FOG�S COMING EVENTSAUTUMN/WINTER 2000

Saturday 29 April, 9am - Radio Hill, Cooma,Briar removal (part IV) We are hoping thatsome volunteers from WWF will also helpon this day, so it would be wonderful to havea good turn out of FOG volunteers as well. Ifyou can join us for the next skirmish in thisworthwhile campaign please contact Marga-ret.

Future Radio Hill weeding dates:

20 May, 9am - part V24 June, 9am - part VI22 July, 9am - part VII26 August, 9am - part VIII30 September (??) - part IX

Saturday/Sunday 13/14 May - Souths TSRcamping weekend, Bungonia Rd IsobelCrawford will lead us on this activity, east ofGoulburn. We shall camp at the TSR on theSaturday night and there will be a large tentwith accommodation for those who don’thave their own. Contact Margaret if you’dlike to join us for this activity, or even join usfor only one of these days if that suits you.Maps will be sent out to people once theycontact us about going.

(Isobel writes: The vegetation at Souths TSRis grassy woodland dominated by ArgyleApple (Eucalyptus cinerea), Cabbage Gum(E. amplifolia), Yellow Box (E. melliodora),with a well-developed ground layer of Kan-garoo Grass (Themeda triandra) and manyherbs and small shrubs. Many of these arerarely recorded outside TSRs, including myfavourite, Zornia dyctiocarpa, a tiny and ap-parently highly palatable perennial nativeherb. The bird life is similarly rich. Little sur-vey work has been done here, so we shouldbe able to add a few species to the plant andbird lists. Nocturnal birds of prey, i.e. owlsand nightjars, are likely to be there and audi-ble as they breed in winter.)

Saturday 17 June, 9.30am - Inner Canberragrassland sites visit As we did last June, weshall seek out some more sites mentioned inAction Plan No. 1 on Natural TemperateGrassland. This is a good way to get an un-derstanding of the structure and diversity ofACT lowland grasslands (even in winter!)and management arrangements. We’ll meetat 9.30am near CSIRO headquarters on Lime-stone Ave near the War Memorial.

Saturday 8 July, 2pm – Slide afternoon, Al-pine grassland flora at Mugga-Mugga Acouple of members (David Eddy and MichaelTreanor) and a guest alpine enthusiast (IanHaynes) will share their favourites with us.

Thursday 7 September – Threatened Spe-cies Day Unveiling of grassland signs atRadio Hill. This will be a signing off of FOG’sMonaro Golden Daisy Project at Radio Hilland will mark the finishing of fencing, majorprogress with weeding, a management plan,a brochure, and signage. Last year we man-aged to get a good turn out for this, and, asthis will be a major FOG achievement, pleaseput this date in your calendar.

Saturday 7 October – White Box Woodlandsat Cowra Dr Donna Windsor (Greening Aus-tralia) will take us to several Grassy BoxWoodland remnants in central-westernNSW. We plan to meet Donna in Cowra at10am. Donna was a speaker at the recentStipa conference and her topic was ’the Im-portance of grassy understorey: a conser-vation perspective’.

Saturday 28 October - Northern cemeter-ies with Rainer Rehwinkel, Braidwood area

November – Mulligans Flat grasslandMulligans Flat contains large areas of openforest, grassy woodlands and grassland ar-eas. We’ll visit the grassland this year.

1-2 December – Workshop on ‘off-reservetemperate grassy ecosystem conservation’and Monaro grasslands visit Planning is inits infancy but 1-2 December is the tentative

date. Friday 1 December will be a workshopon off-reserve grassy ecosystems conser-vation. The morning will focus on SouthernTablelands, Monaro and ACT experience.Afternoon will focus on other regions’ ex-perience. The workshop may be held atCooma or Queanbeyan and we shall keepcosts to a minimum. We hope to get manyvisitors from outside our immediate region.Saturday will be devoted to visiting qualitygrassland sites in the Monaro i.e. our tradi-tional Southern Cemeteries Tour. The link-ing of the two activities will enable visitorsfrom other regions to participate in the work-shop and visit some of our special sites.However, each day can be treated as a sepa-rate activity. There will also be a Saturdaynight stayover at Garuwanga nearNimmitabel, with a leisurely wander there onthe Sunday morning.

ALSO OF INTEREST8-15 October - Weed Buster Week

News of Friends of Grasslandssupporting native grassy ecosystems

May - June 2000

Important notes on coming events:

• Please put firm dates in yourcalendar.

• For outdoor activities, don’t forgetyour hat, sunblock and drinkingwater.

• For insurance purposes, sign in/outat activities.

For information about activities(including times, venues and carpoolingdetails), please contact Margaret Ningon 6241 4065 (home) or 6252 7374(work).

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HANDLENSES, FORCEPS AND

NEEDLES………….??

I’ve had a few queries on where to buyinstruments to use with a microscope(e.g. forceps and dissecting needles) andhand lenses for use in the field. I’ve listedsome prices below for these items, and ifyou’d like to order some, please contactme and I’ll arrange it. Margaret.

Hand lenses $5Forceps $3.50Forceps protectors$0.05Dissecting needles$0.60

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 2

IN THIS ISSUE• News roundup –FOG and other

grassland news• Salt destroying our food bowl Sam

Leone• Successful Stipa conference Alan Ford• Woodland birds seminar Alan Ford• Web site development Geoff Robertson• Islands in the Plains Alan Ford• Mount Painter Vegetation Plan Mar-

garet Ning• Newsletters received Naarilla Hirsch• FOG needs your help• Airport and rare lizard Art Langston

NEWS ROUNDUP

Monaro Golden Daisy HabitatThis is the title of FOG’s Threatened SpeciesNetwork Project (funded under theCommunity Grants Program under the NaturalHeritage Trust). Initially we were overoptimistic and thought that work on theseprojects would be well advanced by Aprilthis year. Unfortunately this has not occurredand we have had to seek an extension. In thecase of Radio Hill, Cooma Council has beenworking with FOG in eradicating St John’sWort and Vipers Bugloss. As reported earlier,FOG has now had three days removingHawthorn and other woody weeds. We arehopeful that the fencing component will becompleted in the next month or two and weare arranging a separate grant for this. Weare still to prepare a management plan,brochure and signage. Currently we areaiming to have the Radio Hill componentcompleted in time for this year’s ThreatenedSpecies Day on 7 September. ThreatenedSpecies Day commemorates the date of thedeath of the last Tasmanian Tiger. This shouldbe a big event so put it in your diary now.

