Jlf_lTCHELL RIVER SILT .TETTIES EDUCATION KIT
The "Gippsland" on the Mitchell River.
DEPT. OF CO~:SE.RV.P,T!ON & N AT!J~t).. B C ~~i{.)lJv:~c r:.s -----L~f? 1=-IJ'~~. •( ~1!:F•"-- ..'tt:. ~-E -9JAN1995
CENTRAL LtBP.ARY (VICTORIA PDE.) • i-. MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES EDUCATION KIT
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION AND RECOMMEI\1DATIONS FOR USE ......
VISITOR INFORMATION:
p Al\fl>Hl.ET ...... MAP FOR THE BLUFF, EAGLE POINT ......
STUDENT ACTIVITIES INFORMATION
NOTES TO TEACHERS/ BACKGROUND INFORMATION SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ACTIVITIES:
o Before visiting the site ...... • After visiting the site ......
G Activity sheet for on site visit ......
RESOURCE LIST......
VCE STUDIES Relevant Units and Work Requirements for Environmental Studies and Geography ......
SINGLE FOCUS INFORMATION SHEETS
• GEOLOGY ...... • GEOMORPHOLOGY ...... • FLORA AND FA UNA ...... • CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN - Summary ...... • HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT - Summary ......
A HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT ON THE l\'llTCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES - Booklet ...... MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES EDUCATION KIT
INTRODUCTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR USE
The Mitchell River Silt Jetties near Bairnsdale (Victoria) are an outstanding venue for environmental appreciation and a wide range of recreational and educational activities for people of all ages. They are an especially valuable but under utilised resource for upper primary and all secondary students.
In particular the Silt Jetties provide outstanding case study material for VCE Environmental Studies and Geography students and teachers.
At the first meeting of the Steering Committee and the Project Team it was agreed that the focus of the Education Kit should be community education. This kit is therefore divided into specific components which meet the need for broad and specialised information.
The material as presented can be easily reproduced. Each segment is complete in itself but may. easily be combined with other parts of the kit.
Marketing of the kit could be undertaken directly by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources or in conjunction with one or more of the subject associations: specifically the Geography Teachers' Association of Victoria or the Victorian Association for EnvironmentaJ Education.
Communitv Information
Visitor Information - free pamphlet to be.distributed through all tourist outlets and be available on site at The Bluff, Eagle Point.
Map/Diagram of Key Information to be erected on site at The Bluff, Eagle Point.
Student Activities and Single Focus Sheets
These would be available initially through Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as single components or as a "pack". Recipients to pay postage costs and possibly a small charge, eg $5 or $6 for the "pack".
A History of The Mitchen River Silt J etties
This should be available at a small cost either through Department of Conservation and Natural Resources or other relevant agency, eg $3 ~ $6 including postage. -2-
A proposed Secondary School VCE Education Kit would contain:
• The Conservation and Management Plan (1994).
• Student Activities Sheets.
• Single Focus Sheets.
• A History of The Mitchell River Silt Jetties.
Retail cost of the kit would be $20.$40 depending on the form of presentation.
• A Slide Kit would be optional. Experience has shown these are an expensive but worthwhile addition. A set of 12 to 24 slides would be appropriate. ____This would add an a<;lditional $15-.. :._$25 to the r~tail cost. VISITOR INFORMATION MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES VISITOR INFORMATION
The Mitchell River Silt Jetties are included in the Register of the National Estate under the Heritage Commission Act (1975).
LAKE KING
nu;: PINES Picnic G1ound and Bird W•lk JONES DAY
. __ f:~GLE POINT IlA Y
PUBLIC RESERVE
THE DLUFF-
1EAGLE POINT Viewing' Asu & Pitni.c F;acilities \ \ (-To Bl\IRNSDALE To PA YNES\'ILl.t--;)
A VERY SPECIAL PLACE
"The hand-embroidered multi-green landscape beneath the sacred inertia of the river flats, the silver grey toy hop kiln, the limpid river itself, journey's ending in a trance under an airy powder blue sky. 11 Hal Porter on the view from Eagle Point Bluff in Bairnsdale : A Portrait ofa Country Town and Its People.
LOCATION AND FORMATION
The deltaic silt jetties of the Mitchell River are located south east of Baimsdale (near Eagle Point) and extend about 8 kilometres into Lake King. They were formed in the last 6000 years by river deposition especially in times of severe floods.
• Until the early 1900s the shorelines and river banks of the jetties were surrounded by a wide area of protecti:-ve reed swamp.
• The impact of human activity in the last. 150 years has severely altered the jetties. Farming, clearing of natural vegetation, the building of an artificial entrance to the sea with its impact on lake salinity levels and the dieback of the natural recd swamp have combined to reduce them to about 190 hectares, or about half their size in 1870.
• At present owing to. effective conservation management strategies the jetties have now stabilised. -2-
HUMAN IMPACT ON THE SILT JETTIES
Aboriginal Settlement
• The Kumai were the predominant tribe in East Gippsland. One of its clans, the Tatangalung Jived on the south side of Lake Victoria and a group of this clan, the Bunjil-Baul, lived on Raymond Island. • The men caught waterbirds, small animals and fish in pens, nets and snares. They cut canoes from the bark of trees and made them water-tight for navigating the lakes. • The women gathered vegetables and fruit. They prepared the food and made clothing and fine woven baskets and elaborate ceremonial cloaks. • The Kurnai fiercely defended their territories and prevented European exploration of the area between .1830 and.-1840. Inter-::tri.bal wars, diseases ··--· brought by Europeans and the superior weapons of their opponents had significantly reduced their numbers by 1850.
Over 6,000 years aborigines had a minimal impact on their environment.
European Settlement
• 1840s to 1850s : Settlers discovered, mapped and took up pastoral leases on and around the Silt Jetties. Frederick Jones of "Lucknow" grazed cattle and horses on both jetties. C J Tyers, Commissioner for Crown Lands for Gippsland, established a police camp on The Bluff at Eagle Point in 1844. o 1860s : Sale of Crown Land on the northern and southern jetty. • 1870s : Eagle Point became a popular watering place and in 1873 the southern jetty was reserved as Crown Land. • 1880s : The heyday of shipping on the lakes; steamers and schooners transported passengers and cargo including : wool, gold, timber, hops, maize and meat around the Lakes and to Melbourne and Sydney. A slipworks ship, repair shop and wharf were established at Point Dawson which served as the home port for the dredges "Mystery" and "Wombat". 1889 : The artificial entrance to the sea was opened at Lakes Entrance. o 1890s : In 1893 the southern jetty was re-opened under the Village Settlement Scheme. Up to 39 families lived on small farms growing fiuit and vegetables. There was a school, post office and boarding house on the silt jetty. • Early 1900s : Commercial fishermen built tiny huts at Point Dawson. By 1926 there were up to 40 families living there. 1970s/80s : The development of public awareness of the value of this unique environment. Rock placement and re-vegetation schemes were begun. -3-
CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE SILT JETTIES
Major Issues may be summarised as:
• The community's need to recognise that the Silt Jetties are a unique natural resource.
• Natural processes and human activities over the last 150 years have severely altered the size, shape and length of the Silt 1etties.
• Management strategies are required to:
• -stabilise the jetties at their present size
• enable compatible use of a number of potentially conflicting demands on this :fragile environment.
Conservation Management Strategies include:
• a rock placement program to stabilise shorelines and river banks.
• a river bank re-vegetation program with natural reed swamp (Phragmites australis).
• a re-vegetation program for the whole of the northern jetty and parts of the southern jetty.
• boat speed regulations to minimise wave impact on river banks which take account of recent studies of the effect of boat wake.
<> re-purchase of private land where appropriate.
• co-ordination of the work of agencies responsible for the management of the jetties.
community involvement m the protection and development of this unique resource.
• a management plan for visitor access to the jetties. -4-
PRESENT USES FOR \'ISITORS
• Recreational fishing - there are over 30 "fishing spots" between the boat ramp and Point Dawson.
• Boating - there is a boat ramp on the southern jetty which provides easy access to Jones' Bay or the Mitchell River.
• Canoeing - enter the river at the boat ramp or at any of the fishlng spots where rocks are placed to allow easy access to the river.
• Walking - from The Pines Picnic Spot walk to Point Foster, examine the re vegetation program. Walk from The Pines to Point Dawson if you are really fit. ------
0 Bird watching - Point Foster is an excellent location. e Picnics - The Bluff at Eagle Point, The Pines or Point Dawson have picnic facilities.
0 Photography - this area is a photographer's delight in all seasons.
• Vehicle access A there is vehicle access along the southern jetty to Point Dawson.
RULES FOR VISITORS
• Observe speed limits for boats and cars.
• Take your rubbish with you.
Observe fire regulations.
MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM: VISITOR INFORMATION To LAKES ENTRANCE
~~ REEF POINT ---5 ...J DROOME POINT _____-J . ------,_. ... POINT DAWSON Site of Dredge Port and Slipnorks ~· fishermen's Couaccs IAKE KING POINT LAR!JNER
~~...... fOINTFOSTER St1orellne nnd Riverbank ...__ Roel< J\~lltement 1>rni:ra m JONES BAY --:-- ..._ The Pines Picnic Ground Birdwalk '·------..__ Observation of rc·,cgetarion and rock placement pcograms Site orVlllai:e Settlement School School No. 3215
EAGLE POINT BAY Site of fonncr bridi;• Boil! for rocl< (lh•cemcnl p r11i:rum Rcmo\'cd ! '>91 ---: ...,,------
Site cf "The Oargn" _ Puhlic Re~ene1873 ~ Steamer Rcstauianr Popular Warering Place EAGLE POINT Freshwarcr spring for village Tllf'. BLUFF sctllen; 1893 - 1915 C'.J. TYF.RS Police Camp 1841
VICTORIA Krcymbo'1\'S lloccl 1860s - 1890s
YOU ARE HERE
Not lo Scale To PAYNESVILLE To BAIRNSDALE
OBLIQUE VIEW OF THE MITCHELL RIVER SILT J.ETI1ES FROM TUE BLUFJ:.' EAGLE POlNT
------'""""!'" .,. "· . , .~ ,.." ...... · .... -1' ._.....-..r.-:-··-"'"--~.,'""'". w .. :•r "'···dr.:4 Y"'*'·"· ·'A.iffi·""* tl47> ;.£SP.:1 f.405 .#h:;tW• •Hfh6A ,• ..,..,P ffiilli>A+'!- 9-l·tr'fJM;a;;:P ¥FA• ~ff3__ 4,. w;.<> a _sw:;:. .1 _•:.+Jn_ we!EJi ___;µ,;µ_;;;; »R4WP!+tW STUDENT ACTIVITIES INFORMATION MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES STUDENT ACTIVITIES
A NOTE TO TEACHERS
The Silt Jetties of the Mitchell River near Bairnsdale (Victoria) provide a most suitable field work site and case study resource for a range of student age groups. VCE Environmental Studies and Geography teachers in particular will find that a visit to the Silt Jetties or the use of case study material can illustrate:
• the interaction of natural processes and human activities over the last 15 0 years in East Gippsland.
