Open letter to the Chief Fire Officer, Victoria

Dear Mr. Hardman

A recent planned burn in the Strathbogie Forest, one of two conducted this season, would appear to have burnt more severely than intended. Note the amount and nature of the smoke plume from the Mt Albert planned burn (670 ha), pictured here and described more fully below.

It makes me wonder whether Justice Horan in the recent Federal Court case, upon seeing this, would still conclude “the planned burns … will generally result in low intensity fire with limited impacts on the canopy in most of the planned burns areas.”

A key operational goal for the Mt Albert burn was to “Ensure that fuel moisture differentials are sufficient that they moderate against higher intensity burn coverage and exclude drainage lines and gully systems“.

At this time, the fire is still active, so assessment of its impact has not been possible, but it appears likely to have burned with greater severity and possibly caused more damage than intended, particularly in the Wild Dog Creek gully system where there is a known population of the endangered Southern Greater Glider. Today, one week after ignition, there is still fire in the unit and burning and smouldering trees and stumps are visible from Police Tk. Most likely, Southern Greater Glider habitat trees will continue to be destroyed for some time.

I request from yourself and DEECA/FFMV:

• A formal, independent review of the Mt Albert planned burn to assess its impact and compliance.
• Conduct detailed fire severity mapping of the Mt Albert planned burn.
• Sharing of results of the above investigations with the community.
• A postponement of further planned burns in the Strathbogie State Forest pending the review into the Mt Albert burn.

I shudder to think what we’ll find when we eventually walk through this burn to assess impact on the Southern Greater Glider population and its habitat.

The smoke plume and witness accounts from nearby residents suggest fire severity, including flames in the canopy, is likely to have resulted in substantial wildlife mortality, including of the Southern Greater Glider.

On 12^th April this year I wrote to the Senior Forest Fire Management Officer, Goulburn District, expressing concern about the ignition pattern in the operations plan. My particular concern was the density of ignition points in and around a known Southern Greater Glider population in the Wild Dog Creek catchment. I received no response to those concerns.

On 23^rd April this year, when the severity of the Mt Albert burn became apparent, I immediately wrote to Ms. Claire Kiely, DEECA Regional Manager, Hume Region, and other DEECA managers, requesting that the next planned burn scheduled for ignition in the Strathbogie Forest, Barjarg-Harpers Rd, be postponed.

In the similar sized Barjarg-Harper’s Rd burn unit (540 ha) Southern Greater Gliders are much more abundant than in Mt Albert, occurring throughout much of the forest – not just along waterways. The burn operations plan for Harper’s (January version, below) shows that the majority of the entire burn unit will be ignited – there are ignition lines along virtually every ridge. If Harper’s is ignited in similar conditions to Mt Albert, the burn may result in similar negative impacts.

Below, I set out in more detail the rationale behind these requests.

Sincerely,

Bertram Lobert, President Save Our Strathbogie Forest

Planned burns not exempt from federal environment law

The case we brought to the Federal Court made several claims. At the center of the case were four planned burns in high quality Southern Greater Glider habitat, where we had previously detected high densities of this nationally endangered gliding possum.

We are certainly disappointed that the court is allowing these four burns to proceed in their current form, without any modification. Despite all the scientific evidence presented in court about the damage the burns could do the government, through Forest Fire Management Victoria, has been given the green light to proceed.

We believe that this threatens one of the healthiest populations of the nationally endangered Southern Greater Glider and will further degrade the outstanding values of the Strathbogie Forest.

But that’s not the whole story. One issue that our case tested was whether planned burns for fuel reduction should be answerable to federal environment law – something the Victorian Government has steadfastly and actively denied for decades.

Significantly, that claim was successful. We are heartened by Justice Horan’s ruling that planned burns are not exempt from the requirements of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. We take this as a significant win for the environment and ample justification for running the case.

This decision now makes it clear that the State of Victoria and other jurisdictions have to meet a higher bar of environmental standard before they can burn. For example, if a planned burn will have, or is likely to have a significant impact on an EPBC listed species or habitat, that burn should be referred to the Federal Environment Department.

We are still considering the details of the ruling and anticipate that we may appeal parts of it. We will have more to say about a possible appeal in the coming days.

Media Enquiries: Mr. Bertram Lobert, President Save Our Strathbogie Forest Inc.

0409 433 276,  bertram.lobert@activ8.net.au

Decision on the FCA website

Strathbogie Forest supporters outside the Federal Court of Australia, Melbourne

Official court result MR, below.

Court-result-media-release_5-april-2024Download