damms Bridge.

The Harrington Track is not wellpublicised but the information boards ateach end of the track give someinteresting information. The originalHarrington Track was constructed byhand by the Victorian Mines Departmentin 1895 over an 8-month period. Itextended 61 km from Towong to TomGroggin. The track fell into disrepair butwas reopened during the First WorldWar, then again during the 1930sdepression. In 1975 and again after the2003 bushfires work was undertaken toensure that the present day 20 km trackremained open for recreational purposes.

This walk was set for 4–6 October2013 with the CBC and again there werethree of us in the party. After a lengthycar shuffle we walked 8 km from TomGroggin, through Tom Groggin Station(prior permission sought) to the start ofthe Harrington track at the Stony Creekcampsite by the river.

We knew that Day 2 was going to bea very long day. The sign at Stony Creekmade us realise that we would bewalking about 5 km further thanoriginally estimated and that the sectionof the track that follows the river closelyactually contained a number of climbs.Downstream of Stony Creek the Murrayflows through the ‘Murray Gates’between two large mountains — HermitMountain on the Victorian side andGranuaille Mountain on the NSW side.These mountains tower 900 m above theriver making the Murray Gates some ofthe best continuous rapids in southernAustralia. From Stony Creek the trackclimbs steeply over Hermit Mountain,which gave us good views of the snow-clad Main Range, and then descendseven more steeply down to the MurrayRiver at Hermit Creek. We had morningtea here but it would make a great spotfor camping as it is just below a grade 4rapid. We quickly continued on the ‘flat’section of the Harrington Track. Thereare many spectacular views of the riverfrom this section of track but often it isfrom quite a height looking down to theriver below.

About an hour after lunch we reached

the Bunroy Station end of the HarringtonTrack. We followed an overgrown firetrail to get to the Indi River Track andthen it was an easy 4–5 km to reach theBunroy Creek campsite beside theMurray River. It took us 9 hours to cover26 km with a total climb of 1 050 m.

The original plan for Day 3 was tocross the Murray River, scrub-bash forless than a kilometre to Hoggs Hut andthen follow the fire trail for 4 km to thecar at Damms Bridge. However, the riverwas flowing quite swiftly and none of uswanted to enter the 10°C water to seehow deep it was on the far side. Thealternative was to head for BunroyMountain on fire trails and then to followthe overgrown Whitseds Track acrossprivate property (prior permission soughtand granted) down to the Upper MurrayRoad just north of Damms Bridge. Wereached the car at Damms Bridge for anearly lunch. This section took us 4 hoursto cover 14 km with a 600 m climb.

My recommendation to anyonerepeating this trip from Tom Grogginwould be to do it over four rather thanthree days. That would mean that oursecond day could be split over two daysallowing for more time to appreciate theriver. If a one-night walk was desired avery good option would be to walk theHarrington Track from Bunroy Station toHermit Creek (13 km) campingovernight before returning to BunroyStation. This would allow for views ofthe river without any excessive climbing.Day walks are also possible in otherparks in the Corryong region.

Mike Bremers

References1. http://xnatmap.org/adnm/docs/mirv/mriv.htm

2. http://zeroemissionsexpeditions.com/expeditions/murray-river-

source-to-sea/expedition-timeline-

days-1-12-the-infant-murray/

Photographs supplied by Mike Bremers

A trip along the Upper Murray River (continued)

Colemans Bend, Upper Murray Valley


conditions were excellent for snow-shoeing. Seven brumbies filed away.Atop the ridge we turned onto GreatDividing Range and found a shelteredspot for a break at 11:00 am, overlookingBoggy Plain, Thredbo River andChimneys Ridge. Not a lot of snow onthem but quite a panorama in bright sun.

From there we took a gentlyundulating course south-east, peak-hopping for an hour through burntsnowgums while taking in views to ThePilot and Cobberas Mountains inVictoria and the many dark, treacherousvalleys between. A fox pranced out ofview. At 12:15 pm we were on unnamedpeak (1 827 metres), 1.5 km short ofJerusalem Hill, but as we were 7 kmfrom where we started, far enough for aday.

After lunch we took the easy optionand simply followed our outward trackin the now nicely crunching snow. Mainand Ramshead Ranges were spec-tacularly lit as cloud first billowed on thewestern horizon then shelfed in at 2 000

Walk: Sunday 11 August 2013Participants: Brian Slee

(Leader), Max Smith, PeterAnderson-Smith

Weather: Cold, sunny, windy withsome gusts; clouding over inafternoon.