• the complex issues involved in developing effective management strategies for the conservation of a unique natural resource.
Details of relevant units and specific work requirements for VCE Environmental Studies and Geography are set out at the end of this inforrn.ation sheet. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Significance
The :Mitchell River Silt Jetties are included in the Register of the National Estate. This occurred on 14 May 1991 under the Heritage Commission Act (1975).
Location and Appearance
The Silt Jetties are located south east of Bairnsdale and are an extension of the Mitchell River Delta. They extend as long, narrow, flat fingers of land for approximately 8 kilometres into Lake King. Similar formations . occur in : the Mississippi River Delta (USA), the Volga River as it enters the Caspian Sea, the Tuross River in NSW and the Murray River as it flows through Lake Alexandrina in South Australia.
Formation
The Silt Jetties are a relatively recent geological formation. They are about 6,000 years old. When first sighted by Europeans in the 1840s they were longer, wider (almost twice their current area in size), and much simpler in outline than they are today. At this time their shorelines and river banks were protected by a wide area of reed swamp (Phragmites Australis). The reed swamp impeded the movement of silt canied by the river especially during times of floods. Sediment deposition occurred faster than the low tidal currents could remove it and had this build up of silt continued until the present the jetties would probably have reached the eastern shore of the lake and possibly closed off Jones' Bay. -2-
Impact of Natural Processes and Human Activities on the Silt Jetties
Natural processes and human activities contributing to the current appearance of the Silt Jetties include:
• stock grazing on the river and coastal banks on both jetties
• the removal of natural vegetation cover - tea-tree, paperbark and eucalypts
• intensive land use in the form of a "village settlement" (0.4 to 4.05 hectare fanns) in the 1890s on the southern jetty
• permanent and seasonal changes in the salinity levels of the lake which are thought to be a major cause of die back of the protective reed swamp especially since the construction of the artificial entrance to the sea in 1889 ·· - - ·-- ·- . ----..
• dieback of the protective reed swamp exposing the silt to wind and wave erosion
• impact of severe flooding; the 1919 flood breached the northern jetty near Eagle Point forming a new outlet into the lake - The Cut.
Until recently it was thought that the interaction of these factors would cause the ·Silt Jetties to be reduced to a number of ''islands" by the year 2000. However recent conservation management strategies during the 1970s and 1980s appear to have stabilised the jetties at their present size.
Conservation and Management Strategies
Recognition of the unique value of the Silt Jetties and the need to control the impact of human activities was understood last century. But serious efforts to assess the causes and rate of erosion and to co-ordinate activities to arrest these processes only began in earnest after an interdepartmental enquiry in 1973 .
Successful management strategies include:
• rock placement programs to stop the erosion of river banks and shorelines
• re-vegetation of the northern silt jetty and parts of the southern silt jetty
• river bank re-vegetation
• re-purchase of some land and the revocation of permissive occupancies at the eastern end (mouth) of the southern jetty
• revised boat speeds as a result of the boat wake studies on the Mitchell River to minimise the impact of boat swash on river banks.
• monitoring of the impact of recreational fi shing on fragile river banks. -3-
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Before visiting the site
• Consider one or more of the following issues as a focus for your site visit or case study.
• Can management strategies be devised to enable compatible uses of a fr..agile natural system?
• How should management principles, policies and strategies be developed and implemented?
• What erosion control measures are necessary on the Silt Jetties?
• What bas been the impact of European settlement (1840-1994) on the development of the Silt Jetties?
Draw a map of Victoria to show the position of the Gippsland Lakes and the Mitchell River Silt Jetties in relation to the location ofyour school.
• Discover the major geological events in the development of the Gipps!?-lld Lakes.
• Identify the natural processes and human activities which have contributed to the present appearance of the Silt Jetties and their immediate environs.
After visiting the site or considering available information
• Use field observations and the information sheets to discuss the effectiveness of erosion control programs.
• Discuss the prediction (made in the 1960s) that in the year 2000 the SHt Jetties will be reduced to a series of "islands".
• Draw and label a diagram to illustrate your view of the Silt Jetties in the year 2000.
• Imagine you are a member of a village settler's family in 1894. \Vrite an account of your da.lly life.
• Write a report on the effectiveness of the management strategies on the northern and southern silt jetties. -4-
On site visit/field excursion
An activity sheet is provided. Suitable sites for observation, practical activities and photographs are indicated. This sheet can be readily adapted for age groups from grade 6 to year 12.
A location diagram is provided on page 7.
RESOURCES
• Mitchell River Silt Jetties Conservation and Management Plan.
Single information sheets: Geology, Geomorphology, Flora & Fauna Management Plan, Summary of History of Silt Jetties.
- • A History ofthe Mitchell River Silt Jetties.
• The Silt Jetties of the Mitchell River, E.C.F.Bird, Gippsland Studies No 2. Bairnsdale Advertiser. 1972.
• VCE Environmental Studies and VCE Geography study designs.
• Maps: Topographic maps Lucknow, Paynesville 1 :25,000 Geological Survey of Victoria Bairnsdale 1: 63,360
• Aerial Photographs available from Department of Crown Lands: 1984, 1994.
• Landsat ·imagery. -5-
ACTIVITY SHEET FOR A SITE VISIT OR FIELD TRIP
MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES SITE VISIT
SITE JNFORMA TION/ACTIVITIES NOTES 1 Eagle Point Bluff - 25 metres above sea level o Identify all the features named on the location diagram o Why would this site have been chosen for a police camp in 1844? • Locate the plaque commemorating the first European settlers. e Note the categories of land use on the Northern Jetty Southern Jettv 2 The Reserve below The Bluff • What is the approximate height of the land here? e Observe the riverbank opposite the reserve, note its structure, colour and composition " Observe The Bluff. Why is it being eroded? • This reserve was set aside for public use in 1873. What activities would have occurred here? 3 Boat Ramp o What rules apply to boat speeds on the river and why is this? • Observe the rock placement on the river bank. • Contrast erosion protection measures on the river bank and the lake shoreline.
ci Observe and evaluate the re-vegetation program on both jetties. • Locate "The Cut". How and when was this natural feature fonned? • How is The Cut used today? 4 The Site of State School No. 3215 • In 1894 a school was opened on this site. In the following year there were 70 children on the roll. By 1916 a new school was built a few miles away in the township of Eagle Point. • In the 1890s there were over 30 small fanns on the southern jetty. How is the land adjacent to the school site used today? • Fanns on "the Northern Jetty where cattle were grazed for beef and dairy herds) were larger. How did children from those farms ·reach the school? • Walk through the sch oo l site to the southern shoreline. Can you sec evidence of the fom1er shoreline in the lake? -6-
SITE INFORMATION/ACTIVITIES NOTES 5 The Pines Picnic Spot and Point Foster • What advantages does this site have as a public picnic spot? • Follow the walking trail to Point Foster. Much of the bird life on the jetties can be observed here. Number or name all the birds you can see. • A depositional landfonn occurs at Point Foster. Why? 6 Between The Pines and Point Dawson (a) • Count the number of fishing spots on the river bank • Consider the effectiveness of measures taken to minimise' the impact ofrecreational fishing:---... (b) o Locate the narrowest stretches of land on the Northern and Southern Jetties. • How successful have the rock placement programs on each jetty been in arresting erosion? 7 Point Dawson and the Adjacent Area • In the 1880s and until 1911 this was the home port of the dredges: Wombat, Mystery, Pioneer. There was a slipworks and repair shop. • Why was dredging necessary at the mouth of the river? • What other boats and steamers used this river? What cargoes did they carry? • Locate evidence of the sites of the fishennen1s cottages. There were 40 11 perrnissive occupancies0 in the 1920s. Why do you think the Government allowed this use of Crown Land at this time? To LAKES ENTRANCE
~ REEf'P.OINT ~ BROOME POINT .r-- ~ POINTDAWSON Site of Dredge.Port & Slipworks l'OlNT LARDNER ~~·6 ~~-2-:::;;::;..POlNTFOSTER (fJ l:j Slton:linc nnd Ju,.c;bnnl< . --- l11e rincs ricnlc Gr11und Dlrdwalk ltock plA Rc·,·c~clAlonn~ S cf(f/· \'lll~g• I' 4 ~ . Sile nl Selllctucnc cbool rogr m ' · ~-- · Scbodl No: 3215 '" _____..· 3 D<1•I Ramp .. ~ -- llulh "\._THE ClTT \ R!~ ~ Viewing Arca & Picnic facilities To MIRt'ISDALE To PAYNESVILLE Nuc In Scale OilLIQUE VIEW Of TUE MITCllELL IUVER'SILT. JETflES FROM THE BLUFF EAGLE POINT ..... VCE STUDIES: ENVffiONMENTAL STUDIES, GEOGRAPHY RELEVANT UNITS & RELATED WORK REQUIREMENTS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES NB The conceptual framework of Environmental Studies Environmental Human Function +- ~ Impact ~ ~ Principles of t( " Conservatioo UNIT WORK REQUIREMENTS 1. STUDY OF ENVIRONMENTS WR3 Local Environment Investigation 0 How environments function 0 Effects of human activity l!O Strategies for managing the effects of human imnact 3. CONSERVATION AND WR4 Field Work DEVELOPMENT • Assessment of factors affecting the site • Recommendations for future management stratccies GEOGRAPHY NB Study Focus : People and Their Environments UNIT WORK REQUIREMENTS 1. CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS WR2 Field Work • Study of activities which produce change at a specific site or small region WRJ Research ActMty • Study of change in a specific local environment 3. RESOURCE USE AND WR2 Field Work MANAGEMENT 0 Produce a plan of action for the future use and management of a selected resource . WR3 Research Activity & Discussion of alternative policies for the use and management of a resource 4. PEOPLE POWER AND PLACE WR3 Field Investigation • Development of a proposal for dealing with a specific issue rclnted to a specific site SINGLE FOCUS INFORMATION SHEETS MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES GEOLOGY Beneath the tranquil surface of the Gippsland Lakes lies evidence of all the Earth's known geological history. There are some ofthe Earth's oldest rocks as well as some of the most recent. The Mitchell River Silt