NPA wins Chief Minister’s Canberra 47 No 2 Jun 2010.pdf · NPA wins Chief Minister’s Canberra Gold Award! NPA was presented with the Canberra Gold Award at a huge public ceremony

NPA BULLETIN − JUNE 2010 3

NPA wins Chief Minister’s Canberra

Gold Award!

NPA was presented with the CanberraGold Award at a huge public ceremonyfeaturing Chief Minister Jon Stanhopetogether with media, business, sportingand political celebrities at the ErindaleVikings Club on 12 March 2010. Theaward is available to all individuals andgroups who have lived or operated in theACT for more than 50 years. We were inexalted company, if somewhat venerable.

This is the first year NPA has beeneligible—we made the 50 years with11 days to spare. This year 251 indi-viduals and 24 groups received awards,with the major award of 2010 Canberra

Citizen of the Year going not, as perhapsone would expect, to a particular citizenbut to the combined Rotary Clubs ofCanberra. Congratulations to them all,individually and collectively.

Our award was presented to VicePresident Chris Emery by Bishop PatPower, last year’s Canberra Citizen ofthe Year. At the function a group of ourkeen committee members also managedto collar the Chief Minister, and Chriswas able to present him with a copy ofthe Golden Anniversary Edition of ourNPA Bulletin, which he graciouslyaccepted.

for 2010–11. From this reduced amountthe parks and conservation staff have tomeet increased costs and an overcommit-ment from 2009–10, so the real impactof the cuts is not yet known. Sport andRecreation, on the other hand, grew from$20.0 million to $26.5 million, so therewas by no means a uniform tightening ofthe purse strings. The measuresannounced to celebrate the InternationalYear of Biodiversity were rebadgedbreeding programs and routinerevegetation and weed control.

Then the Federal Budget added insultto injury: among deep cuts to the

coming up this year we need to ask thoselooking for our votes in both the Senateand the House of Representatives tocommit openly and honestly to fundingthe work which needs to be done to takecare of our environment. Sustaining ournational parks and nature reserves is amatter important enough to make it thedeal-breaker for your vote.

Christine Goonrey

May 2010

environment portfolio, the national parksprogram was slashed by $65 million, and$11 million was ‘pruned’ from landcareprograms. There was nothing for theInternational Year of Biodiversity. It ishard to find the right words to describeour disappointment and frustration. Welooked to our political leaders in the faceof a looming crisis and they have let usdown badly.

Let’s keep them honest

But the power to change this still restswith us. With the Federal election

From the president (continued)

Above left. Bishop Pat Power, 2009

Canberra Citizen of the Year, presents

NPA Vice President Chris Emery,

representing the NPA, with the Chief

Minister’s Canberra Gold Award

certificate.

Above. NPA committee members Annette

Smith, Sonja Lenz, Chris Emery and

Judy Kelly with Chief Minister Jon

Stanhope (centre).Photos Max Lawrence.

Nominations for NPA ACT committee and office bearers for 2010–11

Nominations are sought for committee members and office bearers for the election at the Annual General

Meeting on 19 August 2010. [This form can be photocopied and used for nominations.]

We nominate .................................................... for the position of ............................................. in the NPA ACT for 2010–11

Proposed by ..................................................... (signature)

Seconded by ..................................................... (signature) I accept the nomination ........................................... (signature)

.............................. (date)

4 NPA BULLETIN − JUNE 2010

Celebrating 50 years of NPA ACT

Monday, 1 March 2010

National Film and Sound Archive,Acton ACT

Guest speaker: Professor Rick Shine,Professor of EvolutionaryBiology, University of Sydney

Book launch: Special compilation ofDr Nancy T Burbidge’s series,Eyes or No Eyes.

The Event of the Half Century was ahuge success. Let the photosspeak for themselves.

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Photographs

(by Sabine Friedrich unless otherwise indicated)Front cover (main photograph)

NPA President Christine Goonrey opens proceedings in the very room

where it all started 50 years ago to the day. The National Film and Sound

Archive was then the Institute of Anatomy.

These pages

1. Shane Rattenbury, Greens MLA and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly,

formally opens the celebrations on behalf of Minister Corbell, who was

unable to attend.

2. Foundation member and Life Member Fiona MacDonald Brand

recalls the events of 1960, which she attended.

3. Special Guest Speaker, Richard Shine, recalls his progress from

winning an NPA schools essay competition in 1966 (his subject

was red-bellied black snakes) to his present position as Professor

of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Sydney (photo by

Adrienne Nicholson).

4. Refreshments in the courtyard at the NFSA.

5. Fiona MacDonald Brand officially launches NPA’s book Eyes or

No Eyes, a collection originally written by Dr Nancy Burbidge

and published as a series of line drawings and nature notes in

early editions of the NPA Bulletin.

6. Amanda Caldwell with partner Rod Griffiths among the happy

crowd.

7. John Hibberd, Executive Director ConsACT.

8. Alan Bagnall and Christine Goonrey.

9. Kevin McCue and Mike Smith toasting everyone.

10. Esther Gallant, Martin Chalk and Adrienne Nicholson.

11. Barbara Slotemaker de Bruine and Syd Comfort.

12. Ron and Gail Burns, Beverley Hammond, Doreen Wilson and Annette

Smith.

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Monitoring the impact of mass orienteering

on Namadgi National ParkIn August 2009, NPA ACT heard thatOrienteering ACT was planning anational orienteering event to be heldover Easter 2010 in the Orroral Valley inNamadgi National Park. With plans foraround 1000 competitors and spectatorsthe size of the event was of concern.

Management plan limits onnumbers engaging inrecreational activities

In our response to the new Draft Plan ofManagement for Namadgi National Park(November 2005 ) we had supported,with modifications, a table (Schedule 3)setting out the management requirementsof different sizes of organisedrecreational events, with a statedmaximum limit of 400 people in ParkZone 2 (Semi-remote zone). By the timethe draft plan was referred to the ACTAssembly Standing Committee onPlanning and Environment (December2007) for consideration, the table haddisappeared. NPA made a comprehensivesubmission to the Committee, and threerepresentatives, led by PresidentChristine Goonrey, appeared before it(June 2008), advocating the return of thetable. In its report (August 2008) theAssembly Committee recommended thereturn of the table.

Chief Minister says norestriction on numbers

In the light of NPA’s position on largeevents NPA began making strongrepresentations to Chief MinisterStanhope (September 2009) that the sizeof the orienteering event should berestricted. The Chief Minister’s responsewas that the event would go aheadwithout a restriction on numbers(October 2009). Meanwhile the eventwas moved to Gudgenby Valley to avoidEaster visitors to Orroral Valley.

The NPA Committee began to look ata range of options for achieving a moreprescriptive approach to the approval oflarge-scale events in the absence of anydefinite guidance in the final draftManagement Plan. It was decided toengage with representatives ofOrienteering ACT to find some commonground for reducing the impact of theEaster event and support for somespecific directions on event managementto be included in the new Plan ofManagement for Namadgi National Park.In a meeting on 13 January 2010, facil-

landscapes, developed by CSIROscientists D J Tongway and N L Hindleywas discussed and seen as potentially amore suitable method of monitoring.This method involves measuring11 indicators including groundcover, raininterception and a soil slake test todevelop three indices that provide arating of landscape functionality. It wasdecided that committee members wouldfamiliarise themselves with the LFAprocedure and carry out a site visit tolook at the practicalities of applying thisprocedure.

Monitoring sites selected

The Committee met at Namadgi VisitorCentre on Wednesday 10 February and,after some further explaining andclarification on LFA methodology fromSarah, we went down to the GudgenbyValley. Near Gudgenby homestead wevisited the most accessible part of theevent area, including the proposed carpark and two control points, to look atthe practicalities of setting up andinvestigating transects. We set up an off-course transect to further familiariseourselves with the methodology. It wasagreed that the monitoring would use10 metre transects at up to five controlpoints, and would include one controlwith a drink station, a route ofcompetitor concentration next to anexclusion zone and the car park, and thatmonitoring would take place just beforeand just after the event. One criticaladvantage was that the number ofcompetitors expected at each control

itated by PCL SouthernRegion Manager BrettMcNamara, PresidentChristine Goonrey metwith Andy Hogg ofOrienteering ACT. Aftersome discussion Brett puta proposal to both partiesthat he approach CormacFarrell of Aurecon (amultidisciplinary pro-fessional and technicalservices consultancy) todo an independentlongitudinal surveyaround the event. TheNPA committee agreed tothis and Rod Griffiths,Sarah Sharp and I werenominated as NPArepresentatives.

Monitoring the environmentalimpact

A Steering Committee chaired by BrettMcNamara met on Monday 25 Januarywith Mike Rawnsley, Namadgi NPManager, Andy and David Hogg fromOrienteering ACT, Cormac Farrell fromAurecon, and Sarah Sharp and myselffrom NPA. The study was to becommissioned by Orienteering ACT andthe Parks Service. There was unanimousagreement that environmentalmonitoring of the orienteering eventwould consider what levels of impactcould reasonably be detected, what theecological context of any detectedimpacts were, and how long the impactspersist. It was agreed that an acceptablelevel of change would be when impactsdid not persist for more than 12 months.The orienteering course setters had beenadvised by park management which siteswithin the overall area should not havecheckpoints (known as controls) locatedon them or be traversed by competitors,and it was agreed that some additionalsample points would be placed in thesesites to act as reference sites.

Landscape functional analysis(LFA) system adopted

Discussion on making an environmentalassessment of the orienteering eventfollowed, including the suitability of amonitoring scheme proposed byAurecon. A proposal from Sarah to useLandscape Functional Analysis (LFA), aprocedure for monitoring and assessing (continued next page)

Post-event data collection on a transect which passes

through the final control visited by over 800 contestants.

Cormac Farrell on the ground is collecting the data and

David Hogg is recording it. Photo Clive Hurlstone


Monitoring the impact of mass orienteering on Namadgi NP (continued)

point could be estimated in advance, andthen confirmed using the event data. Thespecies and numbers of significantweeds adjacent to the transects were alsorecorded.

