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Have Your Say On Next Season'S Burning Operations

The 2004-05 prescribed burning season in Gippsland has been a successful one, with over 100 burns being undertaken, covering 50,000 hectares of land that has now been fuel reduced to protect communities and promote native flora and fauna species.

By Department of Sustainability and Environment - 15th June 2005 - Back to News

The 2004-05 prescribed burning season in Gippsland has been a successful one, with over 100 burns being undertaken, covering 50,000 hectares of land that has now been fuel reduced to protect communities and promote native flora and fauna species.

Many of those burns were undertaken with cooperation and assistance from local CFA brigades providing support at burns and vital local knowledge in the planning and undertaking of operations.

Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Fire Management staff are already looking at next season's burns and are hoping for more community input this year on planning the burn areas for the region.

Over the coming months, DSE will seek input from the community on its Fire Operations Plan to ensure that everyone affected has a chance to comment on proposed fuel reduction and ecological burns across the region and to suggest possible burns for their area.

You are encouraged to participate in the burns planning process and to raise any concerns or comments with DSE’s local Fire Management Officers now, before a formal consultation process begins in September.

DSE aims to build on last year's increased emphasis on community involvement in the planning process, which saw some successful burns undertaken this season, particularly where public and private land meet.

Department staff will meet with CFA members, municipalities, water authorities, the VFF, local community groups and individuals and hope to receive valuable feedback on the plans for the coming season. Further suggestions as to who should be consulted are also welcome.

With the continued support and contribution of the community, DSE and CFA staff will be able to plan prescribed burns that benefit all our communities and help keep Gippsland as fire safe as possible by reducing the intensity of wildfires.

Please contact the Fire Management Officer at your nearest DSE office for further information. If you are unsure of who to talk to, please call Natalie Plant on 51 722111.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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