Jetties probably began to form about 6,000 years ago in the late Quaternary Period (Recent or Holocene). The Bluff at Eagle Point consists of alluvial gravels and sands deposited some 26 million years ago in the Tertiary Period. KEY GEOLOGICAL EVENTS IN THE ENVIRONS OF THE MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES • The Palaeozoic ·bedrock of the Eastern Highlands was laid down 550 to 350 million years ago. It consists of marine sediments overlaid by later marine and alluvial deposits. It contains igneous intrusions such as granites and areas of acid volcanic material. • 160 million years ago the Supercontinent of Pangaea broke into two. Its southern land mass, called Gondwanaland, included the Australian and Antarctic continental plates. ·- • When Gondwanaland began to disintegrate about 140 million years ago rifting occurred along its margins. One NW-SE rift caused a trough to form which was the early origin of the Gippsland Basin. • 120 to 65 million years ago the land to the north of this rift began to rise (the beginning of the Eastern Highlands) streams dissected this area and deposited much of their load on the marine gravels in the Gippsland Basin. This process continued off and on until approximately 2 million years ago. • During the last 2 million years the coastal lagoons (Gippsland Lakes) and baniers formed. • The Quaternary period (1.8 million years to the present) is usually divided in two; the Pleistocene, or period of the great Ice Ages, and the Holocene or Recent, which began 10,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. When the ice caps expanded in area the seas were shallow and much more land was exposed. When the ice melted the sea rose, drowning river valleys and submerging former coastlines. There were at least two advances and retreats during this time: in the first the sea rose at least 15 metres higher than its present level and in the second to about 3 metres higher. During periods of retreat sand ridges formed. The barriers and spits of the late Pleistocene correspond with today's coastline. • During the early Holocene the sea level was some 2 metres higher than at present. When it retreated further deposition occurred on the sea side of the Pleistocene dunes. About 6,000 years ago the sea was virtually cut off by the baniers. The lakes became freshwater, swamps developed and deposition occurred. -2- J/ ~ECE>!T SA~O /\ eE .lC ><£$ ""D 0VHE$ ETC. . I.ATE Pl£1STOC EN£ . SAND AIO()f$ CJ AND PlAINS :~/ !':'.:·! ~":o~~~CEHE ~ SA> ~ TERRACU - ~ llotl T OF l'\.EISTOCEHE MAAlHE INCUllSIDN After E S Hills, Physiography orVict-Oria 1975 GIPPSLAND PLAINS AND LAKES EASTER.."{ RIG.Bl.ANDS Ll.\:JT Cof S?ER~I ""'HALE !-IA R'.:'-~ HEAD lSCl:RSiO'.' Mr.CHELL RJ\;;;< E. .;JR:-;SDAL.E I SJLT Jc.li ES ."'!"'TTY . MILE BEACH.I 0 1 TERll.ARY Sands & graveh 7 - 1.8 mill.yr.;. I~ PALA.EOZOJC; Oi\DOV!Ct->...'\ 550-+;0 mill . ~·a CNtBO:-;rfE;l.:)US 3~ 5 rr. ill.yn. C~.ACEOUS J36 mili.yrs. / QH Holoccr:: buch deposi1s J: coasia: wn::l ~u:i:s QP Plc!s1ocecc lak: de;iosits T Teriiar)· (P!ioc::.ce) wids gravel~ sills & cJa"s H Holocer.e silts allt:vium & S\l.·;unp deposits P Plcis:oecce :\\•er t:rn:c de;xisits, s.ands &: g;~,-.1 0 Ordo,·ici.>n s.Jue.1 and s.ands1ooes CROSS SECTION TO ILLUSTR.o\.TE GEOLOGY OF MITCHELL RlVER SILT JETTIES MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES GEOMORPHOLOGY The map below shows that the Gippsland Lakes catchment can be broadly divided into mountains and hills on consolidated rocks and relatively flat terrain at low elevation formed predominantly on marine, aeolian, lacusticne and fluvial sediments. The uplands were formed over a period of 600 million years. Their complex geomorphology is the result of igneous intrusions, block uplifts and resulting fault lines and volcanic eruptions and deposits. The lowland areas were initiated by down-warping some 65 million years ago. This resulted in the formation of an extensive trough. During the last 1.8 million years marine and fluvial sediments filled this trough. The complex system of coastal sand barriers, lagoons and the flood plains and deltas of the Gippsland Lakes area developed during the last million years as a result of continued changes in sea levels. Over the last 10,000 years, during the Holocene era, flood plain deposits and deltas of sand, gravel, silt and clay have developed~ the largest of which is at the mouth of the Mitchell River. The map below illustrates the major geomorphological components of the Silt Jetties and their immediate environs. / Nlchnl50n RI vtr I/'/ // / . . / //, NOWANOWA / / / ../ ./ ,/ ./ ./ j j LAKES ENTRANCE Key j ) ~ x HigMy dissec1cd ridge and valley relief I J // Piedmont Downs J ././.I Coastal Terrace~ ::...;:a Co01fi11cd Floodplains " •.. Dc ltn~. ~pil~ and -'•f1tv coastal swamp Coas1nI 13arricrs and <.luocs ,.,,,... Cl i rfc1I Cnas t GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE MITCHELL RIV.ER SILT JETTIES AND ADJACENT AREA -2- PROCESSES ACTING ON THE SJLT JETTIES A. Natural Processes The Mitchell River below Bairnsdale is characterised by sizeable natural levees. Upstream from the Silt Jetties, these levee banks have isolated the waters of Macleod Morass from the river. Silt deposition forming levees continued downstream to Lake King, where, coupled with the slowing effect of reed fringes in this originally fresh water lake, the levees continued to build and extend into Lake King. The protection from lake wave action then given by these levees allowed the process to continue until by the early 1900s there was conjecture that the Silt Jetties may have eventually extended to the northern shore of Lake King, making Jones' Bay an enclosed bay. Th~Jlltemate view of natural process relies more on falling se~ levels. 30,000-40,000 years ago the sea level was lower and rivers traversed the bed of the present lake system to beyond the present coast. When the sea level rose only the Mitchell River levees and Silt Jetties stayed above water, covered with vegetation and reed fiinge and continued to accrue silt through the processes outlined above. 11 The major silt flow now forms a delta into Jones' Bay at "The Cut • This was formed when the river breached its bank during a severe flood in 1919. Continued deposition here will encourage the river to cut a course elsewhere, this is likely tq_ be just downstream on the right bank. B. Human Impact By the 1870s, the Silt Jetties were recognised for their very fertile soils. By 1900, clearing of the native forest on the jetties was almost complete, by intensive market gardening and dairying activity ensued. Rabbits became a major problem. In 1889 the natural entrance to the Lakes system was replaced by a man made entrance. The original ebb, flow and sanding up of the natural entrance with the attendant low salinity levels in Lake King was replaced by one of constant connection to the sea water salinities of Bass Strait. The new entrance had a general effect of reducing the water level by 60 cm. The natural entrance had previously allowed wide variation in lake levels, depending on river floods to re-open the entrance should it be closed for some time. This changed water regime had profound effects on the biota and bottom vegetation in the Lakes system. The plants which could not tolerate high salinity began to disappear. The reed fringe began to disappear from the Silt Jetties. The inner banks of the jetties, damaged by the impact of agricultural activities and also by waves from river traffic became unstable. The outer banks of the jetties, facing the waves generated by wind on Lake King now lacked a reed fringe to dissipate these forces and thus receded even more swiftly. By 1970 the land area ofjetties had reduced to about half that of the original survey in 1891. Eric Bird (1965) estimated that if this process continued the jetties would be reduced to a string of islands by the year 2000. See Diagram B page 4. -3- There is dispute amongst scientists about the effect of the man made entrance on salinity. The converse view is that natural droughts coupled with increasing abstraction of river flows for water supply have caused the salinity to increase during these periods creating such stress that the fringing vegetation dies and once removed, does not re-establish. C. The Future According to local people, who have lived in the area for up to 40 years, the reed fringes are now showing the healthiest recovery in their memory. See Photographs l and 2 on page 5. Many equate the return of the reed fringe with the removal of grazing pressure in the early 1980s. The local environment may now be in a cycle of natural regeneration, assisted by good river flows, some years of lower salinity, and lack of grazing pressure. It appears that human activity in the last decade may have largely reversed (or at least arrested) the degradation caused during the early· part of this century. On page 4 Diagram C, based on 1994 aerial photographs, offers an alternative view of the appearance of the Silt Jetties by the year 2000. Future processes which would jeopardise the integrity of the Jetties include: o Rising sea levels due to the Greenhouse effect. To quote from the Victorian Coastal Vulnerability Study 1992 (Port of Melbourne Authority/Environmental Protection Authority) ''In summary large areas of the Gippsland Lakes are potentially vulnerable to flooding as a result ofgreenhouse changes. This will be compounded at times ofhigh river discharge. The areas include ... the Mitchel/ River Silt Jetties. " • A more permanent high salinity regime which would degrade the reed fringe and bank vegetation. Q A major flood event causing a further breach on the jetty, or into Jones' Bay from further upstream. For a detailed discussion of these issues see: • The Mitchell River Silt Jetties Conservation and Management Plan Section 3. 7 - p27. • Bird E.C.F. - 1978 - The Geomorphology of the Gippsland Lakes Region. Ministry for Conservation and Environment Studies Series Publication 186. • Erskine E., Rutherford I, Tilleard J. - 1990 Fluvial Geomorphology of Tributaries to the Gippsland Lakes. (I. Drummond and Associates for Department ofC.N.R.) • Jenkin J.J. - 1968 - The geomorphology and Upper Cainozoic geology of South East Gippsland. Geol. Survey Vic. Memoir 27. -4- A J 0 N E S 8 A V ·-... .. ·• . .... , ~,;. ·-:·-=-:-.: . : .: .: .•.. ,,.,,. 6 A y ...-.·,.• /'' Point .: ~~... , :.:,.. 0 Fos1or·-····.:.: -- - · ' J '? •••••••·•·• 1848.. ~ ·-·- - ·- · 1940 --1970 A G ·• o!!"'-=--""""'=====91 km I B .... 