Things at the Adaminaby Golf Course havegone much more slowly. There has been somelocal opposition to FOG’s involvement at thissite but the main hold-up has been theuncertainty over the status of the site. Asmentioned in our September 1999 Newsletter(p2) the NSW Department of Land and WaterConservation (DLWC) prepared a DraftAssessment of Crown Land at Adaminabyon which FOG made a submission. The reportproduced by DLWC recommended the sitebe used for recreation and conservationpurposes. A meeting was held on 14 April inCooma attended by the mayor of Cooma, andAdaminaby resident (Peter Cochran), andmembers of Adaminaby Landcare,

Adaminaby Golf Course Trust, DLWC,Threatened Species Network, the MonaroGrassland Project, and FOG to take stock andplan ahead. DLWC representative (Noel Perrin)said it had been decided to set up a reserveand advertise for applications for localresidents (including persons from the region)to form a trust. After consideration, theGovernment would appoint the trustees. TheTrust would then need to draw up amanagement plan to be agreed to by DLWC.This could take several months. The meetingagreed that it would not be possible to useany of the grant monies until that process wascompleted.

How does the Monaro Golden Daisy fit intoall this? It is an endangered species found onRadio Hill. The project, as initially conceived,may also introduce some planting of the daisyat the Golf Course. The third component ofthe project was funding for research on theMonaro Golden Daisy. Apart from the daisy,both sites are high quality grassland sites,which eventually will underscore theimportance of grassland conservation in theMonaro region.

St George and the DragonGeoff Robertson

Peter Clack (Canberra Times (CT) 6 March)headlined his article: She may be Queen butthe Lizard is King. “The discovery of an en-dangered species of earless dragon has de-railed plans for the Queen’s jet to land at Can-berra International Airport.” So broke thenews in the public arena that the airport wasconsidering developing a turning circle at theend of a runway to allow larger planes to turn.FOG had wind of this sometime earlier andhad learnt that an initial application by theairport had been turned down. However, thereis likely to be a second attempt, which wouldrequire public comment. Unfortunately sucha development could impact strongly on theGrassland Earless Dragon.

When I read this, all my childhood images ofSaint George and the Dragon arose. I picturedthe embodiment of St George (the Queen ofEngland) in silver armour sitting astride hersilver jumbo jet, lance in hand pointed at thethroat of the (Grassland Earless) Dragon. Let’shope that there is enough fire in the people ofCanberra to ensure that whatever happens atthe airport the dragon’s lair is left undisturbed.Unlike medieval Europe we do not want tosee the dragon extinguished by knights ofindustry in silver armour.

Dragon Defender, Art Langston (and formerFOG President) wearing his dragon mask,fired back in the CT on 11 March. Art’s arti-cle and masked face appear on page 11 ofthis newsletter. Another picture of a Dragonappeared in a CT associated article on 14March. Behind it a smiling Ian Fraser. Pleasepay attention to this issue.

Conder updateOur November 1999 newsletter (p2)mentioned that the Commissioner for theEnvironment had entered the Conder issue.Since then the Commissioner engagedEnvironment ACT to undertake a survey ofConder 4a and nearby areas. That surveyhas now been completed and FOG was askedto comment on the findings. The surveycompared 25 sites across 15 areas of “grassywoodland margins” in the ACT. The surveyprovides another tool for comparing qualitygrassy ecosystems. Conder 4a measured upwell against the other sites chosen. FOG putin comments on the survey methods andfindings. It also used the opportunity to raisesome other issues concerning the largenumber of “uncommon and declininggrassland species” at Conder 4a and thepresence of Key’s Matchstick grasshopper.It is expected that the Commissioner willprepare his report and makerecommendations to the Minister in May. Itis difficult to predict what hisrecommendation will be and whether theMinister will accept it. In all likelihood thematter will then go to the AdministrativeAppeals Tribunal in June to hear MichaelBedingfield’s original appeal against theproposed road development.

Radio Hill-Parts 2 and 3Nine valiant members set out on Saturday26 February to do battle with Radio Hill’swoody weeds in the on-going saga of RadioHill, Cooma. For this occasion, we had theassistance of a chain saw and Geoff and Ianachieved a lot with it. The group worked onthe eastern slopes of Radio Hill and almostcleared it of all its Hawthorn.

On Saturday 4 April eight members of FOGattended the third Radio Hill working bee tocontinue the battle to eradicate (control?)the exotic ‘woody weeds’ that infest the hilland make life difficult for the native flora atthe site. The group made extensive use ofthe 2 mechanical devices that ate their waythrough the Hawthorn that was the main tar-get. The eastern side of the hill is now be-

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 3

ginning to look like a ‘woody weed’ waste-land that indicates a battle is in progress. Oneof the nicer things about the day was to con-sistently find the Australian Anchor plant(Discaria pubescens) amid the rubble of tar-gets. It made it all worthwhile.

The Cooma Monaro Express (30 March) pub-licised this work and David Eddy’s projecton Monaro Grasslands.

ACT prison submissionFOG has written to Gary Humphries, DeputyChief Minister and Attorney General, con-cerning planning for the ACT Prison. Theminister had announced the appointment ofJim Leedman to Chair the Community Panelbeing established to oversight the develop-ment and operations of the ACT prison. Thepanel will consist of community andstakeholder groups. Our submission stressedthat planning for the Prison should have di-rect access to environmental expertise andthat there should be a separate committee,which advises on environmental aspects ofplanning for the facility. It outlined many ofthe complex environmental issues to be ad-dressed which should not get swamped bysocial justice issues, prison conditions andrehabilitation opportunities, etc. for inmates.It is very likely that environmental issueswould be swamped by these and other is-sues, hence the importance of a separatecommittee. The submission argued that anexpert environmental committee should in-clude representatives from the Parks andConservation Service, local community con-servation groups and local universities withgood secretariat support provided by Gov-ernment and an independent chair. To datewe have not received a reply.

Bye Tim/Hello HelenTim Barlow has resigned from the position ofBushcare Grassy Ecosystems Networker.FOG wants to thank Tim for all the great workhe did, and his support for FOG – he’ll bemissed. Tim is still very active in the fieldthough, so expect to see him about. HelenRyan, previously employed by the VictorianDepartment of National Resources and Envi-ronment (NRE) for 2 years as a TOPCROPextension officer, has replaced Tim. She hascompleted a BSc. with Honours in Botany atthe University of Queensland, investigatingMitchell grassland restoration.

Woodland and GrasslandWorking Group (WGWG)

The WGWG was established by the Conser-vation Council to develop a strategy for theconservation of important areas, and a long-term plan. It focuses on the habitats in ActionPlans 1 and 10, the grasslands and Yellow Box/Red Gum grassy woodlands. On Saturday 8April the Group visited East O’Malley, a sitewhich is currently a Canberra OrnithologistsGroup woodlands survey site and a potentialbuffer zone for the Mt Mugga element ofCanberra Nature Park. The Group saw over 25bird species and approximately 50 native plantspecies during the visit. This is an importantsite which is being considered for preserva-tion. The party came to the conclusion that itneeded serious consideration on the basis ofwhat was observed during the afternoon.