Pre- and immediate post-eventdata collection

The pre-event data collection took placeover two days on Monday 22 andThursday 25 March. Cormac Farrell didthe indicator assessment, with DavidHogg and I assisting in the transect setup and data recording.

The Gudgenby Valley part of the‘Australian 3 Days OrienteeringCarnival’ was held on Easter Saturday,3 April. Competitors and spectators carpooled at the Namadgi Visitor Centrereducing the potential number of carstravelling to Gudgenby by one-third,to 304. Most of the controls wereamongst rocky outcrops in woodland ordry forest. The event was run in fineweather and there were 827 competitorsin the different competition classes. Themonitored control points were visited by295, 136, 333, 270 (2 transects), 390 and827 contestants, and the transect at theedge of the exclusion zone was crossedby 520 contestants.

Separate monitoring byOrienteering ACT

Orienteering ACT has also begun itsown impact-monitoring project of thisevent. This is being done by David Hoggand Frank Ingwersen. The main purposeof that monitoring is to providequantitative guidance to orienteeringcourse planners on the maximumnumber of competitors that could passthrough individual controls withoutcausing specific levels of impact. The

procedure will detect and quantifyimpacts, and that detectable impactsseem to occur when more than 300competitors visit a checkpoint. Thegrassland near the last control, whichhad 827 runners passing through it, hasstood up well with relatively littlechange in the integrity of the plantcover.

Cormac will visit the site over winterand early spring to see if there are anydevelopments, and more data collectionwill take place in late spring when someplant growth has happened and againnext autumn.

Where will all this work take usand is it worth the effort?

The report commissioned byOrienteering ACT and ParksConservation and Lands on the impactof the Gudgenby Valley section of the‘Australian 3 Days OrienteeringCarnival’ will give all concerned anobjective view of the impact of thisevent and a reasonable indication of theimpact of possible future events of asimilar size held in autumn, in dryweather, on granite terrain in NamadgiNational Park. I hope the report willinform future development of policyguidelines by the Department ofTerritory and Municipal Services toassist the assessment of proposed eventsof different types and sizes in the parkand the selection of appropriate areas forsuch events in Zone 2 (Semi remotezone).

It will also establish the value of theLFA procedure for monitoring change inNamadgi National Park as part of thesuite of tools to underpin science-basedmanagement.

Clive Hurlstone

monitoring involves pre- and post-eventobservations, followed by recording ofdisturbance, using a score system andphotographs, at 6-monthly intervals.This is being done in a 1 metre diametercircle centred on 25 controls and otherdisturbance close by. Most of thesecontrols were separate from those usedin the LFA monitoring program and thenumber of visitations to these controlsranged from 66 to 450. I assisted Davidand Frank in their post-event monitoringon Tuesday 6 April.

Longer term monitoring using LFA

The post-event monitoring using theLFA peocedure was carried out byCormac Farrell, again assisted by DavidHogg and myself, in fine weather onThursday 8 April. The data collectionwent well and was completed in a singleday. On the day, observing the areaaround controls, light disturbance oflitter and grass trampling could be seen,and the routes that runners had followedacross the grassland to the final controland across the gully to the finishing linestood out. The car-parking area wasevident as strips of light-brownvegetation, mostly clover crushed by thepassage and parking of vehicles. Asingle, long transect in the car park hadbeen set up and data collected pre-eventfollowing a recommendation from Sarahthat a long transect could cover a goodrepresentation of the impact if itoccurred. Using this transect it waspossible, after the event, to observe andcollect data from three distinct zones:upper car park bays, middle and lowercar park bays and wheel tracks fromtraffic movement areas.

Cormac has begun to process thedata and is confident that the LFA

NPA Notices NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

All members of the association are invited to attend theAnnual General Meeting to be held at the Uniting ChurchHall, O’Connor at 8:00pm on

Thursday 19 August 2010

Business: Minutes of the 2009 AGM President’s reportFinancial report Appointment of auditorElection of office-bearers and committeeAny other business.

Note. All office-bearer and committee positions becomevacant at the AGM.

Nominations for the ensuing year are welcome. Please usecopies of the form on page 3 to nominatemembers for office-bearer and committeepositions for the coming year.

Following the formal business and guest speakers, membersare invited to the traditional AGM supper.

Technicolour and Cinemascope

The Anniversary NPA Bulletin was the first time our littlepublication appeared in full colour throughout. We werepretty pleased with it, and we had positive feedback fromour contributors and readers. The NPA management committee has accordingly agreedto colour being used for the remaining three 2010 editionsof the NPA Bulletin, starting with this one. Whether we con-tinue in 2011 will be decided at the end of the year, theresult depending on feedback from members and the state ofour finances. Printing in colour does add quite significantlyto the cost of our Bulletin.

Editor

Membership fees are now due – see inserts.

NPA Symposium 20107-8 May 2010

The pace accelerates in our fifty-firstyear! The symposium held in Canberrashortly after our birthday celebrationswas the third in the current seriesconvened by immediate past presidentKevin McCue and, in many respects, itwas the most ambitious yet. And inretrospect it could strongly be argued tobe the most successful yet, albeit againstvery strong competition. Kevin, withSonja Lenz and team, have done wellagain. But at the end of the day itremains the case that we need,collectively as a society, to do very muchmore than just identify and understandthe issues.

The symposium was officiallyopened by Mary Porter AM MLA,representing Chief Minister JonStanhope, who was unable to attend onthe day. The symposium was madepossible with assistance from an ACTGovernment Environment Grant.

In total, 108 members and visitorsregistered for the event, which was againheld at CSIRO’s Discovery Centre. Thetwo previous symposiums in Kevin’sseries as convenor were Caring forNamadgi – Science and People in 2006and Corridors for Survival in aChanging World in 2008. An earliersymposium was held in 1985 on theoccasion of NPA’s Silver Anniversaryfollowing on from the declaration of thesouthern half of the ACT as a nationalpark (Namadgi!). The proceedings ofthat first symposium, Australia’s alpineareas: management for conservation,edited by Dr Kevin Frawley, werepublished in 1986.

In line with the overwhelmingconcern of global warming the main

our own Parks, Conservation and Landsservice and, perhaps most importantly,fellow members of our sister NPAs andorganisations from all of the states andterritories of Australia. These wonderfulfellow travellers were all in Canberra,not by accident, for the regular meetingof the National Parks Australia Council(NPAC) on the days preceding thesymposium.

Our interstate guests were billetedwith NPA ACT hosts over the weekend,and not only were solid workingrelationships forged in the ‘good cause’over the few days, but warm friendshipswere made — helped of course byChristine Goonrey and Kevin McCue’srespective roles as President andTreasurer of NPAC.

A feature of all of the latest series ofNPA symposiums has been the priorprinting of proceedings, wherebyparticipants receive a volume containingcopies of the papers to be presentedwhen they arrive. Proceedings for the2006 and 2008 symposiums are stillavailable. Printed copies of theproceedings of the 2010 symposiumhave run out, but the papers are stillavailable on compact disc. Contact theNPA ACT office, or make your purchaseat one of our monthly general meetings.

Max Lawrence

themes addressed by the 2010Symposium were:• Changing expectations of national

parks• Timelines for climate change• Treasures in national parks• After the drought?• Reducing the risk for threatened

species• Resilient cities / national parks• Tourism, population and recreational

pressure• Living with fire.

These themes were approached fromdifferent angles by a wide variety ofspeakers, who included scientists fromacademia and government, members of


Convenor Kevin McCue at the lectern with

speaker Sally Hunt, Coordinator of the

Hotspots Fire Project. (photo by Sabine

Friedrich)

Note the great 50th anniversary lectern sign

kindly made for us by NPA member Paul

Mlakar, using the anniversary logo design by

Sabine Friedrich.

National Parks — can they take the heat?

The NPA Symposium in session at the CSIRO Discovery Centre, 7 May 2010. (Photo by Max Lawrence)

Photos by Sabine Friedrich unless otherwise attributed.

1. The happy picnic gathering.

2. Max Lawrence and Mike Smith cookin’ snags, joined by Barrie

Ridgway (centre).

3. Martin Chalk introduces the presentation of the reconstructed

1979 audio-visual by Glyn Lewis promoting the establishment of

A National Park for the National Capital.

4. Christine Goonrey dispensing very generous gifts to her

committee, this one to Sabine (photo by Max Lawrence).

5. Chris Emery and Di Thompson.

6. Syd Comfort, Sabine Friedrich and Clive Hurlstone.

7. Members and friends gathered in the theatrette at the Namadgi Visitor

Centre for the audio-visual presentation.

8. Rangers Lee Pointon and Dave Whitfield, with NPA President

Christine, deciding how best to cut the cake — chainsaw or axe ??

Apologies to cook Sabine.

Captions for photos opposite page, NPA picnic at Namadgi Visitor Centre


50th Anniversary picnic and barbequeSunday, 21 March 2010

Namadgi Visitor Centre, Tharwa

This happy occasion occurred inwonderful (if a bit windy!) Canberraautumn weather, with generous supportfrom staff and management of ACTParks Conservation and Lands. Ourmembership and friends turned out inforce to enjoy each others’ company insuch excellent surroundings, to see thereconstructed audiovisual presentationput together by Martin Chalk, SabineFriedrich and others from materialprepared originally by Glyn Lewis in thelate 1970s to promote A National Parkfor the National Capital, and to (more orless formally) launch the NPA’s SpecialAnniversary edition of the NPA Bulletin.

An occasion to be remembered andcherished. Both the video and additionalcopies of the Anniversary Bulletin maybe acquired at the Association’s monthlygeneral meetings.

Photos (captions at foot of facing page) bySabine Friedrich, unless otherwise

acknowledged.

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A land of drought and flooding rains


(continued next page)

At NPA’s February general meeting ourguest speaker was Clem Davis. Mr Davisis currently a visiting fellow at theANU’s Fenner School of Environmentand Society, but he is best rememberedfor his 33-year career as a meteorologist(weather forecaster) with the Bureau ofMeteorology, including nine years incharge of the Bureau’s Canberraoperation. During his Canberra careerClem was a familiar voice on TV andradio, and happened to be on duty on themorning of 18 January 2003, a day noneof us will ever forget.