0 1~m c ~ ~--- - 0 1Km Diagrams illustrating the configuration of the Mitchell River Silt Jetties: A) over the period 1848 to 1970, B) as projected by E.C.F. Bird and N.J. Rosengren in 1970 for the year 2000, C) as projected for the year 2000 based on field work 1993 and 1994. -5- Photograph (1) Photograph (2) Photographs illustrating phragmites regrowth on the Southern Silt Jetty January 1992 MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES FLORA AND FAUNA Original Vegetation When the Silt Jetties were first mapped in 1848-49 by George Smythe (southern jetty) and John Wilkinson (northern jetty) they were covered in scrub vegetation - mainly Swamp Paperbark (Melaleuca ericifolia), occasional Red Gums (Eucalyptus tereticornis) and were fringed with Common Reed (Phragmites australis) which spread out into the bordering lake. The river mouth was also fringed by reed swamp and shoals of silt and clay. Prior to clearing, the vegetation was shrubby open forest, with Eucalyptus tereticornis predominant. In the wetter areas Swamp Paperbark closed forest would occur on the landward side of either Phragmites grassland or salt rnarsh: . .. • Early Engraving from the Bluff at Eagle Point Current Vegetation Cover Significant areas of the southern Silt Jetty continue to be privately owned. Thus large areas of the jetty have little or no tree cover> since being cleared for agriculture. Some private owners have made significant re-plantings of native vegetation.· The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (CNR) have some re-vegetation segments on the jetty near the Boat Ramp and near The Pines picnic ground close to Point Foster. From 1986 to 1988 a program of re-vegetation on the southern Silt Jetty was undertaken by CNR. The objective was to provide a variety of vegetation including dense bushland and open woodland. This program has been largely successful as any comparison of photographs of the jetty in the 1980s and 1994 will show. The main species used in the program include: Eucalyptus tereticornis Forest Red Gum Eucalyptus cama/dulensis River Red Gum Acacia mearnsii Black Wattle Acacia dealbata Silver Wattle Myoporom insu/are Boobialla Bursaria spinosa Sweet Bursaria Mela/euca ericifolia Swamp Paperbark The tree plantings are severely attacked by sawfly each year, reducing the growth rate and causing tree loss. · -The problem will diminish as the tree canopy closes and with the introduction of fuel reduction burning. ,· \ • Northern Silt Jetty: Results of Re-vegetation Program 1986-1994 -3- Bird and Animal Life The fauna of the Silt Jetties is mostly limited to bird species. Over a hundred species of birds are found in the study area. Most are dependent on wetlands. Dabbling and wading species such as most ducks, herons and black swans prefer the shallow water of the jetty margins. Species that feed on fish (such as cormorants and pelicans), and which prefer the deeper water, will be found resting on shorelines and stranded tree trunks offshore. As the re-vegetation areas mature the jetties will become attractive resting sites for smaller birds such as honeyeaters, parrots and flycatchers. A detailed list of species of birds observed on the jetties is appended. The northern jetty supports populations of Red-bellied Black Snakes and Tiger Snakes. Weeds and Vermin Small ·areas of Blackberry (RJJbus fruticosos), Yukka (Yucca gloriensus), Impomaea and Boxthorn (Lycium) are found on both jetties; rabbits are a pest on the Southern Jetty. Vermin and weed control programs are undertaken by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. -4- Appendix Birds found along the Mitchell River Silt Jetties Scientific name Common name Perching birds Acanthiza chrysorrhoa Yellow-rumped Thornhill Acanthiza /ineata Striated Thornhill Acanthiza nana Yell ow. Thornhill Acanthiza pusilla Brown Thornhill Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris Eastern Spinebill Anthochaera canmculata Red Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera Little Wattlebird Anthus novaeseelandiae . Richard's Pipit ... _ Carduelis carduelis European Goldfinch Cistico/a exilis Holden-headed Cisticola Colluricincla harmonica Grey Shrike-thrush Coracina novaeho/Jandiae Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Corvus coronoicks Australian Raven Cracticus torquatus Grey Butcherbird &psaltria australis Eastern Yellow Robin Ephthianura albifrons White.fronted Chat Gral/Jna cyanoleuca Australian Magpie Lark Gymnorhina tibicen Australian Magpie Lichenostomus leucotis White-eared Honeyeater Malurus cyaneus Superb Fairy-wren Meliphaga /ewinii Lewin's Honeyeater Mirajra javanica Singing Bushlark Orio/us sagittatus Olive-backed Oriole Pardalotus striatus Striated Pardalote Pachycephala nifiventris Rufous Whistler Passer domesticus House Sparrow Phylidonyris novaehollandiae New Holland Honeyeater Rhipidura fu/iginosa Grey Fantail Rhipidura leucophrys Willie Wagtail Sericomis jrontalis White-browed Scrubwren Smicromis brevirostris Weebill Strepera graculina Pied Currawong Strepera versico/or Grey Currawong Streptopelia chinensis Spotted Turtle-Dove Stumus vulgaris Common Starling Turdus meru/a Blackbird 'Zoothera dauma White's Thrush Zosterops lateralis Silvereye -5- Appendix (continued) Scientific name Common name Birds of prey Accipiter jasciatus Brown Goshawk Aquila audax Wedge-tailed Eagle Circus aeruginosus Marsh Harrier Elanus notatus Black-shouldered Kite Falco cenchroides Australian Kestral Ha/iaeetus Jeucogaster White-bellied Sea-Eagle Hieraaetus morphnoides Little Eagle Waders and gulls ...... - ... - Charadrius me/anops Black-fronted Plover Charadrius rujicapillus Red-capped Plover Gal/inago hardwickii Latham's Snipe Haematopus /ongirostris Pied Oystercatcher Hydroprogne caspia Caspian Tern Larus novaeho/landiae Silver Gull Larus pacijicus Pacific Gull ·- Stemia alhifrons Little Tern Stema bergii Crested Tern Stema nereis Fairy Tern Tringsa hypoleucos Common Sandpiper Van.el/us miles Masked Lapwing Duck-like birds Anas castanea Chestnut Teal Anas superciliosa Pacific Black Duck Anas gibberifrons Grey Teal Biziura lobata Musk Duck Cygnus atratus Black Swan Fulicaatra Eurasian Coot Tadoma tadornoides Australian Shelduck -6- Appendix (continued) Scientific name Common name Kingfishers Cayxazurea Azure Kingfisher Dacelo novaeJ!Uineae Lamming Kookaburra Herons and allies Ardea novaehollandiae White-faced Heron Ardeo/a ibis Cattle Egret Egretta alba Great Egret Egretta garzetta Little Egret Egretta intermedia Intermediate Egret Plata/ea regia Royal Spoonbill Threskiornis aethiopica Sacred Ibis Threskiomis spinicol/is Straw-necked Ibis Cockatoos and parrots Cacatua galerita Sulphur-crested Cockatoo .. Cacatua roseicapilla Gal ah Platycercus elegans Crimson Rosella Platycercus eximius Eastern Rosella Trichof{lossus haematodus Rainbow Lorikeet Cuckoos Chrysococcyx basa/is Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo Button quails and allies Gallinu/a tenehrosa Dusky Moorhen Porphyrio porphyrio Purple Swamphen Swifts Hinmdo neoxena Welcome Swallow -7- Appendix (continued) Scientific name Common name Pelicans and allies Pelecanus conspicillatus Australian Pelican Phalacrocorax carbo Great Connorant Phalacrocorax melano/eucos Little Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax sulcirostris Little Black Cormorant Grebes Podiceps cristatus Great Crested Grebe Poliocephalus po/iocepha/us Hoary-headed Grebe Tachybaotusnovaehollandiae Australasian Grebe ···· QJ!!! Tytoalba Barn Owl .. This list was compiled with the help of Mrs Norma Earney (resident of the Silt Jetties for many years) and member of the East Gippsland Bird Observers Club. MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN SUMMARY PURPOSE The Mitchell River Silt Jetties are a resource of National and International significance. This Management Plan provides directions for the future management of the Mitchell River Silt Jetties, Eagle Point Bluff and surrounds, to: • ensure long term protection of geomorphological values. • maintain ··and · enhance· ecological landscape and recreational values where appropriate.· • promote public awareness and appreciation of the Silt Jetties through presenting information in a form suitable for the public including education groups. PLANNING AREA The Plan covers the land and waters of the Mitchell River Silt Jetties east of, and including the Eagle Point Bluff. PLANNING PROCESS Preparation of the Plan commenced in August 1993 and continued into February 1994. Key groups and individuals with a particular interest in the planning area were contacted with the aim of seeking information and input into key management issues. EFFECTIVENESS OF PREVIOUS MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES The table below summarises the effectiveness of actions taken by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Port of Melbourne Authority (in their various incarnations) between 1973 and 1987 and up to 1993. -2- Responsible Cost Assessment of Period Action taken Agency estimate effectiveness 1973-94 Lands Dept. Land acquisition/survey $350,000 Program almost complete. (CNR) boundaries/rescind P.O. approx. li~ces (1977) 1975-87 Ports & Harbours Bridge construction/access $509,000 Entirely successful in Division (PMA) road N.Jetty arresting erosion. Rock placement N.Jetty Minor section (20 m) near 1980-86 Pt Dawson not successful Rock placement S.Jetty due to smaller rock siz.e. 1983-87 1981-87 Department CNR • Re-vegetation ofN.Jetty $75,000 • su~ssful - trees now (S.C.A.) approx. 5 mheight -. Tyre mattress placement • Successful - no erosion (river edge N.Jetty) evident • Trial rush planting N.Jetty • Successful - vigorous rush growth in tyres • Phragmites planting • Success more variable N.Jetty • Concept plan, re-veget'n • Lack of funds has $.Jetty restricted works since ·- • Pt Dawson area fencing, 11> Successful - natural parkillg area vegetation regen. • Rock placement S.Jetty • Successful,butareas fishing sites between road and rock also need hardening • View point - Bluff • View lines need Lookout - Eagle Point clearing of vegetation construction RESOLUTION OF KEY ISSUES The three most important issues are bank instability and erosion, impact of boat speed on river banks, and the impact of recreational use on the Silt Jetties. A. Bank Instability and Erosion There is virtually no instability on the Jones' Bay shoreline now that rock placement has been completed. The wracks of driftwood which were once a major cause of bank instability due to their grinding against the shoreline during wave action are now forming a wave barrier and silt trap in some locations outside the rock wall. The inner banks are also generally stable at this time and the reed fiinge is increasing. About 800 metres of river bank appears unstable. This is usually in sections of 15-20 metres and this may increase if reed growth declines in future droughts. -3- A major cause of bank instability on the inner jetty banks is driftwood grinding into the silt banks where the reed barrier is sparse or the bank is overhung by tea-tree or boobialla. The driftwood congregates in small embayments and wave wash activates the abrasion. Pieces of wood up to 20 cm in diameter cause the problem. Large logs and trees appear to have a stabilising effect. Riverside re-plantings wish rush (Juncus kraussii) has been more successful than Phragmites re-planting. Phragmites fringes on the inner banks are· healthy and increasing in area at present, without any re-vegetation assistance. Proposed Action • Remove driftwood from water along inner banks • Place rock spalls at erosion points • Monitor reed growth • Plant reed or rush on sparse sections within tyre mattresses. Mitchell River Lake King Jones Bay Reed Rock Placement RIVER BANK TREATMENT B. Boat Speed The inner jetty banks are affected by boat wash. The wave energy impacting on shore is a factor of boat hull type and speed. The PMA have just concluded boat wake studies and are likely to apply speed regulations according to hull type so as to create least wake. In essence, boat speed limits are likely to increase for planing hulls (runabouts, outboard boats) to planing speed (15-20 knots) and low speeds will only apply on corners where sight distance is restricted. This logical approach to wake generation should reduce wash erosion and improve conditions for bank fishermen and recreationalists. Proposed Action • New boat speed regulations should be introduced as soon as possible. • Adequate signage be placed along the Silt Jetties waterway to ensure boat operators are aware of the correct speed zone. MITCHELL RIVER BOAT WAKE STUDIES: 8 6 ·I. Dia2ram A : Relative impact of annual wave enel11J' and boat wake cnel11J' on sites A to U -···------~ .. ·.:·· ··-! ... . . ;; _·_ ·- ...... "/. ~ ... --- ...... : ... -· ·~· '"--...... :..,;.