Woodland seminarOur woodland birds are disappearing was thetheme of this seminar held at Forbes on theafternoon of 11 April and repeated atGunnedah the following day. Alan Ford andMargaret Ning were able to attend the work-shop, which they reported as excellent. Theyalso saw a few interesting remnants on theway there and also briefly visited the nearbybirding spot of Gum Swamp.

The keynote speaker (known to many of you)was Denis Saunders, CSIRO Wildlife and Ecol-ogy, a leading ecological researcher. He hasspent his working life researching the causesand consequences of wildlife loss and declinein the agricultural systems of the Australianwoodlands and is a passionate advocate ofthe need for improved land management thatis sustainable both for agriculture and for wild-life. The decline of certain bird species in cen-tral and western New South Wales is now rec-ognised as a major environmental problem.

Other people to speak at the seminar at Forbesincluded Judie Peet, Sue Briggs, Barry Trailland Sue Wakefield. Judie is a well-known lo-cal naturalist and bird enthusiast and theProject Co-ordinator of the Woodland BirdsProject. She introduced the project. Sue (Re-search Unit, National Parks and Wildlife Serv-ice) spoke of her recent research into the sizeof remnants required to retain woodland birds.Barry is a woodland ecologist from Birds Aus-tralia who discussed current information onwhich woodland birds are declining, and wherethose declines are occurring in New SouthWales. Sue, a Greening Australia extensionworker, one of the authors of the ‘Save TheBush’ kit and a landowner, outlined her

thoughts on what works and what doesn’tin managing and rehabilitating remnants ofwoodland.

The papers presented by Denis Saunders,Barry Traill and Sue Briggs will be repro-duced in full in the next couple of FOG news-letters. See Alan Ford’s report on the semi-nar on page 8.

Is a fence enough? Aworkshop on managing your

grassy woodlands.Unfortunately we were not able to get tothis workshop held in Orange and Cummockon 23 and 24 March.

Grassy Ecosystems GrantsThe Grassy Ecosystems Grants Partnershipis an initiative of the World Wide Fund forNature, Australia and the Natural HeritageTrust Bushcare Program, funded by Envi-ronment Australia. It focuses solely on theconservation and management of grassyecosystems in SE Australia.

This grant scheme aims to distribute targetedfunding to:• increase the area of grassy ecosystems

on private land protected by covenantsor long term management agreements,

• increase the number of cooperative landmanagement agreements with publicauthorities,

• improve the understanding and applica-tion of best practice management acrossa range of sites and tenures,

• increase community involvement in themanagement of grassy ecosystemsacross their range, and

• generate knowledge of the distributionand conservation status of grassy eco-system remnants, particularly those onprivate land.

In this round up to $300,000 will be distrib-uted to a range of projects. Applicationsclosed in December 1999, and of the 62 ap-plications received, five were submitted fromthis area (ACT, Queanbeyan, Bombala,Middlingbank Peninsula near Cooma andBega). The National Assessment Panel, com-prising one government and one non-gov-ernment representative from each State, metin March to assess applications. ACT rep-resentatives on this panel were Sarah Sharp(ACT Government) and Geoff Robertson(non-government). Announcement of thesuccessful applicants is expected shortly.The next call for applications is likely to be

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 4

in August 2000. For further information onthe grants scheme contact Vanessa Craigie,or Pip Walsh at WWF (02) 9281 5515.

Results of Cooma SurveyOur November 1999 Newsletter (p2)mentioned FOG’s participation in a surveyfor the Grassland EarlessDragon and the StripedLegless Lizard at the CoomaTip. We have now received acopy of James Dawson’sreport and wish to reaffirmthat the site is likely to bereserved.

Native displaygarden

On 2 April, Andrew Paget’splanting bee at the Universityof Canberra faced the threatof rain from the outset. Inspite of this, a handful ofhardy souls responded to thecall and several hundredplants were planted by theend of the day. Follow up raina few days later was a veryfortuitous development.

Gudgenby Breakfast in theBush

On 6 April, a large crowd turned out tocelebrate the completion of Stage 1 of theGudgenby Bush Revegetation Project inNamadgi National Park. This was a Parkcarepromotional event. Stage 1 involved theplanting of native plants at a part of an areathat had previously contained a badly-located pine plantation. Everyone wanderedaround the site noting special features suchas the experimental ‘exclosure’ designedspecifically to exclude damaging grazing froma part of the area. Following brief speechesby the Minister for Urban Services, BrendanSmyth (who had personally contributed toan earlier stage of the project), and EleanorStodart, of the National Parks Association, acelebratory breakfast was prepared foreveryone by ACT Parks and ConservationService employees.

Conder 9/Banks 3 Estate

FOG put in a submission to the Departmentof Urban Services on the proposed Conder

9/Banks 3 Estate, Draft Development ControlPlan. The main tenor of the submission wasto stress the importance of the Conder 9grassland reserve adjacent to thedevelopment, the importance of not disturbingthe site during development, and the need fora 6-10 meter buffer zone between any

development and the grassland reserve.

National Strategy for STDuring March, FOG made a submission onthe Draft National Strategy for SerratedTussock (ST). The submission mentionedthe experience of FOG members with ST andits broad support for the draft paper, whichprovided a useful description of the problemand issues involved. Nevertheless weexpressed concern that some land managersare negligent and there is an urgent need toencourage relevant local authorities andcommunity groups to take stronger actionagainst recalcitrant offenders. It supportedthe views expressed in a private submissionby Geoff Robertson. Geoff’s submissionoutlined his experience with ST at hisproperty and the need for vigilance. Hiscomments on other landowners are ofinterest.

“Some of the other landowners, particularlytraditional farmers, are equally conscien-tious when it comes to ST. However a few(often not traditional farmers) are not, andare a source of constant seed. When asked

to do something about it, they talk aboutbeing allowed to manage their landhowever they choose. However, I suspectthat this response is a certain amount ofbravado. The real problem is that thesepeople are not familiar with methods ofcontrol and feel they cannot ask for help

or pay someone toassist. I also knowfrom anecdotalevidence that theauthorities feelthey cannot pushthe issue toomuch. The Austral-ian communityshould try somenew carrot andstick approaches.For example, I thinkthat penaltiescould be intro-duced for offend-ers and thepunishment couldbe a mixture oftraining in the useof poisons,drawing upmanagement plans,and communityservice in spray-

ing. Both officials and community groupsshould be encouraged to police outbreaksof ST.”

Brooks Hill StrollSunday 9 April was a sunny morning for theapproximately 25 people who turned up tovisit Brooks Hill (BH) Reserve. A descriptionof this 71 hectare remnant, which covers anumber of vegetation sites (including agrassland community) appeared in the lastnewsletter and won’t be repeated here. Bothbird and plant enthusiasts were wellrewarded. Apart from the sheer enjoymentof a pleasant stroll in such a wonderfulenvironment with people with a diverseinterest in cultural and natural history, wewere impressed with the documentationprovided to us. The BH Trust has produceda wonderful pamphlet which explains themany points of interest (which are physicallysignposted at the site) and a very informativemanagement plan. Both provide excellentmodels for those responsible for grasslandsites.