Leader’s comments

The plan was to depart Calwell at6:30 am, drive to Dead Horse Gap,snowshoe from there on Cascade Trailand climb Brindle Bull Hill. However,although it had been a poor season, adump of snow had fallen on a sound basein the week before the walk. Wouldconditions be good enough to get us asfar as elusive Jerusalem Hill instead?

At Cascade Trail we set out at9:10 am on solid snow but it had becomepatchy by Thredbo River crossing.Prospects were not bright but wenevertheless turned south, away fromBrindle Bull, and began climbing BobsRidge. The 200 metre rise was a slog buthard snow had soon returned and

metres. Back at the car about 3:00 pm.After the usual Sundance beano at

Jindabyne, we were among the trafficback home. It had taken 10 minutes toget through Jindabyne on the way downbut holdups shifted to Cooma and theentrance to Canberra for the return.Nothing major, however, and we were atCalwell at 6:15 pm.

Snowshoe walks to Jerusalem Hillwere on the NPA program in 2010 and2011 but we twice ended up onRamshead as there was little snow southof the Alpine Way. This time we were ahill short. It would require a 6:00 amdeparture, too early for most. Lovelyremote area worth exploring further,however.

Brian Slee

Bushwalks

Superb parrots: superb! (Rare elsewherein Canberra.) So I contrived NPA walksthrough West Belconnen, taking inDunlop lakes and grasslands, Charnwoodhomestead, Mt Rogers (704 m) andGinninderra Creek. Sitting on themountain, I imagined a walk connectingit with the lake. Here ’tis.

John Knight Park is a lovely haven atthe eastern end of Lake Ginninderra.From there we set off along Emu Bank at9:35 am. The Telco tower atop ourdestination was visible across the slightlyrippling lake. A few joggers about.

Margaret saved embarrassment at theend of the lake by steering us to CoulterDrive underpass. From Edman Close wefollowed a grassy watercourse throughFlorey, under Ginninderra and Coplanddrives, past the BMX track and found ashady glade for morning tea (and Steve’sTim Tams), watching an under-mannedcricket match at Melba I oval. We werevisited by a white labrador, theme breedof the day.

Heading north, the map came out tohelp link Melba Tennis Club toMt Rogers Community Centre via bikepath, park, cul-de-sac and crescent.

Walk: Sunday 13 October 2013Participants: Brian Slee (Leader),

Steve Hill, Margaret PowerWeather: Clear sky, breezy,

temperatures mid-20s.

Leader’s comments

Is Belco a poor and miserable place?Many Canberrans seem to think so.Easily avoided, anyhow. As a WodenValley resident, maybe I had a dim viewof Belconnen but in 2010 I found it had awinter abundance of swimming poolsthat Woden now completely lacked. Onexcursions to use the facilities I lookedaround and found the flash newBelconnen Mall with its new businterchange. Free-flowing GinninderraCreek fed a grand lake; one embankmenthosted a new arts centre. I thought:Yarralumla Creek in Woden is a concreteditch, feeding neither lake nor wetland.Where is Woden arts centre? Fresh foodmarkets? Who feels comfortable usingWoden bus interchange?

I drove the southern rim ofBelconnen: it was beautiful. I led a walkfrom the western end to Uriarra. I wenton Esther’s walks: Aranda bushland,Mt Painter, The Pinnacle. All beautiful.

Thereafter a track took us underKingsford Smith; we scrambled up agrassy slope and slumped on a bench,with views. Chatty passers-by, achocolate labrador. Then a black one. Aneasy foot pad took us up past the towerto Mt Rogers. Lunch under a gum, out ofthe breeze, views across CSIRO’s greenfields to the northern border. Quiet andlovely.

The return to Melba I was by a moreobvious route, descending east pastmassed flowering photinias then southand under Verbrugghen Street. It wasgetting warm so after passing back underCopland, we stopped at Read Placebarbeque in Evatt, waiting for snags andcordial. Nothing. Off we trudged,eventually reconnecting with the lakeand stopped for afternoon tea at KangaraWaters retirement village’s Birrigai Cafe.Not bad. A cold front was moving in. Afurther 200 metres and we were at thecars before 3:00 pm. Altogether 12 km.

Brian Slee

Lake Ginninderra and Mt Rogers

Jerusalem Hill (almost)

Walk: Sunday 8 September 2013Participants: Brian Slee (Leader),

Kathy Saw, Max Smith, MikeBremers, Peter Anderson-Smith,Margaret Power

Weather: Chilly; consistent breeze;high cloud thinning in theafternoon.