__· ___ , : . ------· ... ---· ---··- ·-- -·-•"· ----.:- Diagram B ; Mitchell River location of bout wake studies A to U Aflcr Port Authority Gip))Sland -5- C. Impact of Recreational Activities On any scale the recreational use is heavy (compared with Buchan Caves 120,000 vis day/year and Nyerimilang Park 45,000 vis days per year) and focused on the road and jetty bank. The most sensitive and lowest sections are towards Point Dawson. TRAFFIC COUNTER FIGURES TAKEN BY DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION & NATURAL RESOURCES ON SILT JETTY ROAD rwEST OF BOAT RAMP) Period - 1989/1990 1990/91 Month Vehicles I Passengers Month Vehicles I Passengers ( Ill 2.5 per car) ( cu 2.5 per car) July 4,120 10,300 July 1,572 3,930 Aug 2,005 5,012 Au~ 1, 141 2,852 No data. Sept 2,676 6,690 Sept (est)2,676 (est) 6,690 Oct 2,334 5,835 Oct 3,836 9,590 Nov l,590 3,975 Nov 1,450 3,625 Dec 1,603 4,007 Dec 980 2,450 ... Jan 4,358 10,895 Jan 1,840 4,600 Feb 3,062 7 655 Total 13 489 33,737 Mar 1,364 3,410 Average per month over 19 months April 2,208 5 520 5,568 visitors/month May 2,108 5,270 No data. June (est) 1,400 (est) 3,500 Yearly visitors 28,828 72,069 60,000 - 75,000 estimated Total vehicles visitors Excerpt from letter: Shire of Dairnsdale to Victorian Toudsm Commission 1989 requesting funds for road improvement on the Si1t Jetties: "A roadside interview survey was carried out on this section of road over a 12 hour period on 22nd January, 1988. During this period 88 traffic movements were recorded. The breakdown of the "purpose of the trip" is as follows:- Sightseeing (7) 16.3% Fishing (26) G0.5% Property Access (9) 20.9% Other (I ) 2.3% Total interviewed fill 100.0% -6- Major forms of impact: Littering - no facilities for rubbish except on boat ramp. Vegetation removal and trampling to gain better access to the bank and, during cost periods, to maintain fires. Discarded bait, bait boxes and fishing tackle. Uncontrolled toilet use. Road surface deterioration. Proposed Action • Manage the southern jetty recreational use to reduce vehicle numbers travelling the full length of the road to Point Dawson and return: a) Improve the view and information sources at the Bluff Lookout • make this the major point for Silt Jetty interpretation facilities including information on road conditions. b) Improve the road surface as far as "the Pines" and develop a first class picnic area at that location (shelter, tables, barbecue facilities, water supply). c) Harden and improve the 20 fishing sites between the Pines and the boat ramp, including adequate off road parking. d) Develop the recent regeneration plantings in the Point Foster/Pines areas for nature observation. Provide a walking track from·ihe Pines along the Eagle Point Bay shoreline and through the regeneration area. AGENCY RESPONSIBILITIES ON THE SILT JETTIES The responsible agencies have worked co-operatively on jetty restoration projects for 20 years. During that time agencies have changed according to State Government restructuring. Some have amalgamated, (CNR is a good example) and new agencies (such as the Mitchell River Management Board) have been created. The local officers of each agency have provided continuity of management at a local level. It's suggested that there should be a more formalised committee which would include a Silt Jetty resident. Areas of responsibility are outlined below: DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION & NATURAL RESOURCES (CNR) Northern Silt Jetty, Southern Silt Jetty & Silt Jetty Channel • Shoreline maintenance and re-vegetation (except for private shoreline). • Ground area flora and fauna management on public land and fisheries. • Control of public land based recreational activities. • Control and maintenance of access tracks on public land. • Fire, weed, vennin control on public land. 0 Licensing of occupancies on public land. • Re-vegetation program on the Northern Jetty and Silt Jetty channel. • Management of fisheries and control of recreational and commercial fishing and other provisions such as hunting, wildlife management. • Management and licensing ofjetty structures. • Assistance with controls under Motor Boating Act, where officers are authorised. -7- PORT OF MELBOURNE AUTHORITY (PMA) • Maintenance of navigable channels - depth maintenance, hazard removal. • Maintenance of beacons and navigation aids and signage. • Control of recreational boating - speeds/safety/mooring standards. • Provision of technical advice on shoreline stabilisation. • Collection of channel depth data - all water areas adjacent to jetties. • Control of water pollution - all water adjacent to jetties. · SHIRE OF BAIRNSDALE • Control and maintenance of boat ramp, parking area, toilet block and re-vegetation works on public reserve, Rivennouth Road and that this be extended to include small areas of frontage and Crown Land between Eagle Point Bluff Reserve and the boat ramps. • Control and maintenance of southern jetty access road to the limit or private properi;y, including surface, speed restrictions and traffic signage. • Control of local planning scheme provisions on public and private land. • Approval of service provision -.SEC, Telecom, water supply, sewerage to private land. MITCHELL RIVER MANAGEMENT BOARD • Maintenance of Mitchell River channel and bank stability upstream from The Cut. .. • Technical advice on river channel management issues below The Cut. -8- MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES; INTENDED OUTCOMES • Public Awareness that the area is a special place. • The Silt Jetties be stabilised at their present size. • Maintenance of an abundant reed fringe on the river banks. • An open forest of Red Gum on the Northern Jetty with a complement of native fauna and ground flora and thickets of tea-tree near the edge. • A lookout and possibly a restaurant on The Bluff at Eagle Point to take advantage of the spectacular view. A display about the Silt Jetties to be provided. • The Boat Ramp area .upgraded to include shade trees and lawn. • Rivennoutb Road bituminised as. far as The Pines where there should be well made parking spaces. There should be rock platforms for fishermen on the adjacent river bank • A picnic area at The Pines with plenty of shade, tables, gas barbecues, toilet facilities, places for children to play, and clear signs for walks. At Point Foster, a walking track with wildlife viewing along the way, a bird hide perhaps and plenty of shrubs. • The road to Point Dawson should have a solid gravel surface, adequate fishing sports should be maintained and carefully monitored for impact on this most fragile area of the jetty. More trees should be planted along this stretch ofjetty. • Point Dawson should have better parking, a history trail and a well maintained jetty. • School groups studying the jetties and the public buying a book about their history. • A "Friends" group of interested people who will help maintain the jetties, show them to visitors and record their history. IMPACT OF SETTLEMENT ON THE MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES SUMMARY The Mitchell River Silt Jetties are located south east ofBairnsdale (Victoria). They are an extension of the Mitchell River Delta. These elongated fingers of silt extend approximately 8 kilometres into Lake King. They are the largest of their kind in the southern hemisphere. Similar formations occur at the mouths of the Tuross River in NSW and the Murray as it flows through Lake Alexandrina. They were formed during the last 6,000 years. On the 14 May 1991 the Mitchell River Silt Jetties were entered on the Register of the National Estate under the Heritage Commission Act. This type of digitate delta is formed where large quantities of silt are brought down to the river mouth during floods and wave and current action in the lake is too weak to disperse the accumulated sediment. The aborigines of the Kurnai Tribe and Tatungalung Clan were familiar with the rich fishing and game available on the Mitchell River Silt I etties and they fiercely defended their territories against the incursion of explorers and settlers last century well into the 1850s. The first European explorers saw the lakes and river deltas of East Gippsland in the early 1840s. In 1843 C.J. Tyers was appointed Commissioner for Crown Lands for East Gippsland. He established a police camp at Eagle Point Bluff in 1844, built a cottage and lived there for some years. It is most probable that both the northern and southern silt jetties were first grazed by stock owned by Frederick Jones who took up the Lucknow run in 1842. Grazing licences which allowed selectors to use the northern and southern jetties were issued under the various Land Acts from 1862 onwards. After this time some clearing of the original eucaiypts, wattle and tea-tree scrub which covered both jetties occurred. In 1873 the southern jetty was reserved permanently for public purposes. This was an extension of the public land set aside for park near and including the Bluff at Eagle Point. During the 1850s through to the 1880s the area around Bairnsdale offered a wide range of attractions for settlers: there was land for grazing and fanning, gold prospecting, the provision of transportation by land, river, lake and sea, merchandising and general employment opportunities. The Mtchell River was alive with barges, steamers and schooners which travelled throughout the lakes system. There were also shipping services to Melbourne and Sydney. By 1891 Bairnsdale Shire had a population of more than 7,500 people. Many of these people were affected by the collapse of the economic boom of the 1880s. As one measure to address this problem the Government of Victoria made available previously reserved Crown Land under the Settlement On Lands Act of 1893. Of over 80 allocations in the State 6 were in the Baimsdale area; of these the largest was at Eagle Point on the southern silt jetty east of the Bluff -2- Small allocations of land on the southern jetty were made available to some 42 applicants in the last quarter of 1893. At its peak the area supported 39 settlers, their wives and families. In all there was a total of220 residents in 1899. The local school, established at the request of the settlers and their supporters, had 70 students on the roll and 40 regular