The Master at work.Photo: Rosemary Blemmings

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 5

In his 1982 book “Australia’s Greatest River”Sydney author John Larkins quotes a Murraylocal on the theory that, from the earliest oftimes, inevitable salting has doomed all irri-gation schemes to self-destruction.

He mentions examples such as Mesopota-mia in the 13th Century BC and the Punjab inthe 1960s.

How valid the theory is might be debatable,but a major audit of salinity published lastweek confirms that Australia’s food bowl, theMurray-Darling Basin, is clearly heading forsuch self-destruction. And not just in itsirrigation areas.

In fact, most of the threat now is coming fromdryland areas - which make up more than 90per cent of the Basin.

The Murray-Darling Basin Commission re-port warns that unless we make major changesto the way we use land and water in the area,we face dire consequences.

We’ve known this in a general way for morethan 30 years and in a more detailed way forat least 10.

The new stark information is that the trendsfor the future actually are worse than wethought.

The main source of the problem, salt, is rap-idly spreading from irrigation areas to drylandareas and most of it will not get flushed outthrough rivers and streams. It will stay in theland.

And if you think you’re safe in the city, thinkagain. The salt problem, like the countrymouse, is moving to town.

There are even signs that the problem, trans-formed into acidic soil, has inched right up toSydney’s doorstep western suburbs.

It is now well known that rising saline watertables under roads, buildings and other con-crete structures cause extensive damage. Oneof the earliest recorded impacts of drylandsalinity was the loss of local water suppliesfor steam trains.

The average life of a road on well drained soilis four times that of one whose base is water-logged and salinised. The sulphates in sa-

line groundwater quickly destroy the strengthof older concrete structures, especially thosewithout adequate damp-coursing, mortar andbricks are eroded.

There are many towns and cities across theMurray-Darling Basin where house founda-tions are decaying and it is no longer possi-ble to grow fruit trees and maintain lawns andgardens.

Older plumbing is corroding, septic systemsare becoming ineffective, cellars need regularpumping, and even cemeteries may have tobe moved.

Water tables near the surface can increase therisk of flooding as the landscape loses it abil-ity to absorb more water.

The cost to ecosystems is also high. TheMurray–Darling Basin’s significantbiodiversity of plants and animals (freshwa-ter and terrestrial) and ecosystems is gener-ally unable to cope with the increases in salt.The effects are compounded by the highlyfragmented natural environment in the Basin.

At the audit launch, federal Environment Min-ister Robert Hill, agreed it was Australia’s“most serious environmental problem”.

His colleague Warren Truss, chairman of theMurray-Darling Basin Commission and fed-eral Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries andForestry, emphasised the national importanceof the Basin.

“The Basin represents one-seventh of ourcontinent, most of it comparatively low-lyingwhere drainage issues are naturally going tobe a matter of concern,” he said. “Its grossproduction amounts to $20 billion and it pro-duces 40 per cent of Australia’s entire agri-cultural wealth.”

Nearly the whole of inland south-easternAustralia is part of the Murray-Darling Basin.It is an area 1,450 kilometres long and 1,000kilometres wide stretching from Victoria andSouth Australia in the south through NewSouth Wales and the ACT to Queensland inthe north.

It’s home to 1.9 million people, over half ofwhom live in small country towns and onfarms.

The salt problem goes back to the 1870swhen Europeans began clearing the bush,removing (since then) millions of native treesand replacing them with imported cropswhich needed large-scale irrigation to sur-vive.

Since the deep-rooted native trees andplants were cleared, more rain water hasseeped into the ground and down into thenatural reservoirs or “aquifers”. This hascaused the underground watertables to rise,bringing with them naturally occurring saltswhich have built up over geological time.

Irrigation water, often much more than cropscan use, also seeps down making the situa-tion worse. Crops and pastures are badlyaffected when the watertables are within twometres of the surface.

This change to the landscape, along withover-watering of town gardens and lawnshas, in the words of the audit authors, “un-leashed a hydrological disequilibrium thatbrings this vast salt store to the land sur-face and increases its seepage to river sys-tems.”

As people divert water for irrigation, urbanand industrial uses, the flow of rivers andstreams slows down and the concentrationof salt rises.

As information for the audit was collectedfrom differing state systems (and with littledata from some areas), the Commission askedthe CSIRO Cooperative Research Centre forCatchment Hydrology to independently as-sess the methodology and findings.

In addition, the Basin’s four State govern-ments commissioned salt loads studies tobring together field data and other informa-tion for their jurisdictions. CSIRO Land andWater produced a companion report to theaudit on the “Effectiveness of Current Farm-ing Systems in the control of Dryland Salin-ity” launched with the audit.

So what exactly did all this reviewing andinvestigating uncover? Much of the infor-mation is very technical, but points to theinescapable fact that “business as usual” isout of the question - in fact a suicide option.

For example, average salinity at Morgan in

SALT DESTROYING OUR FOOD BOWLSam Leone

(This article was first published in the Canberra Times’ Panorama section on 30 October 1999. We intend it to be the first of manyarticles on the subject of salinity, as this serious issue has many implications for the future of our grassy ecosystems.)

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 6

South Australia will exceed the World HealthOrganization recommended maximum drink-ing water salt concentration of 800 EC in 50years’ time.

A feature of the audit is the amount of infor-mation it produced for each area of the Ba-sin. Again, much of it is technical but overall,it paints a stark picture of what is happeningin the Basin and what could happen in thefuture.

The dryland part of the Basin, particularlythe Mallee region of South Australia and Vic-toria, will be a dominant source of extra salt.In zone from Swan Hill to the South Austral-ian border (taking in parts of South Australia,Victoria and New South Wales), the currentestimates are that Victoria contributes an es-timated 190,000 tonnes of salt a year, while90,000 tonnes a year comes from New SouthWales. Victorian’s contribution could increaseby another 110,000 tonnes a year by 2050.

The Avoca and Loddon Rivers of Victoriaalready have high salinities. Some tertiarystreams (not included in the audit) feedingthese rivers are experiencing even highersalinities.

The Murrumbidgee has very high salt loads(around 400,000 tonnes per year at WaggaWagga), but the river’s strong flow moder-ates its salinity. The prediction is that theMurrumbidgee’s salinity at its junction withthe River Murray will increase from 250 ECcurrently to an average of 315 EC in 2020 and403 EC in 2100.

“Quite large populations, including Canberraand Wagga Wagga, rely on river supplies andaquifers in close connection to the river. How-ever, as the 800 EC threshold will not be ex-ceeded in any but some smaller tributaries,urban water supplies can be regarded as safeinto the future, “ the report says.

In NSW’s Lachlan River catchment area, thestudy predicts salt will more than double in100 years, generating increases which couldseriously affect drinking water, the environ-ment, agriculture and urban infrastructure.