Leader’s comments

A metre of ice/snow supported us whenwe snowshoed across Blue Lake on1 October 2012. In early Spring 2013,flippers would have been more useful.Record temperatures were quicklydestroying the season’s best fall. Whenwe reached Guthega for this walk,departures were outnumbering arrivals.Guthega Pondage was overflowing thewall, a rare sight.

Ridge tops were bare of snow but theeastern slopes had some so we set out at9:10 am and found a solid base once wewere on the other side of IllawongBridge. We scrambled to the first line ofsnowgums and had a break. Skiers were

followed our tracks back to SnowyRiver. Snowshoes stayed on across thebridge and we found good snow formuch of the way to Farm Creek. Back atGuthega before four.

Two of the group were staying in themountains so the remainder piled intoMike’s new Prado for the return trip toCalwell, arriving 7:00 pm. Hardly anytraffic. Monaro Highway was lined withroad kill, in excess even of the usualcarnage.

Anton is a lovely area to walk in.Little Twynam is an alternative futuredestination, keeping north of TwynamCreek and returning via the beautifulslope south of the creek.

South Australia, a flood of crystalclear water is heading your way. Whenthe new government sets about divertingit elsewhere, however, you might puzzlewhy you voted so generously for themon 7 September.

Brian Slee

scattered across the slopes ahead. A redrobin briefly flittered, like a flame on ice.

It was five years since we lastsnowshoed to Anton (2 010 metres). Wewere soon to be reminded what anexhausting 400 metre climb it is. Therewere a few tumbles as we slowly madeour way to the bare ridge above PoundsCreek. Snow still bridged the creek andonce crossed, we followed another’sfootsteps up to the saddle south ofAnton. Half the group then climbed tothe summit on snow from the south-eastwhile the others rock-hopped west andsettled for lunch north of, and just below,the top. We were in easy shoutingdistance of each other!

Soon after one o’clock we set offdown the steep eastern slope. Afternoonsnow usually has ‘give’: you lean back,the snowshoe sinks and you descend acomfortable staircase. Surprisingly, thesurface was slippery, the base ungiving;some bum slides ensued.

The light was brightening as weshuffled out of Pounds Creek; we then


Guthega Pondage. Photo Mike Bremers

BushwalkMt Anton (on snowshoes)


however, that it is committed to theentire ‘Three Capes Track’ project.

TNPA News, No. 17 (winter 2013)

Annual passes and national

parks entrance fees

Some national parks charge a vehicleentry fee — these funds go directly tosupporting conservation programs and tobuilding and maintaining facilities in thenational parks and reserves of NSW. Ifyou’re a regular park visitor, you cansave on motor vehicle entry fees bybuying an annual pass. An annual pass isgreat value for money, covering entryfees to your nominated park or parks foreither 1 or 2 years and is also a terrificway to show your support for the NSWNational Parks and Wildlife Service.Annual pass holders also have the optionof receiving NPWS quarterly e-news-letter, Naturescapes, which providesexcellent information on great parks tovisit and new and exciting events andactivities.

Nature NSW, Vol. 57,No. 3 (spring 2013)

National Rabbit Management

Facilitator appointed

With the worrying trend that rabbitnumbers are again on the rise, theVictorian Department of Environmentand Primary Industries, the InvasiveAnimals CRC and the Foundation forRabbit-Free Australia have jointlyannounced the appointment of Dr LisaAdams as the first National RabbitManagement Facilitator who will workto support community-led rabbitmanagement. Rabbits threaten more than75 nationally threatened plant speciesand five threatened ecologicalcommunities.

To assist landholders to better controlwild rabbits, the Invasive Animals CRChas published the PestSmart: GloveboxGuide for Managing Rabbits. It isavailable free to download at http://www.feral.org.au/wp-content/uploads/

2013/01/RabbitGBG_web.pdf


NSW Government review of the

Threatened Species Conservation

and Native Vegetation Acts

The NSW Government has announcedthat there will be significant changes tothe Native Vegetation Regulation 2005,following the release of the independent

facilitator’s report on native vegetationmanagement. Under the new regulation,farmers will be able to access a widerrange of exemption and self-assess low-impact clearing activities. The NSWGovernment at the same time announcedits intention to review the NSWThreatened Species Conservation Act1995.

