A local bushfire expert has urged authorities to return greater control of forest fuel reduction burning to experienced bush workers, warning current management settings risk more severe fires across East Gippsland.
John Mulligan, a member of the Howitt Society, said recent weather conditions in East Gippsland had been ideal for what he described as safe, well-managed fuel
reduction burning.
“Over the last week or so the weather in
East Gippsland has been most suitable and safe for well-managed forest fuel reduction burning with what I call the ‘right fire’,”
Mr Mulligan said.
He said such work could be undertaken by local bush workers with detailed knowledge of their country and fire behaviour.
“This can safely be carried out by local bushmen who have an intimate knowledge of their area and understand fire in the bush,” he said.
Mr Mulligan argued that controlled burns could still be undertaken safely at this time of year if tightly managed.
“By keeping a tight well-managed perimeter to their burn, it would enable them to quickly extinguish their burn if the need
arose,” he said.
He claimed responsibility for forest management had gradually shifted away from local practitioners over many decades, which he believes has contributed to heavier fuel loads and more intense wildfires.
“Over the past 90 years or so the initiative to manage the forest has been taken away from local bushmen in favour of bush-ignorant city-baked bureaucratic control which clearly has not worked,” Mr Mulligan said.
He said increasing fuel loads in forests and along roadsides posed a significant future risk.
“With the ever increasing forest fuel loads under present management there can be only one eventual outcome — a massive destructive fire,” he said.
Mr Mulligan said it was time to consider a return to locally driven management systems that he believes previously reduced fire risk.
His comments add to ongoing debate about bushfire preparedness and fuel reduction strategies across Victoria’s forested regions.