attenders in 1895. For a variety of reasons, including better or improving economic conditions in the surrounding local area and in the State as a whole, most settlers had left the jetty by the early 1900s. Some returned to BairnsdaJe or took up land on Raymond Island, or resided in Paynesville or Eagle Point which had developed in the 1870s. During this time the slipworks at Point Dawson, located at the eastern end of the jetty, were also transferred to Paynesville. The settlers who remained usually did so on an increased land holding. The grazing of cattle on the northern jetty continued throughout this period and into the 1980s. During the 1920s and in the depression of the 1930s a fishing village of up to 40 residents developed near Point Dawson on land made available by the Shire Council as permissive occupancies. Over the last 150 years the impact of European settlement on the Silt Jetties has been considerable. Bird and Rosengren, who have made extensive ·studies of the jetties since the 1960s, estimate that the total area of the jetties is now only about half of what it was in the 1870s. When first sighted in the 1840s and at least until 1901 the Silt Jetties were surrounded by a wide area of reed swamp which ~pped river sediments and protected the jetties from wave and wind erosion. In the early 1900s the dieback of the protective reed swamp around the jetties shorelines and river banks exposed the fragile silt to waye and wind attack. There is still considerable debate about the relative significance of a number of inter related events in the 1890s and early 1900s which appear to have brought about this situation. They include: The building of the artificial entrance to the sea at Lakes Entrance in 1889 which is thought to have contributed to an increase in salinity levels in the Lakes system. Similarly years of drought in the 1900s which deprived the lakes of an input of fresh water from the surrounding rivers, and the continued clearing of natural vegetation and the impact of cattle grazing on the fragile shoreline along with the introducfion of exotic pests such as rabbits. It is fortunate that over the last 30 years growing public awareness of the value and fragility of the Silt Jetties has enabled State Government Authorities to restrict land use and control access to some areas. Implementation of the recommendations of a 1973 interdepartmental committee into the causes of erosion on the Silt Jetties would appear to have been successful in arresting the rapid erosion of the jetties. Actions taken by relevant authorities up to 1992 include: a program of rock placement along the shoreline and river banks, planting of reeds atong the river banks, re-vegetation of the northern jetty, re-purchase of much of the privately owned land (all of the northern jetty and ·most of the eastern third of the southern jetty), the withdrawal of permissive occupancies on the southern jetty near Point Dawson and co-operative land management with private landholders. -3- It is hoped that the current management plan for the Silt Jetties will: • raise awareness of the unique nature of the Silt Jetties in Victoria and an appreciation of their international significance. • facilitate the maintenance of rock placement and re-vegetation programs. • encourage local residents and visitors to assist in the maintenance of the Silt Jetties for the pleasure and information of people now and for future generations. On 14 May 1991 the Commonwealth Government, under the Heritage Commission Act (1975), entered the Mitchell River Silt Jetties on the Register of the National Estate. A more detailed history of settlement on the Silt Jetties called 11 A History of Settlement on the Silt Jetties of the Mitchell River" is available from ...... A HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT ON THE MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES "Gippsland" A HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT ON THE MITCHELL RIVER SILT JETTIES !APPEARANCE, LOCATION AND DISCOVERY "Situated for the first six miles or so in the cen'tre ofa narrow peninsula, Jones' Bay lying to the east a 'Eagle Point Bay on the west, which the river divides. There is deep water on both sides with luxuriant banks covered with good timber and vegetation. For several miles up the belt ofland on its banks is unoccupied and offers good grazingfor stock. Nearer Bairnsdale we pass some magnificent maize flats and hop plantations." R.S. Broome in 1882.C1> The Mitchell River Silt Jetties are located south east of Bairnsdale (Victoria) and extend into Lake King. They are part of the Mitchell River Delta which extends from just near Bairnsdale southwards along the western shoreline of the Lake King to Eagle Point Bluff and then eastwards for approximately 8 kilometres as low narrow fingers of sediment. The elongated, simple digitate (birdsfoot) form of the jetties differs from the cuspate (tooth.like) fonn of most other river deltas in the region; this is partly due to the fact that the north west part of Lake King is sheltered from strong easterly and westerly winds. Similar formations occur in the Mississippi Delta, the Volga Delta in the Caspian Sea,- the Tuross (in NSW) and the Murray River as it flows through Lake Alexandrina. The delta and Silt Jetties were formed during the last 6,000 to 10,000 years. The sediment consists of silts, clay and minor sands. Delta aggrading occurred because the amount and rate of deposition by the river was greater than the rate of erosion by tidal currents.<2> !ABORIGINAL OCCUPATION While it is difficult to estimate accurately the actual size and distribution of the aboriginal population in the mid nineteenth century (estimated by Alfred William Howitt to be about 1,000 in East Gippsland) their occupation of the Bairnsdale and Lakes area is well documented. They fiercely defended their tenitory and during the 183 Os prevented explorers from the Monaro Plains in southern NSW from reaching the lakes. One of C J Tyers', the first Commissioner for Lands in the area, tasks was to protect European settlers from aboriginal raids. He complained .that his initial police force was inadequate for the task. The main tribe was the Kurnai of which the Brabralung clan predominated. This clan was divided into several groups with specific territories. A group of another tribe (the Tatungalung) centred on the south side .of Lake Victoria lived on Raymond Island. The aborigines had a complex and sophisticated culture. Fishing and hunting provided their basic food needs. There were however few survivors by the 1860s. European occupation of tribal lands, disease and gun power saw to that.(3) -2- [EUROPEAN EXPLORATION When the Silt Jetties were first mapped in 1848-49 by George Smythe (southern jetty) and John Wilkinson (northern jetty) they were covered in scrub vegetation - mainly Swamp Paperbark (Mela/euca ericifolia), occasional Red Gums (Eucalyptus tereticomis) and were fringed with Common Reed (Phragmites austra/is), which spread out into the bordering lake. The river mouth was also fringed by reed swamp and shoals of silt and clay. These features were to provide a problem in the navigation of the river. At this time the jetties were longer, wider and simpler in outline than they are today.<4> The reed swamp impeded the silt and clay brought down when the river was in flood and in this way the delta was built up and extended. The reeds also protected the shoreline from wave attack. As late as 1901 even after considerable changes in the use of the river, its drainage basin and the surrounding lakes and the building of the artificial entrance to the lakes (at Lakes Entrance) the vast reed swamp was still able to be observed by the geographer J W Gregory on his visit to Gippsland. <5> The exploration of East Gippsland may be categorised in two ways: coastal exploration and overland exploration. Captain Cook's sighting of Point Hicks in 1770 and the landing of a shipwrecked crew at the point in the same year is of broad significance. As is the fact that Bass and Flinders established the existence of a strait between the southern extremity of the mainland and Van Dieman's Land in 1798 and followed this up with further explorations in 1802. However more significant were the overland treks of Angus McMillan, on behalf of his employer Lachlan :Macalister in the period 183 9-41. He was seeking a passable route from the Monaro High Plains to what is now southern Victoria. On 3 June 1839 he viewed the rich.country of East Gippsland from Mt McLeod and called it "Caledonia Australis". He named the .Mitchell River after the Surveyor General of the colony of NSW. In 1838 Andrew Hutton had trekked from Nungatta and Mallacoota Inlet west towards Lake King near Lakes Entrance, but he was driven back by fierce aborigines.<6) In 1841 Count Strzelecki who was also exploring the area gave it the name Gippsland after the then Governor ofNSW. He wrote and published the first accounts of the potential of the hills and plains. Early visitors continued to write lyrical accounts of the beauty of the mountains, lakes and undulating plains. However early exploration from the west was hindered by the rugged forested terrain and the deep marshes (for example near Moe). In 1842 John Reeve discovered the opening to the lakes from the sea at the eastern end of the Cunninghame Ann. In 1844 CJ Tyers investigated the entrance but thought the sand bars would impede navigation. He proved to be right for in later years ships could be delayed entry for weeks or months at a time.{7) -3- EARLY SETTLEMENT IN THE AREA OF THE SILT JETTIES Frederick Jones was the first squatter to arrive in the Baimsdale area. He came from NSW in 1842 in the company of Messrs Raymond, Stratford, Curlewis, Brodribb, Loughnan and Taylor who also took up runs in the adjacent countryside. In their quest for land south of the Monaro they had most probably been influenced by Strzelecki's accounts of his explorations. 11 Jones called his run "Lucknow • He built a bark hut on the bank·ofthe Mitchell River in what is now Robb Street (Baimsdale). His land covered an area of 19.440 hectares. His run stretched westwards along the north bank of the Mitchell River and south to I ones' Bay and east to the Nicholson River and probably included both silt jetties. The land was cleared for grazing cattle, sheep and. horses. In 1855 the property passed to Edward Crooke of Holey Plains.<8) In 1844 Archibald Macleod (like McMillan a native of Skye in Scotland) travelled south from NSW in a large party including some of his family. He established the "Baimsdale" run. This covered an area of 9,313 hectares and extended from the western side of the bend of the Mitchell River in the north along the banks of the river to Eagle Point (including the Macleod Morass). His daughter Arabella had brought willow twigs in her saddle bag which she planted along the river bank. Their home, Bairnsdale House, was in what is now McMillan Street, Bairnsdale.<9> In 1843 a Commissioner for Crown Lands was appointed for East Gippsland. This was Charles Joseph Tyers. He eventually reached Gippsland in I 844 travelling to the Baimsdale area via Port Albert and then overland. He established a police camp at Eagle Point and later in 1847 had a weatherboard cottage built on the Bluff. He lived there with his family for at least 5 years. His first son Adam was born there.