In NSW NPA’s view the ThreatenedSpecies Conservation and NativeVegetation Acts are the foundation for theprotection of ecological communities andindividual species found on private landin NSW. The Acts set out importantregulatory, environmental assessment,independent listing and species recoverymechanisms that are world leading andsupported by the majority of thecommunity. The NSW Government’sreview follows on from its decision toweaken land-clearing controls and otherenvironmental protections of our naturalterrestrial and marine heritage. Itsintention to integrate key provisions ofthe Acts into the new planning regime(which places economic development asan overriding concern and removesconsideration of ecologically sustainabledevelopment) is a major threat to theprotection of biodiversity, soil and waterquality. These resources also provideimportant environmental and economicservices to rural and urban communities.

NSW NPA rejects any option thatremoves the Acts from the statute books,or diminishes the level of environmentprotection in their provisions. Suchactions would pander to the extremeelements of the rural community and theShooters and Fishers Party. We call onthe NSW Government to better resourcethe implementation of the Acts, ensureeffective compliance and ensure that thenew Planning Act does not interfere withor reduce the protection of nativevegetation or threatened species.


NPA helping to achieve the

Great Eastern Ranges vision in

the Illawarra–Shoalhaven

The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative(GER) has emerged as one of the largestconservation projects of its kind, with avision to link protected areas and habitaton private land from the Grampians(Vic.) through NSW and the ACT to FarNorth Queensland. Achieving aconservation ‘corridor’ on this scale willdepend on collaborative projects like the

Edited extracts from recent journalsand newsletters

Hunting in National Parks —

where we stand now

The NSW National Parks Associationwelcomes decisions by the NSWGovernment to respond to the over-whelming concerns of the communityabout recreational hunting in nationalparks. The government’s newSupplementary Pest Control Programdiffers dramatically from theunacceptable proposal that wasoriginally put forward. The new programwill initially occur in only 12 parks inNSW, not 75. Within those parks, it willoccur only as part of planned operations,when and where NPWS staff consider itnecessary. While a limited number ofprofessional volunteer hunters will beinvolved, they will be operating underthe direction of NPWS staff. Hunterswill be required to have equivalenttraining to that of professional NPWSstaff, rather than just an R licence, andchildren will not be able to participate inthe program.

There were many players in the state-wide campaign to keep our parks safe.Our special thanks to all our NPAbranches and volunteers. Thanks toeveryone who supported this campaign.Because of our combined efforts,amateur, ad-hoc recreational hunters willnot be allowed to roam about uncheckedin our national parks.


Keep the Capes Wild campaign

In spite of the TNPA’s best efforts, andwith help from other organisations suchas the Tasmanian Conservation Trust andthe Peninsula Environment Network, thefully approved (since mid–late 2012)‘Three Capes Track’ development isready for construction. How has thiscome about? Largely by the governmentvery carefully avoiding dealing with thesubstantive issues raised by the TNPAand others in relation to thisdevelopment. The good news, however,is that the state government has, at leastinitially, reduced the track from theoriginal 5-night ‘Three Capes Walk’ thattook in both the eastern and westernparts of the Tasman Peninsula, andtraversed the bulk of the TasmanNational Park, to a 3-night walk on theeastern part of the Peninsula only —essentially now a ‘Two Capes track’. Thestate government continues to maintain,

PARKWATCH



Illawarra Rainforest and Woodlandrestoration project. NSW NPA is workingwith the GER to establish a collaborativepartnership in the Illawarra–Shoalhaventhat brings together a broad range oforganisations who are active in theregion to strengthen our efforts to restorenature. Together, participants in theIllawarra–Shoalhaven GER partnershipwill ensure that the amazing biodiversityof the region can be maintained in achanging climate by protecting andenhancing corridor and landscapeconnections from the Royal NationalPark south to Batemans Bay.

The partnership was launched by thelocal Member for Heathcote, Hon. LeeEvans MP, at Sublime Point on 3 March2013. Already it has grown to involve anumber of local organisations includingConservation Volunteers Australia,Landcare, the National Parks andWildlife Service, and local government.So far, the partnership has identified10 major regional corridors that will betargeted by partners. In each, localprojects are being developed that willstrengthen partners’ current efforts bymobilising assistance and theinvolvement of other organisations andthe community. Our vision will lead tothe creation of local ‘corridors of effort’that restore lost linkages in the landscapeand achieve the wishes of GER in thisvital part of the landscape.