In the Macquarie River valley, which includesthe Bogan River, groundwater-driven ratesof salt load are high, with loads in the riversexpected to double in 20 years and increaseby more than three times by 2100.

The study estimates the end-of-valley salin-ity for the Macquarie to rise from the current620 EC to salinity loads which will see waterquality deteriorate below safe levels for townwater supply, irrigation and wetland ecosys-tem health.

Twelve urban centres with a combined popu-lation of 65,000 use water from rivers andcreeks within the valley. This includes Dubbo,with a population of 34,500.

In NSW’s Castlereagh River area, groundwatertrends indicate moderate rates of change withdryland salinity not yet widespread. But thearea will experience a doubling of salt in thelandscape (some of it exported to the river)over the next 100 years.

Levels at the end of the valley will rise to 760EC in 2020, and to the destructive levels of1,100 EC in 2050 and 1,220 EC in 2100.

Current average salinities for the Namoi Riverare 680 EC at the end of the system and 630EC at Boggabri.

Estimates show a more than doubling of thesalt export from the valley over the coming100 years. River salinity at the end of the val-ley will rise from 680 EC now to 1,050 EC in 20years, 1,280 EC in 50 years and 1,550 EC by2100.

Five towns with a total population of 49,900,including Tamworth with a population of morethan 35,000, draw their water supply from theriver and tributaries. Another six towns drawtheir water from alluvial bores potentially in-fluenced by the groundwater changes whichare now occurring.

In Queensland, there are indications of asteady rise in groundwater levels. When theyeventually intersect with stream beds, theywill cause rapid rises in water salinity. But sa-linity levels should then stabilise.

Three river valleys in the Queensland sectionof the Basin were assessed in the audit. Thecurrent average river salinity for the WarregoRiver is 210 EC units. Salinity levels are pre-dicted to rise to 1260 EC units by the year2020.

The estimated current average salinity for theCondamine– Balonne rivers is 210 EC with anestimated sharp rise in salinity by the year2020. End-of-valley river salinity is predictedto rise to 1040 EC by 2020 and remain at thislevel over the next 70 years.

The Border Rivers catchment, which includesthe Severn, Dumaresq, Macintyre and Barwonrivers downstream to Mungindi, indicativepredictions are that salinity levels will rise to1010 EC by the year 2020.

Currently, of the 5.1 million tonnes of salt nowmobilised annually as a result of becomingdissolved and carried by rising groundwater,about 3 million tonnes is dumped in the land-scape.

The other two million tonnes enters streamsand eventually leaves the Basin via the riverMurray. By 2050 the salt mobilised will reach8.3 million tonnes with 3.3 million tonnes ofthat figure being exported to the rivers.

This will rise to 3.8 million tonnes per yearby 2100. The other 5 million tonnes of saltmobilised per year will be redeposited else-where in the landscape.

The problem is stark. So, where do we gofrom here and are there any solutions?

The history of cleaning up the Basin hasreally been a story of trying to find a con-sensus between widely differing groups withoften different interests at stake. While someof these differences still exit, there is no doubtthat an awareness of common concern hasemerged over the past few years. EvenQueensland is taking the issues seriously.

The Commission makes no secret of the factthat, rather than go outright to a full strat-egy and action plan, this audit was neces-sary to pave the way for widespread publicconsultation and consensus.

A Basin Salinity Management Strategy willbe delivered by June next year. But it will bea document that the commission is deter-mined will be the result of a public “knowl-edge driven” process.

It will need to be because all parties agreethat tough action will be called for. Farmersand their organisations are anxious not tobe seen as the main culprits and point to thehuge amount of cooperation they have madeover the past few years. They are calling foran end to recriminations.

Others point to the success of capping theamount of water taken from the rivers andmore than a decade of the Landcare move-ment. Millions of trees are being planted,but some say we could do with many moremillions.

However, the audit says “there is no indica-tion yet that Landcare and other natural re-source management programs have alteredthe ‘business as usual’ trend lines for risingsalinity across the Basin predicted by theaudit.”

The audit says the Salinity and DrainageScheme (introduced in 1988) has gained usa 20-year reprieve against rising salinity inthe lower Murray and will be extended overthe whole Basin.

“The key current feature of the Strategy isthat States are accountable for actions thatimpact on salinity and there are incentives

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 7

to take measures to achieve a common,agreed target,” the audit says.

“This approach could be applied to river val-leys, beyond the River Murray ‘main-stem’,where ‘end-of-valley’ targets would be es-tablished. Integration of river valley and Ba-sin salinity outcomes would be essential.

“Clearly, broad-scale land use change has tobe considered if there is to be salinity controlthat reduces the predicted deterioration.”

The audit clearly identifies the severity andscale of the threat, but we’ll need to wait forthe draft Basin Salinity Management Strat-egy in June next year for solution details.

How much will it cost? We won’t know forsure until the final strategy is settled, but thecost of not doing more could rise could riseto as much as $1 billion a year in 100 years.

The audit says current planning suggests atotal investment of $2.5 billion over the nextthree years is needed to tackle natural re-source management, including salinity.

The federal Government’s Bushcare programhas put in $375 million from the Natural Her-itage fund and environment Minister RobertHill suggested at the audit launch that thelatest sell-off of Telstra was significant andbeyond that he suggested we “watch thisspace.”

Whatever the cost, success will hinge on thelevel of cooperation between the usual col-lection of suspects on a wide range of solu-tion ideas - better application of planning prin-ciples, new principles of natural resourcesmanagement, new drainage works, new wa-ter pricing policies, stricter environmentalguidelines, changes to broad-scale land use,forestry and re-vegetation, developing newsustainable industries, help with rural adjust-ment and many, many more.

“We have the facts now. There are no ex-cuses,” says Tony Stacy, a member of theMurray-Darling Basin Community AdvisoryCommittee and Chair of the MurrumbidgeeCatchment Management Committee.

“Everybody can point to the audit and say‘there are the problems, we need to work to-gether’. It is a powerfully unifying docu-ment.”

SUCCESSFUL STIPACONFERENCE

Alan Ford

“Better pastures naturally” was the title of theStipa Native Grasses Association Conferenceheld over two days (March 16-17) in Mudgee.The first day was devoted to papers concern-ing the use of native grasses in Australianagricultural production and the second wasdevoted to a site visit to a property north ofGulgong to look at the practical issues facingthe reform of agriculture and how they werebeing approached on one station.

There were 15 papers on the first day, basedon the themes; ‘Our Versatile Native Pastures’,‘Better Pastures Naturally’ and ‘NativeGrasses in Practice’. Looming over this con-ference was the problem of salinity and pos-sible solutions.

