Vol. 17 No. 1
FREE PUBLICATION
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
s ’ l o o Sch out! Horsham College teenagers, from left, Hayley Mills, John Macalinga, Brylee Taylor, Louise Crouch, Sarah Hateley, Tom IredellBurke and Ella Hernon-Dalgleish show their enthusiasm for the start of winter school holidays. The college had a footy colours celebration on the last day of school before the break. Public students will return to school for term three on July 14. Picture: CAITLIN MARTIN.
New-look Zumsteins plan By DEAN LAWSON
Z
umsteins picnic ground in the northern Grampians will undergo a profound transformation during the next month as contractors remove historic pine trees.
Grampians National Park ranger in charge David Roberts confirmed that there was little option but to remove the exotic trees which bore the brunt of intense fire earlier this year. He said thin-barked radiata pines were highly vulnerable to fire and overwhelming expert advice was that the 27 trees, almost 100 years old and synonymous with the site, were beyond recovery. “It’s going to be another major change for how the site
looks and will mean a lot to many people,” he said. “It basically means the site will go from having these large heritage elements dating back to the 1920s to having revegetation areas. In other words it will go from being a heritage site to a renewal site.” The 27 trees at Zumsteins are among 80 similarly aged radiata pines that Parks Victoria will remove from the national park. “We have a similar-age set of trees at McKenzie Falls and at Smiths Mill which were also burnt during the fire,” he said. Mr Roberts said many people would have a long association with the pine-tree environment of Zumsteins and Parks Victoria staff members would replant ornamental species re-
IN THIS ISSUE
of Zumsteins which they would hold dear. “It’s a tough one for the community and hopefully there is some light at the end of the tunnel.”
Hard time
The burnt historic pine trees.
flecting the heritage of the area. “There would be people, particularly many also burnt out in Laharum and Wartook areas during the fire, who would have
a long connection with Zumsteins. In some circumstances they might not only have lost property but also these trees and the environment they know
Mr Roberts said radiata pine was a listed weed and unable to be part of a replanting program. But planting would include other similar less-invasive species. “The Zumsteins site has had a hard time in the last couple of years with floods and fire. There have also been a lot of positives. For example a lot of the infrastructure that went in after the floods has been unaffected or received minor damage from the fire,” he said.
• Water-sharing changes • Hindmarsh exchange • No-Till forum • Drysdale in Ararat
Read it online: www.theweeklyadvertiser.com.au
AUDITED: 23,402 COPIES
October 2013 to March 2014 Source: AMAA; CAB Total Distribution Audit for further information visit www.auditedmedia.org.au
“We can take take a lot of confidence that what we’re putting in there will be more resilient against future events.” Parks Victoria staff are also busy monitoring various Grampians sites that might be susceptible to land slip. “We’re certainly keeping an eye out and at this stage really haven’t had the intensity of rain to trigger major events. But certainly in the fire-affected areas we see varying degrees of soil movement,” Mr Roberts said. “Our staff are working through the fire-affected areas and noting any significant changes or build-up in debris.” • Update on Mt Stapylton Campground, page 3.