Invasive species — national

election commitments

To protect the landscapes and speciesthat are quintessentially and uniquelyAustralian, it is essential to deal with thegrowing multitude of invasive species asa national priority. Although Australiahas done well to keep out anyagricultural pests, we rank globally asone of the very worst affected countriesdue to environmental invaders. A greatmany of the world’s most harmfulinvaders are here and continuing tospread. To turn this around will require amore ecological approach to biosecurityand a greater community involvement inlaw and policy reform. Invasive speciesthreatening the environment have beenneglected in comparison to thoseinvasive species threatening industry.The reforms we propose will save bigcosts in the long term, and stem losses ofbiodiversity as well as agriculturalproductivity.

Establish environmental health —Collaboration is essential to meet thechallenges of environmental biosecurity.

Restore national weed researchcapacity — Australia needs a researchprogram to develop effective technicaland policy responses to the greatchallenges of weed prevention,eradication and control, equivalent tothat of the former Cooperative ResearchCentre for Weed Management.

Strengthen invasive species threatabatement — Many of our greatestthreats require a collaborative approachto planning, research and control efforts.Effective action against major invasivespecies threats can be achieved bystrengthening processes to systematicallylist and abate key threatening processesunder the EPBC Act.


When national parks fail

One of the primary roles of our NationalParks is conservation of nature. Thisincludes the plants and animals that arenative to Australia, and the vegetationcommunities and landscapes that makeup their habitats. Largely because of pastclearing practices, some of our plantsand animals have suffered such extensiveloss of habitat that they are now declaredendangered. In some cases, the onlyenvironment that offers them protectionis our national parks, which cover lessthan 5 per cent of the state.NPAQ has recently written to NationalParks Minister Steve Dickson asking himto explain what measures are being takento protect the habitat of rare species inthe 13 national parks and NationalReserve System properties affected bygrazing, and what monitoring regimesare in place to ensure that cattle do notbreach fence lines and graze habitat forthese species. While $500 000 has beenset aside by the Queensland Parks andWildlife Service to fence off criticalhabitat areas for these rare species, thisarticle highlights the threats that have ledto these species being listed as rare in thefirst place.Both Forest Den (5 900 ha, 100 km northof Aramac) and Mazeppa NP (4 100 ha,75 km west of Clermont) provide habitatfor the vulnerable Squatter Pigeon. Themain threats are loss and fragmentationof habitat due to clearing, overgrazing bysheep and cattle, and degradation byinvasive weeds such as Buffel Grass.Loss of groundcover means it is moreexposed to predation by avian andterrestrial predators. Camping was notpreviously permitted in Mazeppa NPbecause of the sensitive nature of the

To bring together governments, thecommunity and industry to improvebiosecurity preparedness, identifyresearch and control priorities, and buildcapacity, a body called EnvironmentalHealth Australia should be established.This should be modelled on the existingindustry–government partnerships, PlantHealth Australia and Animal HealthAustralia.

Work to achieve a strong invasive speciestarget with a funded plan — Gettingdown to business on invasive speciesrequires a national plan with meaningfultargets. The government should committo achieving within 5 years a netreduction in the impacts of invasivespecies. This requires a baselineassessment of condition, and assessmentof the measures and funding necessary toachieve the target. Essential elements ofachieving the target include measures toprotect declining mammals of northernAustralia, eradicate foxes in Tasmaniaand Yellow Crazy Ants in Queensland,and implement threat abatement plans forother invasive species.

Establish an independent biosecurityauthority with an expert biosecuritycommission — To ensure decisions arescience-based, independent of politics,transparent and precautionary, anindependent authority with an expertcommission is needed. A newBiosecurity Act should be introduced toalso foster a stronger environmental andcommunity focus, which includes bestpractice elements, a statutory role for theEnvironment Minister and a focus onenvironmental priorities such as islands(which are highly vulnerable to invasivespecies).

Conduct a parliamentary inquiry intoAustralia’s preparedness for newenvironmental invaders — Recentquarantine failings, as exemplified in theestablishment of Myrtle Rust, AsianHoneybees and several infestations ofYellow Crazy Ants, demonstratesystemic failings in planning,surveillance and responses for newenvironmental invaders.