Wal Whalley from the University of New Eng-land started proceedings with an historicaloverview of native pasture research (and prac-tice) on the slopes and tablelands of Aus-tralia. Whalley made the point at the outsetthat agricultural research did not really beginin Australia until the end of the 19th centuryand that pastoral industries were well estab-lished by that time and were almost completelybased on the native herbaceous flora. He di-vided recent times into four periods. Hepointed out that 1951-75, the third period, wasthe heyday of pasture improvement and thatit finished with this system being questionedin many quarters. He indicated that knowl-edge of species and ecology expanded in thelast period, 1976-2000, and has ended withincreasing numbers of producers coming torealise that they are dealing with grassy eco-systems, of which grazing animals and man-agers are a part.

Our Versatile Native Pastures

This session commenced with the use of na-tive grasses in mine rehabilitation and theirrole in salinity control. Peter Weston thenspoke on his attempts on his property to en-courage desirable native grasses back intoareas where they have declined. Weston madethe point that exotic species need regularmaintenance, particularly the application ofsuperphosphate. On the other hand, nativespecies only require appropriate grazing man-agement to maintain production. He indicatedthat the savings on inputs coupled with theirvalue in grazing production has enhanced theimportance of native grasses in his enterprise.

Donna Windsor concluded this session bystressing the importance of grassy box wood-

lands. She noted that these woodlands ofthe wheat sheep belt had been extensivelycleared and modified by European farmingpractices. As a result, eucalypt dieback,dryland salinity and other forms of land deg-radation have become prevalent in many ar-eas. In the Central Western region of NSWit has been estimated that hundreds of mil-lions of trees will die within the next few dec-ades if management practices are notchanged. In recent years it has been recog-nised that native vegetation is crucial to thelong term sustainability of the landscape.Donna concluded by arguing that appropri-ate management of native pastures will notonly assist farm production and landscaperevegetation but will assist in conservingother grassland species.

Better Pastures Naturally

This began with a paper on rehabilitationstrategies, assisted regeneration and recon-struction and then turned to Nigel White’sview of “as clean as we can make it”- a man-agement regime that cuts out inputs, super-phosphate and herbicide.

Christine Jones then spoke on grazing man-agement for healthy soils. She pointed outthat the roots of grasses form a mirror imageof the tops. In general terms, the removal ofleaf area through grazing results in root prun-ing, while resting from grazing enables rootstrengthening. Continuous root pruning re-duces root biomass, slows nutrient recycling,exhausts plant reserves and ultimatelycauses plant death. The grazing processtherefore needs to be carefully managed tostimulate the growth of new leaves and toprovide sloughed roots as food for soil biota.She called for the introduction ofbiodiversity credits to help.

Peter Simpson then provided a stimulatingtalk on options for pastures on the steepercountry of the Central and Southern table-lands before Darryl Cluff and Col Seis talkedon growing annual crops with native pas-tures. Pasture cropping is a new farming con-cept that allows grazing and cropping enter-prises to be combined in such a way as tooptimise agricultural productivity from theavailable rainfall.

Native Grasses in Practice

Tim Wright began this session by talkingabout the effect of the introduction of whathe calls planned cell grazing on his prop-erty, “Lana”. He attributed increased pro-ductivity in the grazing cells to enhancedsoil, plant and animal nutrition as a result of

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 8

greater effectiveness of the water and min-eral cycles, which in turn have improved bio-diversity and plant community dynamics. Hesaid that the diversity of native grasses andlegumes on “Lana” enable year-round live-stock production. The native grasses haveproved particularly important during dry sea-sons.

The session then covered the Native Veg-etation Conser-vation Act andthe harvestingand productionof native grassseed.

Winona

On the secondday the confer-ence proceededto the Seisp r o p e r t y ,“ W i n o n a ” ,north ofGulgong, tolook at themethods onefamily is usingto maintain pro-ductive capac-ity. What ColSeis calls pulsegrazing is usedto manage boththe livestockand vegetationin 15 paddockson the northernhalf of“Winona”. Theplan takes ac-count of paddock size, species composition,seedset, cropping plans, animal requirementsand other issues as they arise. We were alsoshown the salinity-affected areas of the prop-erty and the efforts being made to encouragethe use of native pastures in salinity man-agement.

We had to leave at this point and were notable to participate in the afternoon program.

WOODLAND BIRDS SEMINAR -FORBESAlan Ford

Two FOG members attended this seminar inForbes on Tuesday 11 April, which was or-ganised as part of the Birds Australia/NSWNPWS Woodland Birds Project.

The situation being addressed is the declineof a group of woodland birds and the loss ofmost of the original woodlands from the sheep/wheat belt of NSW. Speakers discussed theloss of habitat and its effect on birds and otherwildlife, land management practices, rehabili-tation, and the ecology of woodlands.

The local director of the NSW NPWS, TerryKorn, began proceedings by pointing out that

vegetation clearance was still going on andthat we are still in tree deficit as a result ofclearing.

Denis Saunders from CSIRO, a major speakerat the seminar, began with biological diver-sity as the variety of all life forms, pointingout that its importance was the provision ofcritical ecosystem services. He stressed theneed to protect what we have left. Dr Saundersargued that the removal of native vegetationon a broad scale leads to a collection of frag-mented vegetation patches in a matrix of dif-ferent vegetation and/or land uses. He exam-ined the ecological consequences of this re-duction and fragmentation of native vegeta-tion. He referred to higher temperatures re-sulting from increases in solar radiation,changes in the pattern of wind flow and major

changes in the hydrological cycle. These fac-tors lead to the disappearance of species orto a change in species pattern as well ashaving a potential effect on ecological proc-esses such as nutrient cycling. He soughtintegrated landscape management on an eco-logical basis with knowledge of what eachremnant contributes to the ecological whole.He concluded by referring to “designer land-scapes”.

He was fol-lowed byBarry Traillfrom BirdsAustralia, whocommencedby outliningthe changes inthe landscapesince Euro-pean settle-ment throughthree phases:initial pastoralse t t l ement ;agricul turaldevelopment;and intensifi-cation. Hethen pro-ceeded tospeak aboutthe extinctionprocess forbirds, listingspecies foundto be decliningin NSW wood-lands. Hepointed outthat in some

cases the species are still widespread butthere is increasing evidence of rapid declinesin these and possibly other species. Somehave gone or are now extinct in part of theirformer range. He spoke in terms of extinc-tions occurring years after clearing ceasesin the district, small blocks of woodland notsupporting some birds, woodlands are notthe same and he mentioned the well knownfact that some species do survive well inmost agricultural landscapes, giving theGalah as one example.

Sue Briggs then spoke on the developmentof guidelines for vegetation management inthe Central Lachlan Catchment. The guide-lines are being prepared to assist Landcaregroups and others to revegetate and man-age remnants of woodland vegetation for

Another great FOG display at ACT ALIVE!Photo: Jane Horniblow ACT Parks and Conservation Service

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 9

wildlife, to answer how big should a patch ofrevegetation be, what characteristics of rem-nants determine their value as habitat for wild-life and how should revegetated areas andwoodland remnants be managed to conservebiodiversity. The guidelines will address is-sues such as remnant area, the importance ofthe understorey - she indicated that exceptwhere the understorey was naturally grass(eg, most whitebox woodlands), allrevegetated areas should include shrubs, andconnectivity of vegetation.