The topic of Clem’s talk was ‘Theclimate influences behind why Australiais called a land of drought and floodingrains’. His underlying thesis was thatbroad understanding of the volatile butessentially dry nature of the Australianclimate is not a new thing, but thatmodern science is contributing much tothe understanding of why it is so — andwhy it is changing.

Dorothea Mackellar’s iconic poemMy Country was written about a hundredyears ago, and Goyder drew his famousline in South Australia even before that.Goyder based his work on a study of thenative vegetation, which had adapted tolong-term climate and which, unlike theearly farmers, was not deceived by a runof good seasons that would proveephemeral. Similarly, kangaroos andAustralian plants have evolved tomanage their reproductive cycles tocapitalise on the good times (the floods)and to survive the bad times (thedroughts). Australia has the greatestvariability in rainfall of all of thecontinents and it has, or had, the naturalbiodiversity to go with that status.

There are four main drivers ofbroadscale weather patterns:• heat (the sun)• the earth’s revolution around the sun

(seasons)• the rotation of the earth (spin to the

atmosphere)• the availability of water (land masses

and oceans).While these drivers are global in

scale, their operation has differentialeffects on weather patterns in variousparts of the globe, including Australia.Put very simply this whole very complexprocess starts when moist hot air risesinto the troposphere in the tropics andsinks back down again in the midlatitudes, leaving a generally dry highpressure ridge right across Australia.There is a very distinct seasonal patternto this — in winter the ridge tends to befurther north than in the summer when

Indian Ocean respectively, and thedifferentials presented as positive ornegative indexes. In Australia’s case, anegative index denotes cooler water onour side of the ocean, and this tends tobe associated with lower rainfall in partsof southern and central Australia.

The Southern Annular Mode(SAM) and the ozone layer

The Southern Annular Mode istechspeak for systems monitoring thenumber and track of Southern Oceanlow-pressure systems that have animportant bearing on rainfall, especiallyin southern Australia. When thesesystems head south we get less rain, andthere is evidence that this is actuallyhappening over time.

The ozone layer in the stratosphere,ozone being a particular form of oxygen,absorbs around 90 per cent of incomingultraviolet rays and is thereforeimportant to, among other things, humanhealth. Damage already caused to thelayer from release of chlorine-basedrefrigerants and propellants will take50–70 years to repair and, in themeantime, there is a suggestion that itmay be affecting southern low-pressuresystems.

Monsoons

The seasonal shift south in the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone during oursummer usually brings warm moist airand sometimes very heavy rainfall tonorthern Australia. In some cases, one ofwhich occurred in February 2010, thiscan interact with a cold front, suckingrain down to south-eastern Australia.Such events are difficult to forecast, withthe timing of the interaction beingcritical — a matter of six hours can makethe difference between drought andflood.

Ocean currents

There are four main currents in our partof the world:• the Antarctic Circumpolar Current,

which links all the oceans• the Leeuwin Current down the west

coast, which is the longest coastalcurrent in the world, but also one ofthe weakest and most meandering

• the Indonesian Throughflow, which isthe only place where oceans join inthe tropics

• the East Australian Current.

northern Australia experiences its wetseason.

In a talk that included someextremely interesting technicalinformation very well presented in termsthat even a lay person could understand(but perhaps not remember for very longas this writer found!) Clem outlined themain processes operating in ouratmosphere, and then described howvarious global indicators could be usedto get some idea of likely developmentsin Australian weather before it actuallyhappens.

The El Niño SouthernOscillation (ENSO)

The Pacific Ocean covers a full one-thirdof the earth’s surface and what happensin it affects weather all over the world.The term El Niño (the Christ Child)refers to years when there is extensivewarming of the central and easterntropical Pacific, typically occurringevery 3–8 years. When this happenstrade winds onto Australia diminish, andcloudiness and rainfall tends to movefrom the western to the central tropicalPacific Ocean — not good for easternAustralia.

To help gauge such events theSouthern Oscillation Index (SOI)measures normalised pressuredifferentials between Darwin and Tahiti.This provides some warning in autumnof the possible development of an ElNiño, whose impact on our weather canbe expected in winter and spring,perhaps ending with a late summercyclone.

Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)

Temperatures in the Indian Ocean havean important influence on weather insurrounding countries. Sea surfacetemperatures are monitored in two‘boxes’, in the western and eastern

Clem Davis (Photo from the

ANU’s Fenner School website)


A land of drought and flooding rains (continued)


NPA member Peter Ormay workedfor many years in the WildlifeResearch Unit of Parks andConservation ACT, EnvironmentACT and ACTPLA. Before that hehad a number of trips to Antarcticaand Macquarie Island with theAustralian Antarctic Division. Inretirement he is a very activemember of Aranda BushlandCommittee. His account of findingCasuarina littoralis and Eucalyptussieberi, while looking for brush-tailed rock wallabies in the ACT, isimportant, but what is of concern isthat Peter has been unable tolocate C. littoralis again.

Casuarina littoralis (Black She-Oak) israre in the ACT. In July 1982 I cameacross one while searching for Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies (Petrogalepenicillata) on an unnamed hill betweenWoods Reserve and Booroomba Station.It was four to five metres high and theonly one in the area. I took LaurieAdams up there a few weeks later toshow him but we couldn’t find it.However, we found an about knee-highseedling that satisfied Laurie about theirexistence in the area.

Gibraltar Falls the western limit

of Casuarina littoralis

There are two other records ofC. littoralis from the ACT, both from thesame area. The first is of a specimenbrought to Nancy Burbidge from ‘a steeprocky area’ on a botany excursion to theGibraltar Falls area in March 1962. Theother one was from Phil Gilmore whorecorded it as ‘occasional, about 0.5 kmNE of Gibraltar Falls’ in 1986, implyingthat it was not rare there. Laurie Adamsreports that specimens for both are in theNational Herbarium collection,Australian National Botanic Gardens.According to Laurie, the Gibraltar Falls

also found about six other plant speciesthat had not been recorded in the ACTbefore.

Brush-tailed rock wallabies

unsighted for 60 years

The rock wallaby work involvedsearching air photos of the mountainousparts of the ACT for rocky areas wherethese macropods may still exist, thenchecking the areas on foot. I found olddroppings at about six sites protectedfrom the weather, but no recent ones.

Brush-tailed rock wallabies were lastseen in the ACT in 1951 at WallabyRocks in what is now Tidbinbilla NatureReserve. These were seen by one of theresidents of the valley not far above thevalley floor on the way up to GibraltarRocks. It is believed they were wipedout by foxes when the rabbit numberswere drastically reduced bymyxomatosis. Although foxes wereunlikely to be able to tackle adults oreven catch them, it was the young thatwere vulnerable as they were left in rockshelters when they got too big for thepouch. I could not find any rock sheltersin the ACT where rock-wallaby joeyswould have been safe from foxes.

Peter Ormay

area is the most westerly site for thespecies in the region. It would beinteresting to see how they survived the2003 bushfire. I’m sure they survivedsimilar fires in the past. They arecommon on a hill west of Captains Flatwhere I went on a Wednesday walk withmembers of the Australian Native PlantSociety recently.

First record of Eucalyptus

sieberi

On the same day in 1982 as I cameacross the she-oak, I also foundEucalyptus sieberi. This was the firstrecord for thespecies in the ACT.There is a purestand of the specieson the crown of thehill. They can beseen from the CorinDam road as theyare a few metrestaller than the othereucalypts belowthem.

While searchingfor rock wallabies I

The author in the regenerating stand of Eucalyptus sieberi above

the Corin Dam road, seen in the background.Photos supplied by the author.

As with the atmosphere, all theoceans are interconnected and verydifficult to model.

Clem concluded with someobservations on climate change. BothENSO and SAM will adversely impactsouthern Australia, but the IOD may

our weather what it is. And what we andespecially our children are likely to be infor.

Max Lawrence

become positive more often. Resultoverall — southern Australia will likelybecome warmer and dryer, with less rain,more drought, more fire, and less timefor ecosystems to recover between firesand droughts. We were all left with amuch better appreciation of what makes

In search of endangered species

For more than a decade now, theNational Parks Association of theAustralian Capital Territory (NPA) andthe Gudgenby Bush Regeneration Grouphave cooperated closely in the regen-eration of the former Boboyan PinePlantation so it seems an appropriatetime to give an update on this project.

Planting of the Boboyan pines

The land now in the Namadgi NationalPark extending south from theGudgenby property had been used forpastoral pursuits since Europeanoccupation in the1830s and continued soafter the inclusion of the area into theAustralian Capital Territory (ACT). By1960 the Forestry Section of the thenDepartment of the Interior was con-sidering establishing a pine plantation inthe southern part of the ACT and in Mayof that year undertook a forestry surveyof an area north of the Naas River,extending to Breakfast Creek. The reporton this survey noted that some areasnorth of the surveyed area extending tothe Gudgenby property were ‘possiblysuitable for coniferous plantations’ andthis was the area selected in 1965 for theestablishment of what was to becomeknown as the Boboyan Pine Plantation.The plantation was located to the southof Gudgenby on land previously ownedby Frank Oldfield, acquired in 1965 bythe Commonwealth and included thehouse now known as Frank and Jack’sHut. It was planted to Pinus radiata in1996 and, due to difficulties in the initialestablishment of trees, further plantingswere carried out in 1969. The GudgenbyNature Reserve, gazetted in 1979,extended over most of the southern partof what is now Namadgi National Parkbut Gudgenby property and the BoboyanPine Plantation were excluded from thereserve. When the national park wasdeclared in 1984 they were, however,both incorporated into it.

Namadgi National Park

At this time the Boboyan Plantationcomprised about 380ha of pines, wasmanaged by the Forestry Section andintended as a commercial softwoodplantation. Site difficulties, distance tomarket and isolation from other pineplantations limited its viability.Bushfires in 1983 damaged about half ofthe trees although some trees from theaffected areas were salvaged.

