ON December 1, the first day of summer here in Australia, residents of the little town of Barmah in northwestern Victoria, drove cattle into their forest in defiance of a government ban. The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) has threatened legal action, but so far the cattle are still there. The forest has historically been grazed and the Barmah locals believe this is important to reduce the fire risk. http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/12/cattle-still-in-the-forest/
Yesterday Police turned up to remove the cattle, residents turned up to protest, there was some mediation, some media interviews, and the Police left without any cattle – they couldn’t find them in the large forest.
Peter Newman, chairman of the Rivers and Red Gum Environment Alliance said yesterday from the forest, “Dozens of officers have arrived here this morning to remove the cattle and I have been threatened with arrest if I do not comply with directions of police who have blocked entrances to the forest”.
“The Barmah community and supporters are being mobilised now to safeguard the community’s interest. Earlier in the week, the community discussed putting even more cattle into the forest because the grass is growing so fast from recent rains. This followed a four hour inspection of the forest on Tuesday by three CFA captains and a First Lieutenant from local brigades who said the fuel load in the forest was too high.
This whole situation could have been avoided if DSE had honoured their commitment given at the Fire Plan meeting with the community on December 9th to slash the grass in the forest.
“We feel that as a community living right alongside the forest we have been treated very poorly by DSE. This is about managing fire risk on public land and how that affects local communities. We have put a solution to the forest manager on October 23rd to have 70 cattle in the forest for eight weeks to remove the serious fire risk. That has been rejected. DSE have told us they will slash the grass. That has not happened. The community have acted to protect themselves.
“This whole exercise is a glimpse into the future management of red gum forests and we don’t like it” concluded Mr Newman.
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Photograph taken by Max Rheese on the edge of the Barmah Forest, December 18, 2008.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
I love it.
Did the cops get out the loudspeaker and say, “we have you surrounded, come out with your hands up”?
Did they have identikit pictures of the suspects? All of them? Will they read them their rights?
Will they serve them with a writ instead? Have the forensic boys shown up yet? Are they examining the DNA from turds? The mind boggles.
“talkin bout a night moooove, talkin bout that front page forest news, yeah night mooo,ve”.
“suspect is an IC1 female with four legs, four tits and dreamy brown eyes, is known to police and of no fixed address”.
Merry Christmas, folks. Keep it up and don’t forget to enjoy yourself.
Get serious Mr Mott. This is a Police State we’re talking about.
The same state that hanged ole Ned who started out by pinching a few nags now sends its finest to impound honest folks’ cattle.
Wonder how hard they looked.
Ohmygawd they’re still out there, you say? That ought to keep the greenies away for a while.
And a Merry Christmas to you too.
“Dozens of officers turned up” – big, showy expense. Would have spooked the cattle anyway.
Some years ago a peice of land in my area became part of a National Park. The local NPWS discovered about 6 sheep still inside, which HAD to be got rid of. They hired a helicopter to chase them around, rambo style, shooting them. Waste of money. The problem would have sorted itself. Wooly sheep cannot mate to breed – no feral merinos in Australia!
Likewise, the cattle “problem” will sort itself – they will eventually be mustered out. Good fire insurance. Onya, fellas.
The only problem with the cattle in the forest at the moment is there are not enough.
There was about 100 mm of rain in November and over 50 mm so far in December. The grass has taken off and is over 4 feet tall in places. Once it dries out any fire will be unstoppable. If this happens the Koalas and sugar gliders which are doing very well in the forest will be wiped out, as well as the town of Barmah.
If the government will not listen to the residents or provide any reasonable response the only answer is civil disobedience. That is why the cattle are there and it has the attention of the media and the government.
When I were a lad, I newster ride/Behind a mob o’cattle up a mountainside/I rode with me Dad an’ me Uncle Stan/ Before the greenies went an’done their grazin’ ban/ But before the greenies got their way…../….we leased a heap o’ countryside for sweet F.A.
Now by unwritten rural lore/ Yer free ter treat the country like a factory floor/ So the cattle wander hither an’ yon/ Till there ain’t a bit o’ ground they haven’t shat upon’/ Yairs, the cattle wander here an’ there…./….an’ they’d eat a baby’s bottom through an old cane chair.
But cattle do the country good/ By eatin’ fallen branches an’ the old dead wood/ An’ somethin’ yez don’t know in town/ They’ll shimmy up a gum tree just to eat the crown/ They climb a tree an’ eat the crown…../….an’ that’s how cattle grazin’ keeps the bushfires down!!
I’ll leave yez with a mystery/ The strangest one in all Australian history/ It’s bigger than Nourlangie Rock/ Yet it’s plainer than the hands upon a town hall clock/ If no harm’s done when cattle roam……/….. How come there’s never cattle on our lawns at home??!!
Sorry, but what does ‘your comment is awaiting moderation’ mean? thank you, John Bond