Franklin News and Views

Three days of good weather - see post and photos

From  The Sydney Morning Herald: national, world, business, entertainment, sport and technology news from Australia's leading newspaper. Ben Cubby, Environment Reporter December 30, 2008 Advertisement AN endangered water bird sanctuary on the South Coast was wrecked by vandals on Boxing Day, the latest in a series of attacks on wildlife refuges in southern NSW. Eggs have been stolen, nests trampled and vegetation burned in four attacks in the last three months, a level of damage that the National Parks and Wildlife Service says is unheard of. In the latest incident, at Cudmirrah Beach near Sussex Inlet, the eggs of a hooded plover were crushed - a serious loss given there are probably less than 50 of the shy birds left in the state. A wooden fence around the bird-breeding area was also dragged off and burned at a Boxing Day beach party. In a separate act of vandalism two days before Christmas, a breeding zone for terns near Culburra on the South Coast was trampled and partly burned

Far from impressed by Forestry Tas From ABC News Documents released under Freedom of Information laws have revealed Forestry Tasmania was advised not to log part of a coupe on South Bruny Island because of its potential as a swift parrot habitat. The report by the state government's Threatened Species Section says the coupe should be reserved for the endangered bird. Forestry Tasmania has admitted to logging half the coupe an d says more is planned. It says it received subsequent verbal advice from the Threatened Species Section saying it was all right to harvest the area. The Greens have described it as environmental vandalism, but Ken Jeffreys from Forestry Tasmania says the criticism ignores the bigger picture. "It would be an absolute cheap shot if you focused on one coupe, onesmall area of Tasmania and ignored the amount of work that Forestry Tasmania's put into the swift parrot habitat across the landscape," MrJeffreys said. The Greens' Cassy O'Connor s

OHA environs Wellington Park Wednesday 26 Nov 08 Weed Check - Two pines growing near the OHA track were treated with glyphosate. Some 300 metres of New Town Rivulet was checked for Erica with two patches being found and removed. Most did not have much in the way of flowers except for those in sunnier positions Details and photos from the working bee can be viewed at http://wellingtonpark.wordpress.com/ If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://wellingtonpbg.googlepages.com/home

We have just purchased a painting by Tina Terry of the Aroona Valley in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia. The title is campsite Aroona Valley and we camped for a few days in the valley in 2006 and have very fond memories our stay there.

Saturday 26 July 08 We made a mistake in picking the track and missed out on getting to Prosser Sugarloaf. For details and photos

Our 10 year old granddaughter, Emily was given an award from the Teachers Registration Board for her entry in the Young Archies competition.

Tuesday 1 Jul 08 A less than ideal forecast was current and as we arrived for the start of work rain was falling. However a chink of blue showed through and soon we were able to remove raincoats. The remaining Gorse leftover from earlier working bees at the border of the park was targeted and much of it removed. Some bushes on the boundary that had been cut-off some time in past but presumably without herbicide being applied and now had masses of small shoots. A further working bee should see the primary work done in this section, including a small pocket of Broom that was located. If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://wellingtonpbg.googlepages.com/home

Friday 27 June 08 A bushwalk to a part of the Bluff River. See details and photos at http://bushwalks.blogspot.com

The whole day was delightfully fine and calm, with initial patches of morning fog about. See http://bushwalks.blogspot.com/ for more

Friends of Mt Field Track clearing Old Pack Track at Mt Field NP on Saturday 14 Jun 08 It was a day made quite cool by the brisk breeze near Lake Fenton and we needed to be well rugged up, however the activity from working kept up the warmth level. Initially the bushes blocking and hiding the 200 metres of the Old Pack Track between bend one and two were cleared and rock steps were made at the top end where track meets the Lake Dobson road near the Woodland Walk. This saves a shade over 400 metres of road walking. Following this some drainage work was carried out on the Old Pack Track section between the road and junction with the track to Lake Nicholls. The creek that runs under the track was cleared out by removing debris and rocks forcing the water the pool. An immediate dropping of the water level was noticed and should not now overflow onto the track as easily during periods of high water volumes. A drain was also created and rocked each side at a minor eph