The 1986 Plan of Management forNamadgi National Park expressedconcern about the maintenance of the

vehicular traffic that would be associatedwith harvesting the pines.

In early 1997 harvesting began andsome 119ha were felled in this firstseason. Collection of seed of appropriateEucalyptus and Acacia species takenfrom trees in the locality was also wellunder way in 1997. A display on theBoboyan project was set up in theNamadgi Visitor Centre and, in early1998, initial steps taken towards theformation of a volunteer group whosetasks would include sowing of seed,planting of seedlings, construction offences and control of weeds. By thistime Ann Connolly had been appointedPark Care Coordinator. Steve Welch and,when he was absent on leave, AmandaCarey, took over responsibility for theproject. Clive Hurlstone attended one ofthe early meetings held to foster theestablishment of a Park Care group forBoboyan and subsequently commented:‘About twenty people came alongincluding some locals from the Tharwaarea and after a presentation on theproject at Namadgi Visitor Centre byranger Steve Welch and Park CareCoordinator Ann Connolly, we went toview the site’. Because it was intendedfrom the outset that members be drawnfrom the general community, Park Carewas the appropriate model for thevolunteer group. The first meeting of theGudgenby Bush Regeneration Grouptook place on 26 May 1998 with10 members attending. Alec Ellis waselected president and Eleanor Stodart,secretary.

The first burning of slash from the1997 harvesting was carried out in June1998 and although conditions were notideal a satisfactory burn was achieved.This enabled the first work parties of thenewly formed group to be held in theHospital Creek area on Saturday 11 andSunday 12 July with 33 attending on theformer and nine on the latter. Saturday’swork party began with some symbolicplantings. Brendan Smyth, the Ministerfor Urban Affairs, planted a seedling onbehalf of the ACT Government followedby plantings to recognise the Europeansettlers in the area, the Ngannawalpeople and the public interest in theproject. The work parties carried out anumber of tasks: preparing patches ofground and sowing seed into them;collecting and burning unopened pinecones; constructing the first exclosure;and undertaking training in water qualitytesting.

pine plantation within the park and wenton to recommend that, on maturity, theplantation be harvested, and pineregrowth suppressed and replaced byappropriate native species. It alsorecommended a major rehabilitationprogram in the interim in areas whereonly dead or uneconomic pinesremained. The Park Service subsequentlytook some steps towards removal of theremnant pines in the burned-out areas.This work included spraying and the useof heavy machinery. In 1990 the NPAconducted a number of work parties (onein association with the Kosciuszko HutsAssociation) to remove these pines andnearby pine wildings. The measures metwith only limited success.

For some years the NPA had beenpressing for the immediate felling of allthe pines in the plantation and intensifiedthis pressure during the mid 1990sparticularly after Eleanor Stodart becamepresident. The small size of theplantation, generally low standard of thetrees and bushfire damage added weightto this position but, not unnaturally, ACTForests had its commercial interests toconsider. In 1994 the associationarranged for Nicki Taws to prepare acomprehensive report setting out the casefor removal of the pines and outliningissues and available techniques relevantto undertaking this proposal. In 1995 theACT Government decided that theBoboyan pines would all be cleared andthe area replanted with native species.Later that year the Parks and Con-servation Service released a draft reportcovering this operation. The project wasto be managed by the ACT Parks andConservation Service with ACT Forestsbeing responsible for the harvesting andmarketing of the merchantable timber.Although the main features of theprogram were influenced by recentexperience of converting an erstwhilepine forest at Jounama near Tumut tobushland, the report recognised theextent and complexity of the Boboyanproject. NPA, while acknowledging themerits of the detail and discussion in thereport, expressed reservations about theoverall arrangements for the man-agement of the project.

Clearing of pines and regen-

eration of the site

In late 1996 Ann Connolly wasappointed to the position of projectofficer and ACT Forests began upgradingthe roads and access in the plantation toaccommodate the machinery and

(continued page 13)


Gudgenby Bush Regeneration


(continued on page 18)

In 1998, for the first of several timesduring the life of the project, felling ofpines was suspended as a result ofunfavourable market conditions and thewithdrawal of government funds,frustrating progress. Nevertheless,Eleanor, now president, was able toreport that by the beginning ofNovember all compartments that hadbeen felled and burned were later sownand some seedlings were beginning toemerge. By 1999 a pattern of regularwork parties had been established thatformed the basis of subsequent activity.The group benefited from NaturalHeritage Trust grants in this period.They financed the purchase of a trailerand the equipping of it with hand toolsand a first aid kit. The trailer formed thebase for work parties, this being greatlyassisted by the Parks Service garaging itand towing it to work sites as required.Natural Heritage Trust grants, whichextended over 3 years, also financedconstruction by contractors of a numberof wire exclosures and the provision ofother support to the group, includingassistance in meeting travel costs ofmembers.

Felling and the follow-on burningresumed in 1999, with Green Corpsmembers seeding areas in the vicinity ofFrank and Jack’s Hut. As compartmentswere selected for logging the followingsequence had become established:• felling and extraction of merchantable

timber by ACT Forests• felling of remaining pines by ACT

Parks Service• a period for drying of slash• burning of slash when its condition

was suitable and the weatherfavourable

• direct seeding, preferably into the freshash bed.

Each stage required planning andcoordination of resources, staff orcontractors, and was dependent onsuitable ground and weather conditions.Thus, some interruptions to scheduleswere to be expected. Also, difficulties inthe market for pine logs, and depart-mental financial and staffing constraints,added further problems to maintainingthe work flow. The practice ofappointing a project manager drawnfrom the Parks Service staff was dis-continued and thus an additionalworkload fell on park rangers. In thesecircumstances, the Gudgenby BushRegeneration Group, in addition toproviding a volunteer work force, gavecontinuity and support to assist inmaintaining momentum in the project.

The group’s work was not limited to

had been pushed up and ignited as abackburn. The Parks Service was able totake advantage of this situation andorganise work parties in the first week ofFebruary 2003 to seed into the warm ashbed. Members of the NPA and theGudgenby Group participated in thiswork. With smoke still rising near theedge of the creek this was an eerie sceneof bringing new life to scorched earth.The area has regenerated well and otherareas affected have since been resown.On the day of the fire the group’s trailerwas garaged in the Parks Service depotat Glendale where the fires causedextensive damage. However, the trailerescaped with minor damage and wassoon back in service.

Eleanor Stodart Grove

As president of the NPA in the mid1990s Eleanor was an effective advocateof the total removal of the Boboyanpines and became secretary of theGudgenby group on its formation in1998 and president in the following year.The succeeding four years were criticalto the success of the Gudgenby projectand during this time Eleanor providedthe required direction and leadership.From her scientific background shebrought a good understanding of therequirements and gave unstintingly ofher time and energy to the task. Inrecognition of her work she wasawarded an ACT Landcare special com-mendation in 2001 and, in the followingyear, the NRMA Volunteer Award in theenvironment and conservation category.Unfortunately, she did not live to see thefull realisation of her vision forGudgenby but, in May 2005, following aproposal from the ACT Parks andConservation Service, a grove of blacksallees in the Hospital Creek area wasdedicated to her honour. Furtherplantings in this grove have been madesince then and an information plaquerecording her contribution to theregeneration of the area erected nearby.

Towards the tenth anniversary

By August 2005 initial replanting of theGudgenby area had been completed butthe task was far from complete. Muchremained to be done: weed and pinewilding control; filling gaps in thecoverage of new plantings; replantingareas where germination of seeds orsurvival of seedlings had been poor;provision of better protection for someseedlings; improved surveying andrecording of plant progress; and

seeding as part of the felling and plantingcycle. Work parties were also directed toplanting seedlings, particularly indifficult, sloping and grassed areas, fill-in seeding and planting in sites wheregermination or survival had been poor,weed control and removal of pinewildings. Other regular activitiesincluded testing water quality in therehabilitation area and assessment of theprogress of regeneration through surveysalong transect lines. And, of course,work planning and liaison with park staffwere continuing requirements. Otherrelated tasks were also undertaken whenrequired, such as assisting in the removalof willows in nearby creeks. RangerDarren Roso showed particularenthusiasm for this work. Many othergroups have, at different times, con-tributed to the project mainly by raisingseedlings or working alongside groupmembers. They include GreeningAustralia, Green Corps, scout groups,Lanyon High School, AustralianConservation Volunteers and, of course,the NPA. Greenfleet carried out rippingand planting in more open or grassedareas, the Olympic Landcare organi-sation supported a fenced planting closeto the gate from the Yankee Hat carparkand a number of individual membershave also raised seedlings. Chris Webb’suniversity research project carried out inthe Hospital Creek area provided insightsinto the effects of macropod grazing onnative seedling establishment.

When the commitment to theGudgenby regeneration project wasmade in 1995 there was recognition thatthere would be many problems to over-come, some identified, some emergent.So it was with some relief that theremoval of the pines was completedduring 2004 and by August the followingyear the area had been planted or seeded.Two events of particular significancewill complete this account of the periodto 2005.

The 2003 bushfires

Bearing in mind the extent of the damagebrought to Namadgi by the 2003 fires,the Gudgenby Regeneration Area faredbetter than might have been expected.Spot fires in the area had been controlledand the adjoining open grassed areas ofthe Gudgenby Valley were not greatlyaffected. Very little of the area alreadyregenerated was damaged. However, alarge area of standing pines on thewestern side of the Old Boboyan Roadextending towards Bogong Creek hadbeen burned, and slash along the road

(continued page 14)

Gudgenby Bush Regeneration (continued from page 12)

identification of problem areas. Regularwork parties were continued, usuallywith a strength of about 10 members.Some small grants were secured whichenabled the group to improve its tool kitand add backpack sprays to theequipment. While the tasks listed aboveformed the mainstay of work during thisperiod some other tasks were undertaken:a badly degraded slope was rehabilitatedusing erosion bars, then replanted; majorweed control along the Hospital Creekswamp was carried out; repairs todamaged exclosures undertaken; col-lapsed fencing removed; planting alongthe Gudgenby River flats followingwillow removal completed; and greaterattention paid to the control of annualweeds.

