Planned burning pilot project

Q7 Do you think your property is in a high or low risk area for bushfire?

The top 5 issues are:1. Risk of fire escapes2. Potential liability from fire escapes3. Access to good weather/forecast

information4. Labour to manage the burn5. Equipment to safely manage the burn

Barriers to burning...a summary

The planned burning pilot project

• Individual property fire management plans•Training workshop (the theory of planned burning)•Case study burns (the practice of planned burning)•The planned burning manual & written case studies

Patch ID & area

Goals for fire management Description Years since

last fire*Fuel hazard rating

Actions Timing & priority

House area(3ha)

Fire exclusion.

Area around house and sheds, garden, some bush and pasture

NA NA Keep driveway slashed. Keep grass around house short

in summer (crash graze house paddock).

All summer – very high priority

2 (Hill)3.6ha

Stimulate grasstree and shrub regeneration.

Heathland vegetation community (SCH).

Dominated by sagg and sword sedge, low diversity of heathy species.

Small trunkless grasstrees scattered throughout - more dense towards top of hill. Likely to be threatened grasstrees species.

Recently fenced.

15 S: MNS: ME: -B: -Overall: M

Low intensity fire, which is patchy through vegetation.

Critical to get right burn conditions during the burn: moist soils, season between April and October, stable high pressure, >2 days since rain, wind speed at 2 m <10 km/hr, humidity 40 to 60%, with overnight humidity >75% and dew of >0.2 mm.

Leave for at least 5 years to enable recovery from grazing before burning (ie burn after 2017), then recommend burn interval 10-15 years.

Monitor impacts on grasstrees where phytophthora is known to occur (ie do they regenerate & survive, or is death rate increased?). Based on results, future burning regime can be planned

April to October – high priority

Annually after burning – high priority

Training workshops

1. Fire behaviour2. Admin & legalities3. Weather4. Equipment5. Lighting the burn6. Safety7. Regeneration & fire ecology8. Assessing fuel hazard9. After the burn

Putting it into practice – Maitland case study burn

Putting it into practice – Maitland case study burn

Putting it into practice – Dorset Downs case study burn

Putting it into practice – Dorset Downs case study burn

Two sections to manual1. Planning for fire2. Using fire

Will be available mid-November on following websites:• www.nrmnorth.org.au• www.fire.tas.gov.au• PLCP (www.dpipwe.tas.gov.au)• www.macquariefranklin.com.au

The planned burning manual

Jon Marsden-Smedley & Bronnie Grieve (project team)Pilot farmers

John Atkinson, Simon Foster, Allan and Carol Phillips Luke Rapley, Roger Bignell, Tim Gunn, Curt Nichols, Elizabeth Hall, Peter Sattler, Anne Williams and Stephen Phillips

Technical GroupSandra Whight (State Fire Management Council), Mark Chladil, Steve Lowe and Ian Bounds (TFS), Rochelle Richards (FT), Tony Gee (TFGA), Tim Rudman and Louise Mendel (DPIPWE) and Garth Bennett (PWS)

Thanks to