Wellington Park Bushcare Group Follow up on Erica at Goat Hills at Wellington Park on Tuesday 3 Jun 08 Although it was clear enough at the car park during the climb to Goat Hills we gradually got into fog that thickened as height was gained. Nevertheless most of the time it remained reasonably dry, with just an occasional light drizzle effect. Four areas were checked over as a follow up to earlier work. Some small pockets of Erica were found Montrose Fire Trail and on the upper side of Goat Fire Trail one location had a number of Erica reshooting from previous work and had to recut and painted with herbicide whilst some new plants were also found. In the central region between Goat and Chapel Fire trails numerous seedlings were pulled out but there was insufficient time to clear all with still others left untouched further down slope. In general about 90% were able to pulled out with only 10% If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://wel

Letter published in the Mercury on Tuesday 29 April 2008 One fine morning this April I went to Mt Field and was greeted by smoke all through the Derwent Valley from New Norfolk on, and last week I was on the West Coast and much of it was covered in thick smoke. So both these occasions what should have been a true delight of autumn was marred by the forest assassins. At the next State election I will make sure that my preferences will go no further than those who are going to work to stop this outrage.

This is the third time I have written to inform Forestry Tasmania that there was the Erica lusitanica (Spanish Heath), a declared weed under the Weed Management Act 1999, growing beside the Arve Road. On the first occasion (4/2/03) I was assured that action would be taken to remove it, but I noted it was present in greater number at the same spot (19/4/07) and on this occasion was told by phone that it was in the local council area. Last month I went past the spot and noted more precisely the location which is within 500 metres and to the west of Bennetts Road junction. Clearly this is within the Forestry Tasmania jurisdiction. I can tell you the lack of action and apparent disregard for the control of declared weeds and land management that shows such a disregard for the environment by Forestry Tasmania is very disappointing. The infestation has now spread further and I think is also now present at the junction of Arve Rd with Ledgerwood Road. I hope you will rectify this situat

Wednesday 23 April 08 to Friday 25 April 08 The Tyndall Range is of conglomerate and is around 1000m. It is steeply sloped on the west and large cliffs on the east. Along the southern portion are many lakes and tarns and low alpine meadows. At the northern end is Mt Tyndall at 1179 metres and on the southern end Mt Geike at 1193 metres Details can be viewed at http://bushwalks.blogspot.com/ and photos at http://picasaweb.google.com.au/PeterJFranklin/TyndallRange

Friends of Mt Field working bee Saturday 19 Apr 08 More painting of the Lake Fenton hut and clearing a section of the Old Pack track was carried out at this working bee If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://mtfieldfriends.googlepages.com/home

Saturday 5 April 08 Parks have improved the area at the Myrtle Forest picnic area by renovating the vandalised hut and installing a toilet. The initial section of track has been further upgraded and a wooden viewing platform placed at the first waterfall. It all looks good and it is hoped does not get ruined by louts. Click for more on the walk plus photos

We regularly get a visit from Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos and at least once per year a flock arrives prunes a Hakea bush back quite severely as they break off the branches that have fruits. A cracking sound alerted Sue on Monday and sure enough 10 of the magnificent big birds were in the bush.

     Volunteer Work Wellington Park Bushcare Group Follow up removal of Broom seedlings at Wellington Park on Tuesday 1 Apr 08 The area was searched through and all seedlings that could be found were removed by pulling out. Apart from a small number of plants possibly missed from our last working bee the seedlings were generally below 15cm high and pulled readily. If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://wellingtonpbg.googlepages.com/home

Saturday 22 March 08 to Monday 24 March 08      I went on a walk to Mt Anne during a spell of fine weather. Click for details and Photos /    

Friends of Mt Field Maintenance of Lake Fenton historic hut at Mt Field NP on Saturday 15 Mar 08 The outside of the historic Lake Fenton hut was given two coatings of preservative. The timber was very dry and it soaked up the mixture, even the second coat absorbed a lot of liquid, so all of our 20 litres was a used up. At the time of applying the preservative the timber looked damp, but once it had dried there was no discernable change in timber colour. As the interior walls and ceilings of the two main rooms (S1 and S2 on conservation plan) were previously painted in an oil based finish, we gave them a coat of primer. The conservation plan suggests using an acrylic paint and this will be done on a future working bee. On some occasion prior to 2003 a fire in the fireplace looks to have very nearly burnt the hut down and this clearly remains a problem area. The conservation plan suggests that the fireplace should be blocked within the chimney or above the chimney