The tenth anniversary of theGudgenby Bush Regeneration Group wasmarked by a gathering in the ForestryHut a short distance from the Yankee Hatcarpark gate on 12 July 2008. The eventincluded a walk through the HospitalCreek area where the first work party hadmade the initial plantings on 11 July1998. But what a difference to the sceneover the intervening 10 years! PresidentClive Hurlstone extended a particularwelcome to Steve Welch and the current

carrying out some preliminary work toregulate and monitor flows in the swamp.

On the lighter side

Work parties are not without lightermoments and also provide opportunitiesto enjoy the wonderful setting of theregeneration area, located as it is belowthe rocky mass of Mount Gudgenby.Some of these incidents are recorded inlocal names used within the group forfeatures in the area:

Virginia’s Drop Down — VirginiaLogan was manager of NamadgiNational Park when the regenerationproject began. On her first visit to the siteshe drove straight down this very steephill before realising it was there. Sheemerged the right way up but this sectionof track has now been closed andreplanted.

Car Key Corner — When the groupwas broadcasting seed here through asuccession of snow showers in August1999 Eleanor lost her car keys,permanently. All her carload had to getlifts home and her son drove her out nextday with spare keys to collect the car.

The occasional heavy snowfallprovided an unarguable case to abandonwork for the day and instead enjoy andperhaps try to photograph the untroddenwhite landscape.

And there was always the Decemberwork party where custom decreed thatwork stop at midday and members retreatto a Christmas lunch, often in Frank andJack’s Hut, then to luxuriate in a stroll toadmire the extent of regrowth in a part ofthe area.

There was also the drama of the raingauge. Some years ago the group set up arain gauge in the Olympic exclosure justbeyond the gate at the Yankee Hat car-park. Would you believe that when thegroup went to check the gauge inNovember 2007 it was not there; perhapsan early Christmas present for someone?A replacement gauge has now been setup elsewhere buried deep in theregrowth.

Syd Comfort

ranger assisting the group, Dave Whit-field, and spoke of the friendly co-operation extended by park staff over theyears.

With 10 years of achievement behindthe group and the basics of the task ofregeneration attained the groupconsidered the time had come to considerfuture directions. This has been done andthe decision is to continue its operationsin Gudgenby. In addition to thecontinuing requirement to maintain thetree regrowth areas, control weeds andpine wildings, and continue water qualitymonitoring, other tasks already identifiedinclude the establishment of understoreyspecies, gaining a systematic under-standing and recording of the flora of thearea, and comprehensive documentationof the Gudgenby regeneration activitiesand related processes. Some extension ofthe group’s activities into relatedneighbouring areas could be undertaken.That the group under the leadership ofMichael Goonrey is actively moving inthese directions is evident from somework undertaken during 2009: plantingof nearly 600 trees in a number oflocations during the early winter, and aspring work party mapping water coursesin the Hospital Creek swamp and


Gathering of some of the GBRG regulars to celebrate the Group’s tenth birthday, 12 July 2008

Gudgenby Bush Regeneration (continued from page 13)

Archaeological survey of Orroral Tracking Station (continued from page 15, opposite)

1933, but today the only on-siteevidence of its operation is the concretefootings in a Cornish farmer’s field.

Future work

Directions for further study in theOrroral site include:• completion of the surveys and

mapping• archival research

the area at that time. Dr Gorman wasquestioned about the likelihood of a‘dig’ on the site and the case for itsheritage listing … but is not the wholeof Namadgi heritage listed as a com-ponent of the Australian Alps NationalParks?

Syd Comfort

• oral history studies involving formertracking station staff

• possible site excavation.A wide-ranging discussion followed

the presentation. The audience includedformer Orroral staff and people withinterests in closely related areas. As tobe expected, questions were raised aboutthe removal of equipment from the siteafter operations ceased and clearing of


In April, the Canberra ArchaeologicalSociety hosted a public meeting on thetopic ‘Orroral Valley NASA TrackingStation: the archaeology of Australia’sspace heritage’. Dr Alice Gorman gave apresentation based around a geo-physicalstudy of the Orroral station site under-taken in February 2010 by a FlindersUniversity team under her leadership.This study was financed by an ACTHeritage Grant. Dr Gorman has a long-standing interest in the archaeologicalheritage of space exploration andbelieves that the archaeology of therecent past helps us to understand someaspects of life today. Her interest in thedevelopment of early satellites led her toask questions about the associatedground stations.

Orroral: a key strand in theNASA global communicationnetwork

Orroral Valley Tracking Station, whichoperated from 1965 to 1985, was one of21 similar stations established by the USNational Aeronautics and Space Admin-istration (NASA) to track its orbitalobservatories. Ground work for Orroralwas undertaken by Australia, while theantennas and other equipment wereimported from the United States. Majorequipment installed in Orroral includedthe 26m parabolic antenna, four SATAN(satellite automatic tracking antenna)antennas and the Minitrack aerial array.The Minitrack was a first-generation sys-tem transferred in 1967 from IslandLagoon near Woomera, where it hadtracked Sputnik 1 and Vanguard 1 in1957–58. The SATAN aerials weresecond-generation equipment.

The tasks of the tracking station maybe summarised as threefold — acquiringsatellite data, carrying out telecommu-nications between earth and the satel-lites, and sending commands to controlthe satellites. In the 1960s and ’70s,Orroral tracked orbital observatoriesincluding the Tiros and Nimbus weathersatellites and, from 1975, the Apollo andSoyuz space vehicles, then, in the early1980s, the space shuttles. In the mid1980s, Orroral equipment was replacedby new technologies and the parabolicantenna was moved to Tasmania.

ings and the Minitrack pylons, and iden-tified substantial cabling remains emerg-ing from ground-level. Detailed exami-nation of individual items establishedtheir functions and assisted in under-standing the location and operation ofvarious units.

Orroral’s place in the widerscheme

Dr Gorman reflected on the significanceof the remaining on-site evidence atOrroral as representing Australia’s rolein international space exploration andindicating the origins of moderntelecommunications on which so manyaspects of current life are based. She alsoobserved that, although based on third-generation technology, Orroral passedthrough many changes. It operated dur-ing a period of great creativity whenemerging technological advances led torapid supersession of equipment.

Attention was drawn to the parallelsthat could be drawn between the Orroralof our time and the sites of other sig-nificant communication stations nowdefunct. One such site was the stationestablished by Marconi at Poldhu,Cornwall, in 1901 to develop trans-Atlantic wireless links. This stationcarried out experimental work until

A site of historicaland scientific sig-nificance

The Orroral site is con-sidered to have histori-cal, aesthetic and scien-tific significance. Theestablishment of thetracking station is seento have provided Aus-tralian contact withemerging technologies and to have hadsocial significance through the peopleliving, working and interacting with thistechnology. The Flinders Universitystudy was directed towards extendinginformation about the station throughdetailed surveying and mapping to assistinterpretation of the site and assess itssignificance. The three components ofthe study were:• a geophysical survey to identify sub-

surface infrastructure• global positioning system (GPS)

surface mapping• archival research.

Intensive fieldwork

Fieldwork was carried out from 14 to17 February 2010, a period during whichthe Orroral area experienced substantialrainfall that hampered the work. Thegeophysical survey was to include aseries of both electro-inductive andmagnetic measurements but, unfor-tunately, the electro-induction equipmentbecame unserviceable, so this importantpart of the survey could not proceed.Remnant equipment footings and othersurface objects on site gave rise to someproblems in interpreting magnetometerreadings but an extensive area wassurveyed, revealing buried cabling andother underground features. Also, aseries of magneticanomalies registeredcould not be explainedby reference to existingsite plans and maywarrant further investi-gation.

GPS mapping of thearea covered most ofthe surface featuressuch as equipment foot-

Archaeological survey of Orroral Tracking Station

‘Westcliffe’, one of the four Marconi cottages at Poldhu in Cornwall, in 1955.

The footings of the 1901 aerial are in a field directly behind the cottages. Syd

and Barbara Comfort actually lived for a time in ‘Westcliffe’ while Syd was

posted to a nearby naval station. Photo supplied by the author.

The Orroral Valley Tracking Station 26m antenna and operations

building – looking to the south west. Photo by Ted Barnes, 1969.

(continued foot of page 14, opposite)


Judy Payne was NPASecretary in 1981and 1982, and nowlives in Maleny,Queensland. Herfriend and currentNPA member BettyCampbell gave Judya copy of theAnniversary Bulletin.Here is an editedextract from Judy’sresponse to Betty onreading the Bulletin.

A good review for Anniversary Bulletin

Dear Betty,

A thousand thanks for giving me the copy of NPA’s Golden Anniversary Bulletin! I’ve had alovely time, remembering and dwelling in the past. It’s a very handsome production.These are a few thoughts I want to share with you:• Loved Esther Gallant’s story of wedge-tailed eagles. That sculpture in the Arboretum on

Dairy Farmers Hill becomes even more significant now.• Enjoyed all the articles, especially those about people I knew. Steve Hill reminded me

what a gentle man Charles was, and how he and Audrey would go away for a few daysmid-week camping (or campervanning!), and how John and I said we’d do that one day!

• Judy Kelly’s Monga article was so good to read, and the one about gentians too. Oh,those alpine walks!

• I particularly related to Stephen Johnston’s memories. I have similar emotions about mytime in NPA.

• And how I remember that Thredbo trip with the wombat wanderings. Bet they’re notthere now. And the Lewis’s — I really enjoyed remembering them. And all the otherstoo.

• Interesting to see members’ artwork — the Story girls are talented. But it wasAdrienne’s wire art that took my eye — beautiful — especially the gum nuts andplatypus disc. Some people are so creative!

So Betty, thanks for some very happy hours — I nearly didn’t take the booklet, now I’m soglad I did!

