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Friends of the Park(word file - 1,491kb) |
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| WINTER 2009 Welcome back to another Newsletter... Having just completed a day of 'duty 'at the Visitor's Centre I was struck at how green our Park is now, especially after a bit of recent rain. This is in contrast to the nearby areas of black and grey where the Bushfires passed through nearly 6 months ago! However, the tinges of green are returning. I noticed that the ferns - especially bracken and tree ferns were the first to reappear, as were the grasses. Now, there are the epicormic shoots from the Eucalypts, some wattles, and the Senecio and even an occasional Elderberry, with different ferns, grasses and mosses returning. There is really a 'new life 'about the nearby areas, now. Unfortunately, the medium-term effects are now being noticed. Just this week I buried a very thin Koala that had died in our paddock - probably as a result of a lack of food and weather conditions for this time of year. Congratulations to Ken Harris (Friends of Morwell National Park) Many of us know Ken Harris personally, or by reputation, as an avid supporter of National Parks, ecology (particularly plants) and as President of the Friends of Morwell National Park. At the recent Parks Victoria "Kookaburra Awards" Ken was given the highest honour as their 2009 Kookaburra Environmental Award (individual) for 'quality environmental work making a sustainable improvement in parks'. Ken is truly a remarkable person who has made an outstanding contribution to parks in our local area. Congratulations, Ken, you really do deserve such a high honour! Volunteers Charter Parks Victoria has developed for volunteers a "Charter of Practice" that highlights expectations from the perspective of both Parks Victoria and the volunteers. This is attached to the Newsletter for your information. While this is a Parks Victoria document approved through their official channels, if you do have any comments about it, please let one of the Committee members know. Bushfire Recovery - The Traralgon South & District Association (Fire) Community Recovery Action Plan has now been approved and there are plans to prioritise the various goals and implement them. If you want more details please contact Peter Bryant or one of the TSDA members if you know them. Sycamore Maple Update For a number of years now the friends have been involved in removing seedlings of Sycamore Maple from the Tarra Valley area. You will be pleased to hear that the "Mother" trees have been removed in recent times. This will enable complete eradication of the seedlings over the next few years. A new Camera In the Office we have a new digital Camera that the Friends committee has bought for volunteers to use throughout their time in the Office. If there is something that comes up requiring a photo (e.g. an interesting specimen, visitor etc.) then please grab the camera and take a photo. Please pass on the photo to Craig or Peter for noting and possible publication in our Newsletter. The camera can be found in the second drawer of the four-drawer filing cabinet behind the colouring sheets. Events for 2009 - The regular events for 2009
have been set as follows: Other special events for this
year will include: (NOTE: I anticipate that there may be at least one more event that may occur this year. Information will come out about the listed and other events in the near future) Lyrebird Survey A big thank you to the following people who assisted in the Lyrebird Survey recently: Judy Kennedy, David Akers, Nick Goldsmith, David Pattison, Dave Stickney, Richard & Jane Florey, David Pellew, Peter Bryant & Craig Campbell. We were able to cover a large number of the observation sites and if appears that there is no decrease in lyrebird numbers or activity! A number of us were excited to see 2 birds just outside the Visitor's centre at the end of our survey period. Thank you again to the support of Loy Yang Power (through Dave Stickney) and Robyn & Nick at the Guest House for the wonderful breakfast that followed the survey. David Akers has developed a computer program that enables us to more quickly get a picture of the Lyrebird results, which also uses a picture of the Park area to accurately show where the birds actually were. It is worth asking David about this. Did you see the articles in the Yarram Standard & Latrobe Valley Express about the Lyrebird Survey work? How can we strengthen the role of Volunteers & get more Volunteers? At the Annual General Meeting discussion was held around the issue of promoting the Park and the Friends Group. The question of volunteers, their role, its status, getting to better know the Park & how to attract more volunteers, are significant questions for us as a Friends Group. What are your thoughts? Please let one of the Committee or Craig Campbell know your ideas ASAP. In our Autumn Newsletter I made thanks to some of the Parks Victoria staff who had a role in assisting in the Bushfires - Craig Campbell & Mark Connor in particular. They were involved in both the immediate fire fighting work as well as in quite significant recovery in the weeks following the fires. Other Parks Victoria staff who we know were also involved in work around this time, too - thank you. I would also like to say thank you to the work of the CFA volunteers who assisted in so many ways throughout this period of time - mention is made below of George Krommonhoek (Traralgon South CFA), but there may be other members who are also Friends - Pam & David Pattison for their work (Pam is also the 'Fire Chief 'for Balook) - Rhonda Gatt (works for DSE) who had a significant role in the Incident Management Team based in Traralgon. There may be others of you who played significant roles in the Bushfire period and a big thank you is given to you as well. Please let us know of your role so that we can acknowledge the work that you have done. Rangers Report Winter is a quieter time in the park except for the Lyrebirds which are very active at the moment and continuing to make a big mess of the lawn at the Visitor Centre! Mark Connor is full time at Mt St Gwinear during the snow season and I am spending one or two days a week working there as well. We have replaced the rusty half of the Tarra Valley picnic shelter roof and I recently had to replace several of the decking planks on the first foot-bridge after a limb fell on it. We had a wedding at Tarra Valley recently and although they got through the ceremony fairly well, it was a wet day and they did get rained on a bit. I have had a couple of work experience student with me recently and have had a few school groups through just before the last holidays. Have you paid your 2009 Subscriptions
yet? They are still the same - due NOW! Contact Details: Peter Bryant: 5166-1759, or
e-mail pskr4753@speedweb.com.au (President of Friends Group) Items for inclusion in the
Newsletter are always welcome. If you have any further questions or comments
about anything in relation to the Park, please do not hesitate to contact
the President of the Friends group, Peter Bryant, on 5166-1759 or by e-mail
pskr4753@speedweb.com.au
Having recently been talking with Gloria & George Krommonhoek about their experiences of the Bushfires, I sought their permission to share the events of February 7th with us through this newsletter... About 10 years ago George &
Gloria came across an old Furphy that they purchased and renovated back
to working order, complete with a fire hose and pump. When they saw the
fire approaching their 10-acre property in Callignee on February 7th,
they hooked up the Furphy to their tractor and together set about wetting
their property and putting out spot fires. They lost telephone/mobile
phone service, access to the property by fire crews and yet managed to
save their house and most of the property. During the 12 hours fire protection
work the Furphy sprang a leak but managed to be kept going. They believe
that the work of the Furphy managed to prevent the fire from moving further
along their road thus preventing further loss of property and life. It
was not until sometime on Sunday that they were able to get word through
to their daughter, Rhonda Gatt (also another Friend) who works for DSE,
that they were safe.
If you would like to share your experience of the fires, or other associated events, please e-mail Peter Bryant on pskr4753@speedweb.com.au , phone me on 5166-1759, or contact me in some way, and your item will be included in the next Newsletter as part of On the Edge... |
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