Regulate movement of exotic plants —As identified by the 2009 Hawke reviewof the EPBC Act, there are major gaps inthe regulation of the movement of exoticplants within Australia. If states andterritories do not agree through theCouncil of Australian Governments toamend their laws within 1 year toregulate plants consistent with theirinvasion risks, this should be achieved byusing existing provisions of the EPBCAct. (continued next page)

PARKWATCH (continued from page 19)


gidgee and brigalow communities.QPWS has recently lifted restrictions oncamping and NPAQ has sought adviceon why this has occurred.Moorrinya NP (32 600 ha, 90 km southof Torrens Creek) provides habitat forthe Painted Honeyeater and Julia CreekDunnart. Again, the main threats aredestruction of habitat [by] agricultureand grazing. The Julia Creek Dunnart isthreatened by cat predation and invasionby the exotic Prickly Acacia and heavygrazing. These and other threats havealready led to 28 mammal extinctions inAustralia.The Littleton National Reserve Systemproperty (80 000 ha at the junction of theGulf Plains and Einasleigh Uplandsbioregions), is home to the endangeredGouldian Finch, one of Australia’s mosticonic bird species. Some of the knownthreats to the Gouldian Finch includehabitat decline due to grazing pressure,fire, infrastructure development(transport corridors or miningoperations), and disturbance from cattleto its dry season water sources. Littletonalso provides important habitat for theBlack-throated Finch. The decline of thisspecies began in the early 20th century,and studies indicate that this occurred inline with the rise of pastoralism. Whilelosses have been most severe in thesouthern part of its range, where grazingis the primary cause of rangecontractions, other threats such as coalmining are actively threatening thisspecies in Queensland.As Queenslanders observe ThreatenedSpecies Week in early September, we arereminded again of the vigilance andadvocacy that is required to ensure thatno more of our unique wildlife becomeextinct.

NPA News (Qld), Vol. 83,Issue 8 (September 2013)

Kimberley — not out of the

woods

The announcement that Woodside and itsjoint venture partners will not proceedwith a LNG processing hub at JamesPrice Point came as a relief, but littlesurprise to those watching the project’srising costs, controversy and oppositionover the past year. Woodside’s Aprilannouncement to develop the projectinstead using Shell’s floating LNGtechnology appeared to deal the finalblow to WA Premier Colin Barnett’sdream of processing Browse Basin gasonshore. Yet even before celebrationswere underway the Barnett governmentrestated its plans to industrialise the

successful in banning trade in polar bearproducts and the animal’s status remainsunchanged despite evidence that thespecies is imperilled. Importantmeasures to protect rhinos, elephants,cheetahs, freshwater rays and a host ofothers were also agreed.On its 40th anniversary, CITES hasdemonstrated that it remains relevant andindeed vital to ensuring that species arenot detrimentally affected byinternational trade.

Humane Society International Newsletter,Vol. 19, Issue 2 (July 2013)

It’s unique but it isn’t safe

The Great Barrier Reef has been in theheadlines recently, with many groupsworried at the proposed port andindustrial developments planned alongthe Queensland coast. Humane SocietyInternational shares their concern,particularly where developments andincreased ship-traffic would affect thecritical habitat of protected species likethe dugong and turtle. HSI is alsoalarmed that if the federal governmenthands over environmental powers tostate governments, these developmentscould be even more detrimental.The international community is alsopaying attention. In 2011 the UnitedNation’s World Heritage Committeevoiced its ‘extreme concern’ at theapproval of major developments. And adelegation has given the federalgovernment a number of actions thatneed to be taken to improve theprotection of the reef. We await ourgovernment’s response but if it isdetermined that the reef’s world heritagestatus is at risk, the committee could putit on the List of World Heritage inDanger.

Humane Society International Newsletter,Vol. 19, Issue 2 (July 2013)

Compiled by Hazel Rath

pristine Kimberley coast. PremierBarnett is doggedly going ahead with hiscompulsory acquisition plans for JamesPrice Point, even without Woodside.Compulsory acquisition has become thenew battle front and Premier Barnett isleading the charge.As it currently stands, the terms of thecompulsory acquisition of the land canbe used for Browse Basin gas only as acondition of the state agreement with theTraditional Owners. So in order for thesite to be used for unconventional gas, awhole new agreement has to be made.This involves re-negotiating with theTraditional Owner community.The WA Government has determined itwill pay $30 million to acquire the landand confirmed its aim to see CanningBasin gas flow through a processing hubat James Price Point. The CanningBasin’s unconventional gas resources areabout 229 trillion cubic feet;approximately 1½ times WA’s currentlyidentified offshore resources. BuruEnergy has been exploring for gas andoil in the Canning Basin, alongsideMitsubishi, Conocco Phillips andPetroChina. Barnett is pushing for thefederal environment minister to smooththe way and avoid further environmentalaccountability.The window for the Barnett governmentto change their course for the Kimberleyis fast closing. The state needs to rescindapproval for a development at JPP,respecting its people, the place and thevoice of so many Austalains.