Judy Payne

Born 18 April 1921Died 16 February 2010

With sadness we note the passing ofGeorge Chippendale, long-termmember and good friend of NPA.George was our President in 1971and was active right to the end,contributing to our GoldenAnniversary NPA Bulletin, whichreached your mailboxes shortly afterhis death. He is perhaps bestremembered by NPA members for theBlack Mountain wildflower walks heled every October. This was atradition he took over from the greatNancy Burbidge herself in the 1960sand which he carried on with NPAand other groups including U3A untilJean Geue took over in 2008.

An extensive obituary written byJoy McMahon, one of George’sdaughters, appeared in the CanberraTimes of 26 March 2010. Whatfollows is an edited extract fromJoy’s article, reproduced with herpermission.

Botanist George Chippendale was astrong proponent of growing Australian

either alone or as a collaborator. Much ofthis work related to Eucalyptus, but notexclusively so. In 1972 he publishedWildflowers of the Australian CapitalTerritory, jointly authored with his wifeThelma. His final work was completedin retirement, the sole author of book 19of the Flora of Australia —Myrtaceae — Eucalyptus, Angophora(1988) for which he was awarded aBicentennial Australia Day Medallion.

George always thought he waslucky — lucky to have had a careeraccidentally chosen for him, for whichhe was entirely suited and passionateabout.

George is survived by Thelma,4 children, 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Joy McMahon

native plants. He was born in Sydney, theeldest of six, and left school at 14. Aftera short stint as a draper, his motherhelped him get a job at the SydneyBotanic Gardens in 1936 as the tea boy.He stayed working at the Gardens untilserving in the Australian Army duringWorld War II. Post war, he returned tothe Gardens and due to his army servicewas able to study for a Bachelor ofScience at Sydney University.

In 1954 George moved to AliceSprings as the first resident taxonomist, ajob he loved. He made many trips intothe bush with colleagues and assistantsto collect plant specimens, and thesewere the basis for the present NorthernTerritory Herbarium. He moved toCanberra in 1966 to take up the positionof senior botanist in the then ForestryResearch Institute, which became theDivision of Forest Research, CSIRO. Hismain specialisation became the genusEucalyptus. In 1972–73 he spent time asthe Botanical Liaison Officer at KewGardens in England before returning toCanberra.

George was a prolific author,contributing to a steady stream of books

Vale George Chippendale

Figure 3 shows a view similar tothat in Figure 1 and the arrowshows both the cleared line and thedead ‘stags’.

As confirmation of thesechanges, Figure 4 is taken fromthe reverse side of the Land andProperty Information, NSW1:25 000 scale map titled Rendez-vous Creek (sheet number 8626-1SNew Series). The aerial image wastaken in 2001. The arrows showthe discontinuity and the outlineshows the area of regrowth that hasreplaced the ‘stags’.

An inspection of the site inJanuary 2010 showed the dis-continuity to be marked by a fencealong some of its extent. On thesouthern side of the fence is anopen forest that is a mixture ofEucalyptus pauciflora ssp. pauci-flora and E. viminalis, the averagestand height being about15 metres — there are very fewfallen and standing dead trees to beseen. The southern extent of thearea is fringed with E. stellulata.The northern side of the fence isalso an open forest with a mixtureof E. pauciflora ssp. paucifloraand E. viminalis but with anaverage height of 25 metres. Inboth locations the understoreycomprises Kunzea ericoides andCassinia sp.

So, how long does it take for anative forest to regenerate? Fromthe evidence available, andassuming that the site in question isthat cleared by Lee, we could saythat, in the Gudgenby Valley, theforest of E. pauciflora ssp. pauci-flora and E. viminalis takes at least90 years to grow back to a sub-stantial but immature cover. SinceFigure 2 shows little sign ofrecovery after some 43 years, therecovery seems to have occurredover the last 47 years. However,this figure does not account for anygrazing, browsing and trampling bycattle that may have delayed the process.

Given that the Gudgenby NatureReserve was declared in 1979 and thesite was just inside its eastern boundaryit is perhaps more accurate to considerthat the site has returned to its currentimmature state over a period of some30 years. How long will it take to add thefinal 10 metres to the height of the trees?


How long does it take a nativeforest to regenerate?

According to the Australian Forests web-site (www.australianforests.org.au) — aforestry education resource — eucalyptforests managed for sawlogs are felledafter 40–50 years during which time twoor three thinning operations areconducted to select for stronger andstraighter trees. This process is claimedto ‘imitate nature’.

In May 2009, the NPA received apresentation from Dr Matthew Brook-house about the principles of dendro-chronology. Dr Brookhouse’s work hasshown that many mature eucalypts in theACT live for up to 300 years before theyfall to the ground from heartwood rot.

From the observations of many of ourmembers, those of Namadgi’s foreststhat were burnt in 1983 and again in2003 seem to have returned to arespectable degree of vegetative coverwithin 10 years, with few of the treesactually dying.

Confused? These data are difficult tocorrelate. However, while reviewingsome old photographs for NPA’s50th anniversary celebrations, theopportunity to place some long-termconsistency into this topic presenteditself.

Figure 1 is a view looking across theGudgenby Valley towards Mt Burbidgetaken in March 2007. The arrowsindicate an obvious discontinuity in thetree growth at the base of the hill thatseparates the Middle Creek andRendezvous Creek valleys. I had oftenwondered if this was the limit of treefelling undertaken by one MarmadukeWatson Lee who owned GudgenbyStation in the first two decades of the20th century. M W Lee had designs on alogging operation on Middle Creek.These designs, in fact, saw him import atimber mill from England and commencelogging until a bog developed alongMiddle Creek following ringbarking oftrees on an adjacent hillside, thus causinghim to withdraw.

My ponderings were answered, how-ever, when I came across Figures 2and 3. These photos were included in the1963 NPA submission to establish whatbecame Gudgenby Nature Reserve.Figure 2 was taken from Yankee Hat andclearly shows a cleared line (arrowed)and an extensive stand of dead (pre-sumably ringbarked) timber — outlined.

Perhaps a Bulletin article for the NPA’s70th anniversary can review theirprogress.

Martin Chalk

Note: For more details of Gudgenbyhistory, including the doings ofMr Marmaduke Watson Lee, seeGraeme Barrow’s article in theJune 2009 NPA Bulletin. Ed.

Forest regeneration andhistorical photographs

Figure 4. Tree-line discontinuity and regrowth.

Figure 3. Towards Mt Burbidge (c 1963).

Figure 1. Looking towards Mt Burbidge by Martin Chalk.

Figure 2. Looking from Yankee Hat (c1963).


The change makers:

stories from Australia’s

first environmental studies

graduates

John A. HarrisSelf published, 2009, 260 pp.Available from the University ofCanberra Co-op bookshop,price $27.00, or online from <www.coop-bookshop.com.au>,plus $7.50 postage.

‘Australia’s first environmentalstudies graduates’ emerged BAppScfrom the Canberra College ofAdvanced Education (CCAE) in1973, five years after theestablishment of the college which,in 1990, became the University ofCanberra. The graduates hadcompleted ‘… a new course basedon the biological and ecologicalsciences relating to contemporaryissues facing human society’, whichwas surely quite revolutionary at thetime.

John Harris was one of their teachersin the course. He went on to teach, over25 years, some 200 students andgraduates in the course. In 1997 he setout to discover what had happened to asmany of them as he could track down.This book documents their stories in twoparts: Part 1 covers their lives aftergraduation; Part 2 their activities andexperiences before and during college oruniversity. The author can count it aconsiderable achievement.

Every NPA ACT member will findmany things of interest and inspiration inThe change makers. Their greatestinterest is likely to be in mattersconcerning national parks and naturereserves for which, curiously it seems tome, there are no generic index entries.Specific parks are flagged, however, anddiscussed in the context of matters suchas the work of graduates who went on tobecome park rangers. I regret to reportthat I can find no mention of NamadgiNational Park in the book; the closest weget is the ‘Brindabella mountain ranges’where Mark, a graduate destined tobecome a resource manager in the ACT,‘… spent most weekends hiking andcamping’ in his youth.

The chapter ‘Blazing a trail’ containsmuch to inspire. Highlights of a few ofthe stories therein follow.

Phillip started work as a ranger in

decided to make a break withfarming and go west to WA.Serendipitously for him, the WANational Parks Authority waslooking for someone to do theirenvironmental planning and he gotthe job which, astonishingly,entailed responsibility for the wholeof Western Australia. Roger, likemost of us in thrall of the naturalenvironment, is a practical person.He trained council grader drivers toadopt different procedures thatminimise damage to roadside plantsand the spread of weedsencouraging, he says, their interestin the environment as they drivearound. He’s a [brave] diplomat too. Hetells of his first encounter withButch in the grazed, burnt hillbillycountry with airstrips—vacantCrown land (!), that was to becomepart of the Leeuwin NaturalisteNational Park.… this guy, Butch Guthrie, gotout of a plane. He had never wornboots in his life, wore baggypants with a piece of hay bandaround them as a belt and aragged old shirt. As he got out ofthe aircraft and walked towardsme, he began yelling abuse at meand threatening to do all sorts ofnasty things to me.

Roger held his nerve then and later,and got Butch’s interest. Not so muchlater, Butch was to become an ally. Afterthe declaration of the national park,when a prescribed burn was allocated:

… Butch would be out there withhis aircraft. He would check outwhere the fire was and would beout there with his grader helping toput in fire breaks … so from thiskind of beginning it was possible tobuild up good relationships withthe community.Garry, at the time of interview, was a

resource manager in Victoria, but for hisfirst job he went to Kakadu as a ranger atthe same time as Phillip. It was a shockfor him.

We’d learned the Yosemite versionof national parks. Kosciusko iswhat we looked at, andKinchega—keep the people out,control the animals, let a fewvisitors into a few locations, have awilderness area and Bob’s your

Kakadu National Park shortly after itsestablishment. The old-style rangers,‘The guys who were good at fencing,shooting buffalo, wrestling crocodiles,[and] pig hunting’, didn’t quite knowwhat to do with him so, for their ownconvenience, they teamed him up withToby, who was senior traditional ownerfor the Ranger mine site, and whosefunction they were equally unsure of.Phillip reports:

… the bizarre thing is that theydidn’t realise that from anAboriginal cultural point of viewthey were doing exactly the bestthing possible for both this fresh-face white fella and Toby, which forme was to be inducted into thecountry by a senior traditionalowner. That was another one ofthose defining experiences for me.Within not many years, Phillip was,

‘suddenly’ he recounts, Park Manager forKakadu NP and working with and for thetraditional owners on the Board ofManagement to draw up the KakaduPlan of Management, an exercise, hesays, during which he got ‘quite bruised’by the ‘outrage’ of people both insideand outside the park system.