< 10> Tyers was appointed to Gippsland for three reasons: to discourage convicts from Tasmania from settling in the area; to protect white settlers from aboriginal raids; and to fix the boundaries of squatters' holdings and settle disputes. Less worthy of record is the Gippsland Guardian report from 1 May 1863 that along with an orchard he had planted cactus, geraniums and French ivy "which have overgrown the whole place".01) It is not surprising he selected the Bluff at Eagle Point since it commands a magnificent, uninterrupted view of the surrounding mountains, plains and lakes. -4- IAccelerated Settlement In 1851 the colony of Victoria was officially separated from NSW. In the same year gold was discovered at Ballarat, Bendigo, Warrandyte and Omeo. By 1857 discoveries through East Gippsland were widespread including an area near Mt Taylor just north of the present city of Bairnsdale. During the 1860s and through to the tum of the century further rich discoveries were made in the surrounding hills. At first hundreds and then thousands of new settlers arrived to try their luck at the diggings or to set up stores, hotels, carting and other services. It was noted in 1915 that the Mitchell River was still adjusting to the ruthless land clearing associated with mining.02> By 1860 Lucknow near Bairnsdale was a thriving township. There was a twice weekly mail service and a coach service to Sale. The steamer Enterprise made a twice weekly run from Sale via Lucknow and Sarsfield. In 1860 Archibald Macleod established a punt service near the site of the present bridge over the Mitchell (at Bairnsdale). A bridge was built in 1870. By the late 1880s Baimsdale township had extensive wharves, a post office, telegraph service, street lighting, some asphalted streets, a water supply and a garbage collection. There was a rail connection to Melbourne (established 1888) and shipping links to Melbourne and Sydney. The earliest settlers in the Bairnsdale area were squatters. Their intention was to graze animals for meat and wool or to breed animals for sale. At the same time -strong encouragement was given to selectors to develop land for agriculture initially to meet the need of the colony for staple foods such as wheat and oats. Farmers soon experimented with such crops as potatoes, beans, peas, turnips and mangolds. By the 1870s fanners in the area were producing a wide range of crops. The most economically significant being maize and hops (the latter being concentrated in the area from Picnic Point to Eagle Point along the river flats). By 1882 Baimsdale farmers were producing one fifth of the colony's demand for hops. ICROWN LAND SALES AND RESERVATIONS ISettlement of the Land During the 19th century the idea of civilising the land through ·intensive cultivation persisted as an ideal. Agriculture was seen as a more suitable type of land use than grazing (pasturage). The hope that every man could have his garden and plant h.is own field persisted and was influential in the decision to use Crown Land for village settlements to alleviate the unemployment problem of the 1890s. cts) -5- Various land acts passed by the Victorian Parliament during the period 1860-1869 assisted selectors to gain access to the huge areas originally leased by squatters (note the size of Jones' and Macleod's runs). In particular the Duffy Act of 1862 and Grants Acts of 1865 and 1869 were instrumental in opening up Broadlands and the Silt Jetties. From 1852 onwards some Crown Lands had been auctioned in the colony. The first subdivision of land on the northern silt jetty occurred in 1868 (21 February). The 1869 Land Act included provision for unoccupied pastoral land to be divided into blocks and offered for sale. It also allowed a much wider range of people to select land such as labourers and shepherds. A rent of 2 shillings per acre was credited to the purchaser who paid I pound per acre after a 3 year selection period expired. The purchase price could be paid over a period of 7 years.(16) By 1878 all available land had been purchased. In 1873 the southern jetty was included in the reservation of the Eagle Point Recreation and Public Park. In 1881 the frontage to the Mitchell River and Jones' Bay was excluded from available land and permanently reserved for public purpose. The northern jetty continued to be privately farmed including a prosperous dairy farm until its purchase in 1980 and reversion to Crown Land. lsHIPPING: CARGOES, PASSENGERS, TOURISM During the 1840s mapping of the lakes system occurred and as early as 1842 k.nowl~dge of a natural entrance from the lakes to the sea existed. But it was not until 1889 after much debate and delay that the artificial entrance to the lakes system was opened. This had a dramatic impact on the movement of imports and exports in the area. Refrigeration, a process developed from the 1850s onwards, enabled local producers to access the Melbourne and Sydney markets. Charles Marshall and Thomas Chapman had made the first entry to the lakes from the sea in 1854. In 1855 William Dawson (Gippsland surveyor) was asked to inspect the lakes and report on the entrance. He proposed that a channel could be cut through from Lake Reeve or the Cunninghame Arm to Lake Bunga. In 1858 the surveyor and squatter, Malcolm Campb.ell in the 70 -tonne "Georgina Smith" made the first serious attempt to enter the lake system through the natural entrance at the eastern end of the Cunninghame Arm. He had brought the first shipment of cargo to the local goldfields in April 1854. Also in 1858 Phillip Macarthur used the steamer "Enterprise" within the lake system for carting timber.<17) -6- After 1862 schooners came through the natural entrance. In 1882 a tourist R S Broome described the main problem associated with the entrance: "At present the entrance is almost in a direct line . . . . immediately in front of Loughton's Hotel. A year ago it was a good deal eastwards. 15 years ago it was near the Red Bluff about 3 miles (4. 8 kms) east along the coast" (1882)0•) By 1864 "The Lady of the Lakes" was trading between Bairnsdale and Sale. This steamer also catered for tourists. In that year the Gippsland Lakes Navigation and North Gippsland Steam Navigation Companies were fonned to provide cargo and passenger services on the lakes. By 1878 the paddle steamer the "Tanjil" (36 metres long, 438 tonnes in weight and able to carry 190 passengers) and later the "Dargo" from 1883 (a screw steamer able to carry 160 passengers) sailed between Baimsdale and Sale on alternate days. The steamer 11 1 Baimsdale ' made a daily round trip from.Lakes Entrance to Bairnsdale and back. Other vessels of note were: No. of Name Vessel type Weieht Lemrth passen2ers Tambo Steamer 1020 tonnes 20.8 metres - Omeo Screw Steamer 85 tonnes 30 metres 327 Ethel Jackson Paddle Steamer 271 tonnes 35 metres 250 ·- JCD Steamer 71.5 tonnes 31 metres ~ Givvsland Steamer tonnes 36.6 metres 200+ (19) Most vessels had a draught of between 2 and 3 metres. jNA VIGATION PROBLEMS OF THE MITCHELL RIVER In addition to the problems associated with negotiating the natural entrance there were navigation problems nearer to the Port ofBairnsdale. Silting at the mouth of the Mitchell, the perceived impact of boat swash on the banks of the river, speed restrictions, fears of:fires caused by sparks from the funnels ofships and the actual amount ohime it took to reach the port via the Silt Jetties and levees of the delta. The perceived need to regulate the speed of boats and to protect the river banks from erosion was recognised quite early ("Bairnsdale Courier" 6 March 1878).<20) -7- I1889 Plan to deepen Mitchell River In the 1880s land at Point Dawson (at the mouth of the Mitchell) had been temporarily reserved for the Public Works Department to establish a slipworks for ship repairs. It also served as the home port for the dredges "Wombat" and "Mystery" and later for the "Pioneer" (1905-1914) which could shift 500 tonnes of silt per hour. The shipwrights lived in Paynesville and were ferried to work daily in the "Blowfly". In 1911 the slipyards were transferred to Paynesville. Some workers lived in a boarding house on the southemjetty.C21 > Point Dawson : Slipworks and dredge East Gippsland Historical Society Inc. Discussion concerning the opening of a cut in the river channel in the southern jetty near Eagle Point was eventually abandoned when arguments against this action, on the basis that the jetties were a unique geological site, were accepted.<22) -8- !RECREATION Holidays and excursions to the Gippsland Lakes began in the early 1860s. Fishing. bathing and regattas were popular activities. Some paddle steamers such as the 11Burrabinjie'1 were luxuriously fitted out to cater for the needs of the most demanding holiday makers. For a time this was owned by James Bull and T.B.Durham. Eagle.Point was thickly settled by the 1870s. It was a popular waterway place and regattas were held there. In 1873 the Baimsdale Town Council reserved an area near The Bluff for a Public Park. The beauty and unique value of the Silt Jetties were well known. Of his visit to this area in 1885 the journalist "Vagabond", John Stanley Thomas, wrote concerning: "The swan's neck peninsula in this levee is the most extraordinary instance of silt deposits which I have seen in the world "<23> Early engraving: impression of the Silt Jetties from The Bluff at Eagle Point -9- j SETTLEMENT ON THE SOUTHERN SILT JETTY Impact of 1890s Depression: Settlement on Lands Act 1893 The 1880s in Victoria were a period of great prosperity. But in the early 1890s this spell of apparently endless good fortune broke. In Victoria in 1893 unemployment was estimated at 50,000 out of a total population of l,133,000. During the prosperous preceding 20 years the population had grown rapidly; this was also the case in the Bairnsdale area: POPULATION Baimsdale Year Shire Town Victoria 1871 2,195 900 723,000 .. 1881 7 544 1,204 858,000 1891 7,546 3,435 · 1,133,000 . 1901 8,178 3,074 1,196,000 1911 8,190 3,412 1,307,000 Table 1. Population Bairnsdale in Victoria 1871 to 1911.<24) Major causes of the depression included: recurring droughts, restriction of credit as a result of loss of confidence in business ventures, cessation of large public works programs, an abrupt drop in the flow of British capital. In addition at Bairnsdale the hop crop failed owing to an attack of the Red Spider :Mite (1892). The Baimsdale Council employed the largest group of unemployed persons of any municipality.C2S> The movement to make small allocations of Crown Land available to the unemployed and their families had considerable support in Bairnsdale. Local charities alone could not meet the total need. It was believed that a local settlement scheme would allow people to keep their connections with the town and help them maintain their dignity and independence. The Rev. Donald Campbell was a prime mover in urging the Government to make land available near Baimsdale. The Victorian Government and the Opposition in their deliberations were to some extent influenced by the utopian movement which had prevailed throughout the 19th century. The fact that the small size of the allotments contemplated (0.4 to 8.09 hectares) was known to be unsuitable even for subsistence farming did not deter them.