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Prescribed Burning Commences In Gippsland

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) has commenced the annual prescribed burning program in State forests and National Parks across Gippsland.

By Department of Sustainability & Environment - 20th March 2006 - Back to News

Recent rainfalls and the current mild weather mean conditions are suitable for these specialised burning operations.

DSE's Chief Officer Fire and Emergency Management, Ewan Waller said meticulous planning goes into the preparation of each burn, and operations will only take place if weather conditions are suitable and safe to do so.

"DSE has been working with individuals and community groups across Gippsland to look at burning operations and where best to plan them for the protection of communities and the environment," Mr Waller said.

He endorsed comments made earlier in the year by Emergency Services Commissioner, Bruce Esplin who said that the community needs to understand the issues surrounding both planned and unplanned fire in our environment.

"Unplanned fire is going to occur and we all need to be able to manage it, but planned fire has to be used wisely and strategically - to regenerate our bush where it needs it, and as a fundamental tool in the firefighters' toolkit to protect our community," Mr Esplin said.

In his report after the 2003 Victorian Bushfire Inquiry, Mr Esplin said there was a need to burn more – but more importantly to burn more scientifically and more strategically.

"There is a lot of work being done on the science of prescribed burning and I am heartened to see that DSE and Parks Victoria are doing a lot of burning around settlements to protect assets while the science of broader hectare burning catches up."

"The fire agencies need to focus on protecting community assets and private assets, while they use science to help them with the larger burns. The science needs to establish how often they burn, the size of it, and what sort of pattern they need to use."

"In east Gippsland in particular, it is good to see DSE and community members talking about how to burn, where to burn and what sort of plans should be put in place."

Mr Waller said the Fire Operations Plans developed by DSE in consultation with the community last year will form the basis of where and how burns will take place over the next three years.

"This is one of the ways the private community and individuals can be part of the process of planning and in some cases, carrying out the burns with DSE," he said.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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