Habitat, Vol. 41, No. 3 (July 2013)

CITES 2013 — Big wins at global

wildlife trade meeting

In March, 178 national representativesand many interested parties (includingHumane Society International) convenedin Bangkok, Thailand, for an importantconference on the international trade inendangered species: the 16th Conferenceof Parties of the Convention on theInternational Trade in EndangeredSpecies of Wild Flora and Fauna(CITES).Every 3 years these meetings determinewhich species require protection frominternational trading and whereprotection can be relaxed. On the whole,it was a pleasing success with great leapsin the protection of wildlife threatenedby international trade. Two-weeks long,the meeting closed with many positiveconservation outcomes, including theadoption of (nearly) every proposal toprovide new or increased protection.Disappointingly, HSI and others were not

PARKWATCH (continued)

Bird Book

A whole new edition of

NPA’s

Field Guide to the Birds

of the ACT

will be published before

Christmas. Something for

your Christmas stocking!


New members of the

associationThe NPA ACT welcomes thefollowing new members:

Novica IvkovicAnita Black (re-joining)

We look forward to seeingeveryone at NPA activities.

NPA notices

Cover photographs

Front cover

Main photo. Esther Gallant’s NPA ‘Relaxed pack-walk’ team

crossing Rendezvous Creek, November 2013: (left to right) Di

Thompson, Sally Stephens, Kathy Saw, Rene Lays, Sue Hunter,

Judith Webster, Tim Walsh and David Large.

Photo Esther Gallant

Insets. Left. Capping the stone walls of Colliers Homestead ruin. Dean

Darcy is not only a ranger but a bricky too! (article page 10)

Photo Max Lawrence

Centre. Amy Macris, inaugural winner of the NPA’s Honours

Scholarship at the Fenner School (article page 4).

Photo Clive Hilliker, ANU

Right. Namadgi Visitor Centre staffers Michelle and Jess helped

install the NPA ACT Art Week exhibition at the centre (see page 7).

Photo Adrienne Nicholson

Back cover

Main photo. Snow on the Camels Hump, Tidbinbilla, July 2013

Photo Max Lawrence

National Parks Association Calendar

Public holidays

General meetings

Committee meetings

NPA Christmas Party 1

Gudgengy Bush Regeneration 2

December

Wed 25

Thurs 26

—

Tues 3

Sun 8

Sat 7 3

January

Wed 1

Mon 27

February

—

March

Mon 10

—

—

Thur 20

Tues 4

— Sat 8

Thur 20

Tues 4

Sat 8

Further details: 1. At Nil Desperandum,

2. GBRG. Meet at Namadgi Visitor Centre, 9:15am or Yankee Hat car park 10:00am

3. Includes GBRG Christmas Party. Please note: this is the first Saturday of

the month (not the usual second Saturday)

Association Office

The NPA ACT office is now at Unit 15 / 28 LenaKarmel Lodge, Barry Drive, Acton, together withthe Conservation Council.

This Bulletin was prepared by:

Editor, Max Lawrence;

Sub-editor, Ed Highley;

Presentation, Adrienne Nicholson

NPA ACT

Christmas Party

at Nil Desperandum(Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve)

Sunday 8 Decemberfrom 11:00 am

Bring your picnic lunch and Christmas cheer.Nibbles, Christmas cake and some drinks will be provided.

Access details are shown on page 4.

Check Burning Issues or the NPA website for last minute details.

Contact an NPA committee member if you need a lift, or for furtherinformation (see opposite page).

Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Group

GBRG Christmas Party

Saturday 7 December

Join the work party in the morning and then enjoy aconvivial Christmas lunch at Gudgenby Cottage.

Meet at Namadgi Visitor Centre at 9:15 am.

Bring a plate to share.

For further information contact Michael Goonrey on 6231 8395 orClive Hurlstone on 6288 7592

Ginninderra Falls Association

Christmas Gathering

Sunday 1 DecemberAll Welcome!