When Roger enrolled in the course in1974 he was already an agriculturalcollege graduate and pioneer of newfarming methods on the family farm inwestern Victoria. After graduating, he

Book reviews


Making changes where it counts


uncle. I got to Kakadu and we had abloody great uranium mine in thepark and the Aboriginal people wholived there, hunted there, and burntthe landscape.But, Roger notes, it was ‘… the

Aboriginal elders’ understanding ofwildlife and landscapes became thebenchmark for my understanding of whatwas going on in Kakadu’, an experiencemuch the same as that of Phillip.

A few job iterations later, Rogerbecame a scientist, essentially a nationalpark manager, he says, in east Gippsland.

acknowledged, but no editor. Pity. Onthe advice of a professional editor, theforeword would have been placed to thefore, before the contents, where itbelongs; we would be told, explicitly,who is the publisher; and the use ofitalics, a typographic device withspecific and circumscribed uses, for pageafter page of long quotations would havebeen eschewed.

Ed Highley

It will be of interest to members that henotes:

My interest in east Gippsland waspeaked by a campaign run by theVictorian National ParksAssociation to save the RodgerRiver, which is part of the SnowyRiver National Park.I hope that these few gems will

induce NPA ACT members to mine thegreater riches of this enthralling work.They will be rewarded, I’m sure.

The book is handsomely produced.The designer, indexer and printer are all

Making changes where it counts (continued from page 18)

Who Lied? The Ly-ee-Moon

disaster and a question of

truth

Graeme BarrowDagraja Press, Canberra 2010, 108 pp,$24.95 rrp.

At the southern end of Ben BoydNational Park on the NSW coast south ofEden and near the Victorian border, liesGreen Cape. This is the third majorprominence ships sailing fromMelbourne to Sydney must navigate, theothers being Wilsons Promontory andCape Howe. The steamer Ly-ee-moonhad made this trip before.

At a bit after 9:00pm on 30 May1886, a fine and clear night withmoderate seas, the Ly-ee-Moon ploughedonto the rocks right next to the newlyconstructed and fully functional GreenCape lighthouse. The result was not onlytragic, with the loss of 71 lives (only15 survived), but also without sat-isfactory explanation as to thecircumstances leading to the disaster.This was despite a long, drawn-out seriesof public inquiries and the separate trialsand acquittals of the ill-fated vessel’scaptain and third officer (both of whomsurvived).

In a newly published book NPAmember and regular NPA Bulletincontributor Graeme Barrow eloquentlyand in considerable detail describes thewhole sequence of events, and arrives atthe conclusion that one of the two keyofficers had to be telling whoppers. Thebook’s title, exemplified by the blaringred text on the front cover, sums it up.

While much of the book concen-trates on the events as revealed from theevidence presented to the various legalprocesses, and therefore focuses par-ticularly on the two officers, Graeme

blockade runner during the AmericanCivil War. But it could not survive itslast visit to Green Cape.

This is an attractive and readablevolume with very nicely reproducedsketch illustrations from the period.While it describes a catastrophic eventthat shocked all of Australia at the time,it does also give a good feel for the waypeople lived (and died) a century and aquarter ago.

Max Lawrence

also puts a very personal dimension tothe tragedy by describing who thevictims were, the circumstances of theirdemise where known, and what sub-sequently happened to them. Some ofthem remain buried in a lonely cemeterynear the lighthouse. One of the victimswas Mrs Flora MacKillop, mother ofBlessed Mary MacKillop who is soon tobecome a saint after a long investiture bythe Catholic Church.

The book also tells of the chequeredcareer of this somewhat oddly namedship. It was built in England in 1859 as athree-masted, schooner-rigged paddlesteamer, survived being sunk in HongKong harbour(!), was rebuilt as a singlescrew steamer, almost destroyed by firein Sydney, then rebuilt again as a fastand comfortable passenger ship. Thereare periods in its life that are surroundedin mystery. Some sources suggest it wasused in the Chinese opium trade and as a

Green Cape — the good news

Ben Boyd National Park itself is abeautiful natural place, perhapsdespite its history. At our recent Sym-posium reported on elsewhere in thisBulletin, Senior Research Scientistwith the NSW NPWS Dr AndrewClaridge noted that Green Cape wasactually a working farm during the1930s and 1940s, but has nowreverted to being a spectacular heath-land, diverse in plants and animalsincluding threatened species. In thelong-term absence of farming theseecological attributes have re-estab-lished without human assistance, bynatural osmosis from surrounding for-est environments and in situ recovery.Wonderful.

Apart from its natural wonders andbeing the site of the disaster, GreenCape is well worth a visit for anynumber of reasons. The lighthouse isvery impressive and has a colourfulhistory of its own. Also, it is thesouthern end of the well known ‘Lightto Light Walk’ which has featured inwhole or in part several times onNPA’s Outings Program.

Book reviews (continued)

Disaster at Green Cape


UV and alpine flora

Roger Good may describe himself asretired, but his current Alps project is aninteresting one. Roger is looking atalpine flowering plants, seed set and seedviability under a climate change regime,a project with the Australian BotanicGardens, the Australian NationalUniversity and Kosciuszko NationalPark.

Roger — whose connection with theAlps began in the mid sixties and hasincluded a career devoted to mountainsoil conservation, ecosystem restorationsand plant ecology — is concerned withclimate change indirectly, via the easilyquantifiable components that make upour weather. It’s the impact oftemperature, rain and snowfall and UVradiation on plants and plantcommunities that interests him.

Take, for example, an increase in UVradiation and its effect on the alpine bogsand fens. Roger notes: ‘An increase intemperature is associated with anincrease in cloud free days which in turnleads to higher levels of solar radiation.We also know that the optimum growthof sphagnum is when it has about 70%shade, which is supplied naturally by tallgrasses and shrubs’. Put the twotogether — increased total UV radiationand less natural shade as a result of fireand past grazing — and it’s notsurprising that these communities arebeing stressed.

Work on the bogs and fens — in theACT, NSW and Victoria — has beencoordinated by the Alps mire restorationand research group, funded at both Stateand Federal levels. Permanentmonitoring plots were established in2004 in a number of restored bogs. Theywere monitored every 6 months duringthe first 2 years and are now visitedannually.

This information contributes to theadaptive management program for thebogs, which play a key role in alpinehydrology — the filtering of run-off andthe regulation of flows both in themountains and onto the plains.

What then of the concept of plantsclimbing like an army up the hill,triggered by climate change? Rogerpoints out:

The elevation range of theAustralian Alps is not great byworld standards, and most of the tallalpine herb fields already occurover the several hundred metresbelow Kosciuszko’s summit. Thechange we may see in time would

then DECCW has to try to make savings.NPA continues to believe that greater

public investment in national parks is thebest way to attract more park visitors andsupporters, leading to long-termeconomic and park benefits.

National Parks Journal of NSWVol. 54 no. 1 Jan–March 2010

Fire, flood, then treasure

As the saying goes, ‘good comes frombad’. In some ways this was the case ofthe 2006–07 fires that swept through amillion hectares of the Victorian Alps. Ifthose fires were not devastating enough,the major flood event that followed inthe Wellington River Catchment areatook with it a long list of visitorfacilities, millions of cubic metres of silt,access roads and walking tracks. So far,none of this could be considered goodnews, but these two natural events didlead to a revelation. Mike Dower,Ranger in Charge of the Alpine NationalPark’s Wonnangatta and Moroka unitsexplains …

With the vegetation removed,artefacts which had been lyinghidden over a period of thousandsof years of Aboriginal occupationwere uncovered. Here was physicalevidence, rich archaeologicaldeposits in-situ, marking the placeswhere the First Peoples satcollecting and crafting stone tools.Its richness is amazing.Parks Victoria immediately paused

all planning for proposed works,appointed specialist archaeologicalcontractors and approached the Gunai-Kurnai Peoples to put forwardrepresentatives. The Traditional Owners’representatives, Parks Victoria staff andarchaeologists worked in the field for3 weeks late last year, producing adetailed field survey of the areas affectedby the fire and floods. The result is arecord of all the sites together withstrong recommendations for a culturalheritage management plan for the area.The connections made during the surveybetween Parks and the First Peoplesrepresentatives, are now helping to steerthe process and informing how best toproceed with the completion of worksaffected by the floods, especially the15 camp sites along the WellingtonRiver. ‘Once the plan is complete’, saysMike Downer, ‘we will be able to finishthe building and recovery works, makingadjustments to protect these re-discovered rich cultural assets’.

News from the Alps, #39 2010

therefore be in patterns of plantspecies distribution. Some of thespecies growing at the top of MtKosciuszko, Feathertop and Bogongmay be lost in those specific areas,but continue to exist in refugia –sites with less exposure to wind andUV radiation.


National Parks staff cut

The NSW Parks and Wildlife Group(PWG — also known as NPWS) of theDepartment of Environment, ClimateChange and Water (DECCW) is beingrestructured. The changes will haveeffects across the State, with the existing18 regions being cut to 14 with the lossof some 30 regional positions. The mainrationale seems to be cost-cutting, butPWG is also taking the opportunity torestructure operations after ‘beddingdown’ the many new parks that came outof regional forestry assessment.

The existing four branches (Northern,Southern, Western and Central) will bereorganised into a Metropolitan Branch,Coastal Branch and a Western Branch.Kosciuszko and Hill End will bemanaged as part of the Park ManagementDivision. The idea is to combinegeographical areas with similarmanagement issues. For instance, allmarine parks will now come underCoastal Branch. Existing areas will bereallocated to the remaining 14 regions,with boundary adjustments in someplaces.

