November Burn-off?
Locals at Margaret River, WA are furious with Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) and they should be too. Who, in their right mind still has burn-offs functioning in mid November. I come from that area and generally speaking ‘Hot and windy’ defines November, December and January weather.
I’ll be furious as well if these fires slow down next years vintage. I’ve become quite fond of Margaret River reds.
Gnarabup man Peter Ryan said: “I’m bewildered as to why you would be burning off at this time of year. Questions will have to be asked.”Indeed.
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WA’s DEC is not alone in making poor judgments in relation to “controlled” burn-offs.
I have been observing Victoria’s DSE and Parks Victoria for years, and have been apalled by that which I’ve seen.
Under the former Labor government, DSE & ParksVic essentially had a policy of, “Lock it up, leave it, and let it look after itself”. The result of course was many fires that could and should have been avoided, and vast areas of land allowed to grow fire hazard undergrowth to its hearts content.
In some areas of Vic, creeks & rivers are a particular problem, with DSE, Catchment Management Authorities and local councils refusing to clean up years of accumulated rubbish, dead trees and needless overgrowth (oh sorry – it’s called “habitat”).
Fortunately the new Liberal government in Vic is changing the behavior of these departments, albeit very slowly, however a huge amount of fire and flood damage has already been done.