2pm-3.30pm Strathnairn Arts Centre90 Stockdill Drive Holt(Café and Gallery open)

3.30pm-4.30pm Shepherds Lookout

View the Murrumbidgee Gorge crossing the NSW/ACTborder (bring a cushion and a drink).

ginninderra.org.au

NPA ACT President Rod Griffiths and themanagement committee wish all NPA members andtheir families a safe and happy Christmas break andall the very best for the New Year.


National Parks Association of the ACT Incorporated

Inaugurated 1960

Aims and objectives of the Association

• Promotion of national parks and of measures for the protection offauna and flora, scenery, natural features and cultural heritage in theAustralian Capital Territory and elsewhere, and the reservation ofspecific areas.

• Interest in the provision of appropriate outdoor recreation areas.

• Stimulation of interest in, and appreciation and enjoyment of, suchnatural phenomena and cultural heritage by organised field outings,meetings or any other means.

• Cooperation with organisations and persons having similar interestsand objectives.

• Promotion of, and education for, conservation, and the planning oflanduse to achieve conservation.

Office-bearers

President Rod Griffiths 6288 6988 (h)[email protected]

Vice-President VacantSecretary Sonja Lenz 6251 1291 (h)

[email protected] Chris Emery 6249 7604 (h)

[email protected] members

Steven Forst 6251 6817 (h)[email protected]

Esther Gallant 6161 4514 (h)[email protected]

Christine Goonrey (Immediate Past President) 6231 8395 (h)[email protected]

George Heinsohn 6278 6655 (h) [email protected]

Judy Kelly 6253 1859 (h)[email protected]

Max Lawrence 6288 1370 (h)[email protected]

Bernard Morvell 0401 679 254 (mob)[email protected]

Graham Scully 6230 3352 (h)[email protected]

Mike Smith 6286 2984 (h)[email protected]

Conveners

Outings Sub-committee Mike Smith 6286 2984 (h)[email protected]

Environment Sub-committee Rod Griffiths 6288 6988 (h)[email protected]

Publications Sub-committee Kevin McCue 6251 1291 (h)[email protected]

Bulletin Working Group Max Lawrence 6288 1370 (h)[email protected]

The NPA ACT office is in Unit 15 / 28 Lena Karmel Lodge, Barry

Drive, Acton, together with the Conservation Council. It is staffed by

volunteers on an irregular basis. Callers may leave phone or email

messages at any time and they will be attended to. The post office

mail box is cleared daily.

* the office move to new premises in Barry Drive is imminent.

Phone: (02) 6229 3201 0412 071 382

Website: www.npaac t .o rg .au

Email: admin@npaac t .o rg .au

Address: GPO Box 544, Canberra ACT 2601

Subscription rates (1 July to 30 June)

Household membership $44 Single members $38.50

Corporate membership $33 Bulletin only $33

Full-time student/Pensioner $22

All the above subscription categories reduce to $11 if a donation of

$100 or more is made.

Advertising

The Bulletin accepts advertisements and inserts. Contact the Editor

for information and rates.

NPA Bulletin

Contributions of articles, letters, drawings and photographs are

always welcome. Items accepted for publication will be subject to -

editing and may also be published on the NPA website. Send all items

to The Bulletin Team, [email protected], or the postal address

above.

Deadline for the March 2014 issue: 31 January 2014.

Printed by Instant Colour Press, Belconnen, ACT.

ISSN 0727-8837

General MeetingsThird Thursday of the month, (not December or January)

8:00pm, Uniting Church hall, 56 Scrivener Street, O’Connor

Thursday 20 February 2014Parks in 1788

Bill Gammage

Adjunct Professor, HumanitiesResearch Centre, ANU

After ‘bush’, a word brought fromSouth Africa, the most common wordnewcomers used to describe Australianlandscapes in 1788 was ‘park’. Howdid these parks come about? The talkwill sketch the main elements ofAboriginal land management at thetime Europeans arrived.

[Bill’s 2011 magnum opus The BiggestEstate on Earth. How Aborigines MadeAustralia challenges establishedconceptions of the form of theAustralian landscape, past and present.]

Thursday 20 March

To be advised

April

There will be no General Meeting inApril 2014 (Easter). Instead, there willbe an NPA event at Orroral Homesteadto celebrate Heritage Week. Details willbe in the March Bulletin.

The great range of NPA field guides or a beautiful book about Namadgi National Park

are available from the office and some bookstores.

For information on NPA ACT activities, please visit our website http://www.npaact.org.au

Christmas gifts

ACT Souvenirs

To keep to dip intoInteresting books

Beautiful books

Informative references

Send to friends overseas

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