While these realignments may havemerit, the greatest concern is the loss of30 staff. The restructure claims to leaveuntouched ‘front line’ positions at arealevel, such as rangers and field officers,but on-ground conservation willunavoidably be impacted by cutting staffat regional level. The remaining regionalmanagers, operations managers, firespecialists and pest species controllerswill have to spread themselves muchmore thinly. This is called an ‘efficiencysaving’. And many of the voluntaryredundancies entailed will be taken byexperienced and capable people.

The NSW reserve system has grownfrom 4.5 million hectares to 6.7 millionhectares over the past 10 years. Totalvisitation is growing and is nowestimated at 38 million people a year. Yettotal NPWS funding has, in effect,remained static over the past 4 years. Ifthe short-sighted NSW Government isunwilling to provide adequate funding tomatch these increased responsibilities

PARKWATCH



bushwalkers and, further into the past,descendants of those who had had stockleases in the mountains.

All were gathered for the officialopening where billy tea was shared andspeeches heard from both the parksmanagers and members of thewonderfully supportive Victorian HighCountry and Kosciuszko HutsAssociations. One in particular,travelling some distance to be there,proved that the value of this new hut ismore than the 100 logs and a further100 slabs that make up its fabric. It’s the

Pretty Plain welcomes again

If you happened to be on Dargals FireTrail on 13 March you’d probably havewondered at the 100 or so other peoplewho were also there, unless you, likethem, were heading towards the StrumboTrail and then the one-hour walk intoPretty Plain Hut. Seventy of those werevolunteers who’d worked at bothKhancoban and up at the Pretty PlainHut site itself, rebuilding the 13×7 metrelog cabin after the original was destroyedin the 2003 fires. Others had connectionsto the original hut: most recently,

associations with people’s lives that werebeing celebrated that day.

On a practical note, the rebuilding ofthis hut simplified logistics byorganising construction off the mountain,before disassembly and reconstructionon site. In this way, more people wereable to be a part of the process, skillswere shared and the pool of huts-relatedknowledge has grown — a workingexample of cultural heritage beingnurtured and sustained.


Compiled by Hazel Rath

turned right and headed down the spurthrough lovely forest following a veryovergrown fire trail for 2.5km before itended. We continued heading north foranother kilometre to spot height 1272m.From here we needed to head generallynorth-east for about 3km along a sidespur that would take us to Black Springson the Cotter River. This required carefulnavigation as the spur turns several timesand it is easy to find oneself pushingthrough thick scrub on the side of thespur instead of the thick scrub on the topof the spur. The scrub seemed to thin outas we descended towards the river andthe final 500m was through open forestand easy going. We arrived at the river atabout midday and after crossing (ankledeep) we had lunch feeling ratherpleased to have made such goodprogress. It was interesting that quite afew different species of fungi weresighted during the morning.

Black Springs to Fishing Gap

Over lunch, Eric Pickering told us abouthaving been to the real Black Springs

Corin Dam to Tidbinbilla via

Fishing Gap. 10 April 2010

While going through some of the oldNPA Bulletins as part of the back-issuescanning project I came across aninteresting walk in an Outings program.Kevin Totterdell and Ian Haynes weregoing to co-lead a walk from Corin Damto Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve viaStockyard Spur, Black Springs andFishing Gap on 21 November 1987.Does anyone remember being on thatwalk? At about the same time, I cameacross a Canberra Times article from1935 about a party interested in findingsuitable ski slopes in the Brindabellas.They went on horseback from Tid-binbilla via Fishing Gap and camped atBlack Springs. The next day they headedup Stockyard Spur but were forced toturn back due to heavy snow falls (inApril). They also had the convenientexcuse of ‘considering the ladies in thecompany’. It seemed like a good idea torepeat the 1987 NPA walk and visit anarea that in post-fire Namadgi is quiteinaccessible to most people these days.

On 10 April 2010 John Evans and Ico-led a joint NPA/CBC walk to thisarea. The original idea was to do it as acrossover walk in order to avoid a longcar shuffle but since we ended up withseven walkers we decided to all walktogether from Corin Dam to Tidbinbillawhere we had a car pre-positioned theday before. In addition to the leaders, theparty included NPA members EricPickering and treasurer Rod Griffiths onhis second (!) NPA walk.

Corin Dam to Stockyard Spur

We started walking up the foot trackfrom the dam at about 7:30am and astrenuous hour later we reached the oldfire trail on Stockyard Spur. We then

about 25 years ago. Apparently, the mapshave Black Springs marked about 1 kmsouth of the actual location. Furtherdetails of that trip can be found in theNPA Bulletin Vol. 23, No. 3, March1986, page 18.

Having been at Black Springs severaltimes before we felt like we were homeand hosed. Certainly, crossing the creekthat comes from Fishing Gap waspleasant and the first part of the walk upto the Gap is relatively easy throughopen forest and an easy climb. However,a number of side gullies needed to becrossed which meant we kept going upand down as well sidling around thecontours and pushing through some thickregrowth. Spotting an echidna was apleasant distraction. We thought weidentified the old walking track a coupleof times but the track is now virtuallynon-existent. We were all relieved tofinally reach Fishing Gap and we wereback at the car about four hours afterleaving Black Springs. The total distancewas 16.7km with a 1050m climb.

The second part of a complicated, yetefficient, car shuffle took place only tobe foiled by some of the participantshaving left car keys and clothing in thewrong car earlier in the day.Contingency plans were put in place andeveryone returned to the appropriate carswith minimum delay.

More information

Further details of the walk, including acopy of the 1935 Canberra Times article,can be found at

<http://jevans.pcug.org.au/>.

Mike Bremers

PARKWATCH (continued)

Trip report: Corin Dam to Tidbinbilla

Rod Griffiths crossing the Cotter River nearBlack Springs. Photo by Mike Bremers.


New members of

the associationThe NPA ACT welcomesthe following new members:

Jenny Gibson (rejoining)

Sarah Sharp

Rosemary James

Pam Wintle (rejoining)

Tim Bull (Tim the Yowie Man)

Jane Compton

Gayle and David Garrett.

These people have joined in anauspicious year; we lookforward to seeing everyone atNPA activities.

NPA notices

Front cover photographs

Main photo. NPA President Christine Goonrey opens

proceedings in the very room where it all started 50 years

ago to the day – now the National Film and Sound Archive,

then the Institute of Anatomy. Photo Sabine Friedrich

Insets, Left. Bill and Edna Watson cut the birthday cake,which

was made by Sabine Friedrich. Bill was NPA Vice President in

1971 and President 1972-73. Photo Sabine Friedrich

Centre. Annette Smith, Bishop Pat Power, Chris Emery, Sonja

Lenz , Judy Kelly with NPA’s Canberra Gold award

Photo by Kevin McCue

Right. Mary Porter AM MLA, who officially opened the

Symposium, with NPA President Christine Goonrey.

Photo Sabine Friedrich

Back cover photographs

Shades of blue/mauve/purple

NPA members out and about have recorded the variety ofcolours and forms in close-up, as well as the spectacularlandscapes which they enjoy.

National Parks Association Calendar

Public holidays

General meetings

Committee meetings

Spring Equinox picnic 2

Gudgengy Bush Regeneration 3

June

Mon 14

Thur 17

Tues 1

Sat 12

July

—

August

Mon 2

September

—

Thur 15

Tues 6

Thur 19 1

Tues 3

Sat 10 Sat 14

Thur 16

Tues 7

?Sun 26 2

Sat 11

Further details: 1 Annual General Meeting. (Election nomination form on page 3)

2. In lieu of the cancelled Winter Solstice picnic. Check date September Bulletin

3. GBRG. Meet Namadgi Visitor Centre 9:15am or Yankee Hat car park 10:00am.

This Bulletin was prepared by

Editor: Max Lawrence

Sub-editor: Ed Highley

Presentation: Adrienne Nicholson

NPA's 50th Anniversary Wines

Three wines are on offer for members and theirfriends to celebrate the NPA ACT’s50th Anniversary this year. They cover all tastes. There’s afine ‘Namadgi Red’, a cheeky ‘Gudgenby White’ and, forthose requiring further fortification, a rich ‘Bimberi Port’.The labels, featuring scenes in Namadgi National Parkcaptured through the lenses of NPA members AdrienneNicholson and Brian Slee, are a bonus.

All this for just $12 a bottle, and Plonk, our supplier, willdeliver a mixed or straight six-pack to you free of charge inCanberra and Queanbeyan. And remember, your associationgets a donation of $3 for each bottle sold.

An order form for the wines can be downloaded from theNPA website at <www.npaact.org.au>. Post or deliver yourorder with payment to Plonk at Shop 36, Fyshwick Markets,Fyshwick ACT 2609 or, if paying by credit card, you maywish to fax your order to (02) 6260 6337.

NPA Photographic ExhibitionAll are encouraged to see these wonderfuldisplays of places and things our memberstreasure. The display differs from venue to venue, so youwill be rewarded if you visit more than one. Pass theword around to friends, visitors, etc.

14 May to 18 June: Namadgi Visitor Centre

5 June to 11 June: Woden Public Library

7 June to 25 June: Australian National Botanic Gardens,

main exhibition area. This display will

have a botanic theme.

6 August to 20 August:Civic library.

Congratulations to the winners of the

NPA raffle,drawn at the Symposium on Saturday 8th May.

1st prize: Adrienne Nicholson, NPA ACTChoice between two oil paintings of OrroralHomestead by Phyl Goddard;

2nd prize: Tony O'Brien, President of NPA of QldAustralian Parrots and Finches by MalcolmMcNaughton, book also donated by Phyl.

Many thanks to Phyl for her generosity and to those who bought tickets.

The raffle raised $302

Bimberi Port Gudgenby WhiteNamadgi Red

Documents

NPA wins Chief Minister’s Canberra 47 No 2 Jun 2010.pdf · NPA wins Chief Minister’s Canberra Gold Award! NPA was presented with the Canberra Gold Award at a huge public ceremony