The seminar concluded with Sue Wakefieldtalking on keeping the farm, the woodlandand the bush. She wanted people to hang onto what they’ve got, to manage native pas-tures on a rotational basis and consider theirpotential as a seed source and look after thewatercourses. The management of a land-scape requires the preparation of a whole farmplan - a vegetation management plan, the in-tegration of roadside vegetation and Travel-ling Stock Reserves into farm plans, the useof local species, the incorporation of all lay-ers of original vegetation into planning andthe constant monitoring of all that is done inimplementing a plan.

WEB SITE DEVELOPMENTGeoff Robertson

FOG has changed its web site address. Whydon’t you check it out <http://www.geocities.com/fog_act>? If you don’tknow how to get into a site or don’t haveaccess ask a friend to show you. This changeis a simpler address as recommended at ourlast AGM and it is better structured thanpreviously, thanks to Paul Hodgkinson (FOGWeb Master). What do you think of theLOGO? However, you will see that we havethe shell and not the content. WE NEEDHELP. If you have any suggestions pleasecontact Paul at able@aucom.com.au or me(address details back page).

We are thinking of establishing a group tomanage the site. If interested contact Paul orme. There is a lot to do, e.g. contributing tothe content, but you can do this from home.We are thinking of the following for content:

COVER PAGE - this will introduce FOG andbe a gateway for the site.PROGRAM – this would show all programactivities for 2000, and give a good pictureof what we do.NEWSLETTER: this would say how peoplecan subscribe to the newsletter, and wouldcontain a copy of the latest newsletter.IMPORTANT MESSAGES: things we arepromoting.

GRASSLAND OF THE MONTH: this wouldbe a photo of a grassland site and some text.PLANT OF THE MONTH: this would be apicture and some text.INSECT OF THE MONTH: picture and textREPTILE OF THE MONTH: picture and textHOW TO CONTACT US: this needs somefurther thought.BOOKS: Book cover (e.g. Grassland Flora)and text.

THE ISLANDS IN THE PLAINS(with apologies to Ian Fraser)

Alan Ford

On 24-26 March three FOG members travelledto Bright in Victoria, where one of our commit-tee members, Michael Treanor, had organiseda program which took us from the VictorianAlps to two remnant forest areas on the plains(Killawarra State Forest and Chiltern NationalPark).

The alpine areas were a combination of dryfoothill forests, tall wet mountain forests, snowgum woodlands, alpine heathlands andsphagnum bogs. Some of the plants, like theBuffalo Sallow Wattle, which we saw, arefound nowhere else.

Being FOG, we headed for the isolated gran-ite plateau that is the Mt Buffalo National Parkas the first stop. We attempted two of the shortwalks, the Horn Track, which takes you to thehighest point of Mt Buffalo, at 1723m, andDicksons Falls Nature Walk . I say ‘attempted’as two members of the party became intriguedby the plants before they got very far. Theresult was an impressive tally of species onthe two walks, including masses of AlpineGentians (Chionogentias muelleriana), nu-merous Yam Daisies (Microseris lanceolata),Bracteantha sp, Alpine Podolepis (Podolepisrobusta), Alpine Hovea (Hovea montana)and the usual set of ‘impossibles’, Snow Dai-sies (Celmisia), Craspedia and Woodrush(Luzula sp.).

On the Saturday afternoon we headed for theBogong High Plains in the Alpine NationalPark. We quickly found over 40 species inthese high plains including Native Carraways(Oreomyrrhis pulvinifica, O. eriopoda), TreeViolet (Hymenanthera dentata), Twin-flow-ered Knawl (Scleranthus biflorus), MountainCelery (Aciphylla glacialis), Daisy Bush(Olearia sp.), Yellow Kunzea (Kunzeamuelleri) and Candle Heath (Richeacontinentis). There were some differences inthe flora of the two areas, but perhaps we werejust looking in the wrong places. However,you need to take into account that part of thePlains is still subject to grazing. They were

actually moving cattle around in one areawhile we were there. A stunning visual ex-ample of the effect that grazing has had overthe years is available from the contrast pro-vided by the ‘exclusion plots’ put in placeby Maisie Fawcett in the 1940s.

Sunday was quite a contrast. We first vis-ited a small remnant woodland roadside siteat Gapsted, which contained about 15 spe-cies, including Kangaroo Grass (Themedatriandra), Redanther Wallaby Grass (Joyceapallida) and a Platylobium. From there wetravelled to Killawarra State Forest, which isoutside Wangaratta. This magnificentironbark forest has a reasonable understoreyand a wildflower walk which must be a realtreat in spring, with a wide range of orchidsamong the other flora. This was followed byanother roadside remnant near Beechworth;about 15 species, Yellow Rush Lily(Tricoryne elatior) and Purple Wiregrass(Aristida ramosa) being notable. The week-end concluded with a brief visit to ChilternNational Park. This little box remnant is wellworth a visit. Thanks to Michael for organ-ising a superb weekend.

MOUNT PAINTER VEGETATIONPLAN

Margaret Ning

The Mount Painter Vegetation Plan: TheApplication of Environmental Planning toParkcare Projects was the title of a seminarI attended on 15 March. Sponsored by theEnvironment Institute of Australia, the semi-nar was presented by David Hogg, an Envi-ronmental Consultant who coordinated theplan.

Mount Painter is the bare hill behind BlackMountain near Cook, and Canberra NaturePark (CNP) would like natural vegetation tobe established there. A Natural HeritageTrust grant was secured to achieve this.

David outlined the three questions relatingto such planning: where are we now; wheredo we want to be; and how do we get there?

Where are we now? David conceded it isdifficult to know what Mount Painter waslike originally as there are no old photos,but he speculated it was possibly openwoodland which was cleared in the 1870s.

Where do we want to be? The main issuesto consider in such an exercise are: speciescomposition, tree density and distribution,fire protection, weed control and habitatcontinuity.

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 10

After considering the issues, a decision wasmade to keep the top of the hill open for theviews; similarly the backs of the houses wereto be kept clear for fire control; habitat con-siderations included provision for pocketsof birds in a wildflower triangle that existsthere (Greening Australia’s Vegetation In-vestment Project, written up in FOG’s Jan-Feb 2000 newsletter, influenced this); and thetree species to be tried would include Euca-lyptus rossii, E. mannifera and E.polyanthemos.

How do we get there? The elements of a planinclude the physical dimension, the time di-mension, the financial component, and thehuman component.

A couple of the issues arising included thepreference for local seed, but with the con-sideration that the Eucs may be uncoopera-tive as it may be years before some speciesseed, and whether to plant in spring or au-tumn.