Friday 29 February 08 to Monday 3 March 08 4 A four day walk in lovely weather and for much of the time away from the other walkers. Details can be viewed at http://bushwalks.blogspot.com

We were camped in the little valley with the lake that is directly south and over the ridge from Lake Rodway. At about 7:30 AM we both heard a dog bark several times and it did not seem particularly distant, coming from the east near to the lake. On checking about we came upon a dead wallaby quite close to our tent spot (40 metres). It was lying in a somewhat awkward position but apart from a little disturbance to the fur near the neck, there was no great sign of what may have caused the animals death. It was reasonably big and well built. However we did not touch or move the wallaby. Some 100 metres further on we noticed animal fur lying about in a couple spots. Now as we had arrived at the camp site at 4PM on the previous day we had plenty of time to wander about and both feel that we would have noticed the wallaby then if it had been there. We both feel quite confident that it was a dog bark, it wasn’t a growl. The incident has been reported to the Parks & Wildlife

Wellington Park Bushcare Group Gorse Removal Lenah Valley Entrance at Wellington Park on Tuesday 4 Mar 08 Continued primary action on the Gorse remaining in the far northern corner of the park boundary was the focus for the work and a considerable amount was removed. The area is just above that which was subject to our previous Envirofund project and now clears the outskirts of most of the Gorse. A small patch still remains closer to the boundary plus a patch higher on the hill. Some seedling regrowth was noted in the area of the Envirofund work, but this was hardly unexpected. If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://wellingtonpbg.googlepages.com/home

Details and photos on this walk on 21 February 08 is at http://bushwalks.blogspot.com/

Volunteer Work Friends of Mt Field Maintenance on Old Pack Track at Mt Field NP on Saturday 9 Feb 08 Work on clearing back vegetation, mostly in the form of bauera, encroaching on the Old Pack Track was commenced from the Lake Nicholls end. This historic track which is fairly level saves walking on the road for anyone doing the Field East Circuit, and is quite a delightful walk with varied flora along the way. Some 600 metres of 900 metre section of track has now been cleared during two working bees. If you are interested in helping or for more information go to http://mtfieldfriends.googlepages.com/home

A walk in January to Mt Rogoona is on my Bushwalk pages

Wellington Park Bushcare Group Erica Removal Hull Site at Wellington Park on Tuesday 5 Feb 08 Erica at a water hole north of the Mt Hull Fire Trail junction with East West was cleared, but one area comprised many small plants that were tedious to remove by hand. Spraying would have been more efficient, but as we had sufficient numbers it did not overly long to clear. On completion we moved to the above-mentioned junction to do follow up work on Erica in the bush and beside the trail between the locations. It has been 5 years since first clearing the site and many significantly sized bushes were noticed in the bush. All these were removed, plus most near the fire trail junctions, but some lower on the Mt Hull FT had to be left. The day was not overly hot, but nevertheless quite warm with a high cloud cover, and we did notice several snakes, including three whip snakes in a group close to the work site. To view photos got to http://wellingtonpark.wordpress.com/2008/02

Rodway Shelter Maintenance at Mt Field NP on Saturday 19 Jan 08 The outside walls were all given a coat of brown paint and the front wall was given a second coat. The timber was in very poor condition and soaked the paint up very quickly and used up all our supply of 22 litres. The boards under the roof edge were also painted at back and front. The side A-frame roof edge boards were so rotted that they will have to be replaced. The exterior window sills at both back and front windows are so rotted that they also will need replacing. The broken back window glass was temporarily stabilised with clear tape over the crack lines. The interior windows sills were rotted and replaced with new timber. The interior timber walls and bench seats were sanded and varnished. Cleared ash and removed rubbish around fireplace. A missing section of timber below edge of roof at the back of the hut was replaced. A new display board with information on Mt Field was made

Two recent walks to Trestle Mt and Mt Marian are on the Bushwalk pages