ACT Emergency Services Agency

esahaveyoursay@act.gov.au

Re. The Strategic Bushfire Management Plan (v5)

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the above plan.

Friends of Grasslands ((FOG) is a community group dedicated to the conservation of grassy ecosystems in south-eastern Australia - natural temperate grasslands and grassy woodlands. FOG advocates, educates and advises on matters to do with the conservation of these ecosystems, and carries out surveys and on-ground work. FOG is based in Canberra and its members include professional scientists, landowners, land managers and interested members of the public.

FOG offers a few thoughts about strategic bushfire management. In the ACT:

High conservation value natural temperate grassland sites should be burnt around every three years, taking into account herbage mass and threatened species requirements, in autumn, for both ecological and fuel management reasons.

Box-gum woodland sites should be burnt around every five to fifteen years, in autumn (similar constraints as above), for both ecological and fuel management reasons. Care should be taken to not burn fire sensitive, ecologically important species like mistletoe and cherry ballart, and hollow trees.

Inner Asset Protection Zones (IAPZs) should be located within any new developments outside HCV sites; where existing high conservation value (HCV) sites occur within IAPZs, management agreements should be developed to minimise degradation of conservation values.

A partnership is needed with non-Parks and Conservation Service land managers, including but not limited to Defence, the National Capital Authority (NCA), the Australian National University and Transport Canberra and City Services, to enable regular burning on their lands drawing on Parks and Conservation Service crews. Currently the NCA relies on the good graces of the Rural Fire Service (RFS) for training burns. The RFS help is welcome but is also problematic for undertaking burns in autumn as timing is restricted to weekends that are not long weekends, and to work around unfavourable weather.

The Indigenous NRM work crew should be engaged in burning on country.

Burn plans for HCV sites should be fully integrated into the annual Bushfire Operations Plans program.

Yours sincerely,

 

Professor Jamie Pittock
President, Friends of Grasslands

10 June 2025