Question time included a question on themanaging of existing grasses with fire. Davidbelieves native grasses will find their wayback where they already existed, though theremay be some basis for the use of fire whereno natives exist. He stressed that as fire islabour intensive, it requires certain skills, andis quite a demand on CNP’s resources.Another question was concerned with theproposed density of the tree planting, andDavid believes that even if every tree plantedon Mt Painter survived it would still only beone-fifth of the density of replanting on thenearby Pinnacle.

NEWSLETTERS RECEIVEDNaarilla Hirsch

Grass Clippings unfortunately reports dam-age to some grassland sites along railwaylines and roadsides in Victoria. Moves areunderway to try and prevent further damage.

Native Grass, South Australia (the journalof the Native Grass Resources Group) con-tains articles on “The sex life of grasses”(RDB Whalley) and “Experiments on the ger-mination requirements of Aristida behriana”(Vicki Smith). The first article describes thedifferent types of reproduction found ingrasses. Dioecious grasses have male andfemale floral organs produced by separateindividuals; there are only four species ofdioecious grasses native to Australia.Monoecious grasses produce separate maleand female flowers on the same plant, so seedcan be produced by a single plant if there areno plants of the same species around (al-

though some have self-incompatibility mecha-nisms). Apomixis or agamospermy is the pro-duction of viable seeds in plants without fer-tilisation, or “seeds without sex”. The resultis highly uniform offspring and is commonamong Australian grasses. If a speciesevolves a well balanced sexual and apomicticbreeding system, it can minimise the high costof sexual reproduction but retain a degree of

variation to cope with different conditions.Most grass species are hermaphrodite, ie. theyproduce both male and female parts. Predomi-nantly self fertilisation occurs in a number ofgrasses (e.g. Wallaby Grasses (Danthoniaspp) and Weeping Grass (Microlaenastipoides)) because the pollen is shed insidethe floret before it opens. The article con-cludes that the ideal mix seems to be about10-15% of outcrossing and about 85-90% ofselfing or asexual (apomictic) reproduction.This combines the advantages of both modes:sexual reproduction giving a wide range ofoffspring capable of exploiting variable envi-ronments, and selfing or asexual reproductiongiving large numbers of offspring capable ofexploiting environments that are uniform overtime and space.

Don’t forget that you can contact Margaret ifyou want to have a look at any of the newslet-ters discussed in this column.

Volunteer Wanted ForEnvironmental Education

Centre!Will Inveen at Mugga-Mugga Environmen-tal Education Centre is looking for a volun-teer to work a day or two a week. Duties willinvolve manual tasks around the property,weed control (chipping and spraying) anddepending on experience, helping with de-velopment and delivery of EnvironmentalEducation programs. Phone Will on 62395607 or 0419 292 295 if you are interested intaking up this position or know somebodywho may be interested.

FOG NEEDS YOUR HELPCan you help with any of the following? Ifso please contact Margaret Ning. This is thesecond time we have published this and fromthe response last time we now have thenucleus of a newsletter collation group andan offer to look after FOG’s grass displayspecimens. Thanks to those who responded.

• Fold, label, and dispatch newsletter• Post out papers from workshops, etc.• Set up the FOG photo album and pre-

pare other materials for display• Publicity: place ads for FOG in Fridge

Door and other media. If really keen, or-ganise publicity and information for me-dia

• File statistical returns• Organise FOG promotions at ACT

Alive, World Environment Day,Tidbinbilla

• Be FOG’s representative at the Conser-vation Council

• Visit sites and identify plants• Built up documentation about sites vis-

ited• Organise a particular activity

We also have a spare committee position forsomeone who would like to get a little moreinvolved.

ADVERTISEMENT

Warren Ganter�sHorticultural

ServicesSupplying locally-collected native

seeds and locally-grownseedlings, plus a planting service

(plants supplied and planted).

Phone: 02 6257 6630or 0418 641 306

Dioris dendrobioides at Condor.Photo: Michael Bedingfield

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 11

News of Friends of Grasslands Page 12

FRIENDS OF GRASSLANDS INCSupporting native grassy ecosystemsAddress: PO Box 987, Civic Square ACT 2608Web address: http://www.geocities.com/fog_act

Your committee:Geoff Robertson President 6244 5616 (w) 6241 4065 (h & fax) geoff.robertson@facs.gov.auMichael Treanor Vice President 03 5750 1632 mallee6@hotmail.comNaarilla Hirsch Secretary 6289 8660 (w) -Alan Ford Treasurer - alford@cyberone.com.auDavid Eddy Committee 6242 8484 (w) 6242 0639 (fax) deddy@ozemail.com.auLinda Hodgkinson Committee - able@aucom.com.auWill Inveen Committee 6242 4675 will@dynamite.com.auMargaret Ning Committee 6252 7374 (w) 6241 4065 (h & fax) margaret.ning@abs.gov.au

margaretning@primus.com.auKim Pullen Committee 6246 4263 (w) kimp@ento.csiro.auDierk von Behrens Committee 6254 1763 (h) dierk.von.behrens@immi.gov.auBenjamin Whitworth Committee - benjamin.whitworth@brs.gov.au

Membership inquiries: Please contact Margaret Ning whose details appear above.

Friends of Grasslands IncPO Box 987Civic Square ACT 2608

FRIENDS OF GRASSLANDSNEWSLETTER

You have read this far, so we must have keptyour interest. If you are not a member ofFriends of Grasslands why not subscribe tothe newsletter? It comes out six times a yearand contains a lot of information on nativegrassland issues.

You can get the newsletter by joining Friendsof Grasslands. You do not need to be an ac-tive member - some who join often have manycommitments and only wish to receive thenewsletter.

However, if you own or lease a property, are amember of a landcare group, or actively inter-ested in grassland conservation orrevegetation, we hope we have something tooffer you. We may assist by visiting sites

and identifying native species and harmfulweeds. We can suggest conservation andrevegetation goals as well as managementoptions, help document the site, and some-times support applications for assistance,etc.

Of course you may wish to increase yourown understanding of grasslands, plantidentification, etc. and so take a more activeinterest in our activities. Most activities arefree and we also try to arrange transport (orcar pool) to activities.

If you are already a member, you might en-courage friends to join, or even make a giftof membership to someone else. We will alsosend one complimentary newsletter to any-one who wants to know more about us.

HOW TO JOIN FRIENDS OFGRASSLANDS

Send us details of your name, address, tel-ephone, fax, and e-mail, etc. You might alsoindicate your interests in grassland issues.Membership is $20 for an individual or fam-ily; $5 for students, unemployed or pen-sioners; and $50 for corporations or organi-sations - the latter can request two news-letters be sent. Please make cheques pay-able to Friends of Grasslands Inc.

If you would like any further informationabout membership please contactMargaret Ning, or if you would like to dis-cuss FOG issues contact Geoff Robertson.Contact details are given in the box above.

We look forward to hearing from you.