<28} -10- In July 1892 the Settlement On Land Bill was presented by the Shields Govenunent. It was temporarily put on hold during the election campaign in that year. In the following year, with some modifications, it was proclaimed by the Patterson Government on l September (1893). The Act provided for settlement on areas of Crown Land in small blocks for the: • registered unemployed and their families • setting up of homestead associations • village settlements. By 1896 there were 83 settlements in Victoria; 6 of these were in the Bairnsdale area. The largest of these was at Eagle Point on the southern silt jetty. John Lardner, District Officer for Land.s, moved quickly in allocating blocks to 42 applicants. He did this on 30 September 1893, before the official date on which land could be allocated (3 October 1893) and before the Act was gazetted (6 November -1893).<27) See Appendix 1 p.16. The conditions to be met by applicants were: • applicants were to be 18 years or more and allotments were to be applied for individually • applicants could not be an owner or lessee of more than 2 acres • the size of an allotment was 1~I0 acres ( 4.05 hectares) • an allotment cost £1 per acre payable at 2 shillings per annum • improvements to the value £I were to be made in the first 6 years • applicants would be expected to repay all aid and survey costs in 40 half yearly investments<28> In the Bairnsdale area preference was given to local applicants with large families. Because the needs of the settlers had not been carefully thought through, problems such as small blocks of land, lack of readily available fresh water for domestic use and for stock and the unsuitability of several blocks due to constant (for example allotment 45 near the eastern end of the jetty) or irregular flooding of the whole jetty area in 1893, required amendments to be made to the Act in 1895. The amended Act allowed the Land Board, which administered the schemes to resume possession of land required for public purposes such as roads and water supply. Settlers whose land (or part of whose land) was revoked were compensated, usually by the allocation of additional land. C29) It should be noted that in order to allocate land on the southern silt jetty the earlier Jegislation of 1873 had to be revoked, (Crown Lands Reserve Act Nov 1893). Four areas were excluded from the pennanent reservation at Eagle Point, 54 hectares at the base of the Bluff, land at Point Dawson on a temporary basis for the Public Works Department to conduct ship building repairs and to serve as the home port for the dredges "Wombat" and "Mystery". Allotments 9 and 10 were also reserved as being perceived as vulnerable to flooding and after consideration of several sites Allotment 12 was finally reserved for the school site. -11- The settlers built weatherboard cottages, with bark roofs. The cottages usually consisted of 4 rooms which were lined with hessian or paper. The bark roofs did not allow the settlers to store water. They cleared and fenced their land to keep out rabbits, grew crops and supplemented their income with employment on public works, seasonal harvesting of hops or fishing. The Flood family ran a guest house near the site of The Pines picnic ground. In 1895 280 acres (113 hectares) were being cultivated with maize, potatoes, onions, peas and hay. Some home orchards were established. The settlers were responsive to new ideas, for example silkwonn cultivation was advocated by a local Bairnsdale businessman. In April/May 1895 the settlers applied to the Department of Agriculture for cuttings of white mulberries. An oil seed program never came to fiuition.<3 1J Some of their enthusiasm may have been generated as a response to the letters and broadsheets sent to local newspapers and the "Hints for Village Settlers" published by the Government printer in 1894~ both these ventures were instigated by Allan McLean, the Minister for Lands. Land Acts passed in 1898 and 1901 enabled settlers who stayed on at the settlement to increase their land holding or surrender their holding in exchange for a grazing licence. The 1911 Land Act spelt the end of village settlements. 1915 was the last year in which detailed records regarding the settlement were kept. The table below summarises the history of this period: Number of Number of Year "Settlers" Residents (total) 1894 35 149 1895 39 218 1900 33 200 1915 5 19 Table 2 Eagle Point: Village Settlement Population 1894-1915.<32) THE ADVANTAGES OF THE VILLAGE SEITLEMENT ON THE SOUTHERN SILT JETTY The advantages may be summarised as follows: • The land was lightly timbered and of reasonable fertility. • Settlers were given an initial allowance of £15. • The Land Board was lenient with regard to non-payment of rent. • Mr Lardner was instructed to allocate seed potatoes to the value of £ 1- 10/~ to each settler who applied. • On revocation of allotment or if land proved unsuitable alternative land could be issued (eg D Haylock who moved to Raymond Island in 1895). • The settlement was close to the town ofBaimsdale. o There was a road and a river transport network. • Supplementary work opportunities existed, eg the annual hop harvest and a local municipal public works program. -.- • There was a plentiful supply of game and fish. • A school was established in 1894.C33) The disadvantages of the village settlement scheme may be summarised also: • The Minister for Lands (McLean) did not provide a purchase clause in the 1893 Act. • The inaqequacy of the amount ofland allocated (less than 8 hectares). ··· • The fact that land was low lying and subject to flooding most of the land was about 1 metre above sea level. The 1893 flood destroyed all crops and covered all land with silt. • The lack of an adequate water supply. Settlers had to go to the spring in the Park Reserve for fresh water. Bores sunk for cattle were brackish (see the letter of John Alexander 13 Dec 1908). Land salinity was a problem (see D Haylock letter 2 Oct 1895). • Age of the settlers. Because preference was given to settlers with large families. Many of the older sons and daughters had to move elsewhere to seek work. Also there was a problem concerning how many people had to be fed from one small allotment. • Lack of adequate roads on the silt jetty • Lack of privacy - many settlers complained of people wallcing across their land. • Actual employment opportunities were scarce. The only ongoing employment was in public works programs. C34> -13- A NOTE ON THE SCHOOL ON THE SOUTHERN SILT JETIY Eagle Point School No. 3215 was opened on 1 October 1894. It was a substantial weatherboard building of 4 rooms, a verandah and porch. There was one large school room. The rest of the building was the residence of the head teacher. The school was located on Allotment 12. This was on some of the highest land on the jetty, approximately 2 metres above sea level On the advice of the school inspector the floor was raised 18 inches ( 46 ems) above the ground to avoid floods which he calculated could regularly rise to 12 inches (30 ems). Village School E agle Point East Gippsland Historical Society Inc. -14- Thomas Pedlow was the first teacher and he remained until 1898. He had previously been head teacher at the Mitchell ruver School, which was closed when many of the families previously employed in hop growing moved to the Silt Jetties or Eagle Point township. In 1895 there were 70 children on the roll and 40 regular attenders. (Some children still came from Broadlands) The next teacher was William McBriar who crune from Wy Yung. One of the first tasks he set himself was to apply for a shelter shed to provide shade for his students. He planted pine trees which survived and made the site a landmark for many years. In 1910 the school had: "lots ofwater tanks, pine trees and a garden in front, gravel round the door, a pony paddock at the back and a big garden plot at the side where the boys learned to grow vegetables .... about 20 ofus. "OS> By 1913 school attendance was down to 7 from the allotments and 1 from the northern jetty. Many of the settlers had moved to Paynesville or Eagle Point. In 1916 a new school was opened in Eagle Point township on a site opposite the park.'36) lSETTLEMENT 1913 AND BEYOND In 1913 allotments at the Eagle Point settlement were rented to single men. Some contemporaries complained that one or two Baimsdale landowners had secured much of the land. (37) This may have been so, but improving economic conditions and new opportunities for employment lured most of the settlers away soon after 1900. In 1914 the dredge works and slipyards at Point Dawson were transferred to Paynesville where there were already other boat building and ship repair facilities. In 1915 only 5 settlers and their families remained on the southern jetty. Evidence that many original settlers remained in the Eagle Point area is reflected in the names on the Honour Roll of those who enlisted for the 1914-18 war (Eagle Point School 3215).C38> Many of the current landholders on the Southern Jetty live in original settlers' cottages which have been attractively updated. In 1919 a massive flood broke through the bank of the northern silt jetty (near the Bluff) and washed away the road in front of Allotment 7, Mrs Tait's holding. This avulsion or breach .became permanent and now fonns the outlet called The Cut. In 1916 three fishennen erected camps at Point Dawson. The effects of the I 920s depression were felt at Bairnsdale and in 1926 the Shire of Baimsdale reserved land on the southern silt jetty and the Department of Crown Lands granted permissive occupancy to several families in the vicinity of Point Dawson. Up to 40 residents were engaged in professional fishing at one stage. The last pennissive occupancies were revoked in 1980. The last cottages are currently being cleared away.C19> During this time the northern silt jetty was used continuously for stock grazing and finally as a prosperous dairy farm. It was re-purchased to be Crown Land in 1980 and is managed by the Department of Conservation and Natura] Resources. -15- lcoNSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT As late as 1901 the original fiinge of protective reed swamp around the shoreline and river banks was still present. The dieback of the reed swamp was probably the result of several interacting factors including increased salinity levels of the lakes, largely due to the opening of the artificial entrance to the lakes in 1889, several droughts which deprived the lake of fresh water and the 1916 plague ofRed Spider Mite which attacked the reed swamp. In addition excessive felling of timber, stream modification for mining and cattle grazing on the river banks increased the load of silt deposited at the mouth of the river and since 1919 in Jones' Bay at the mouth of The Cut. Similarly the amount of driftwood which could be pushed against the river bank and shoreline by wind driven waves has also significantly increased since the beginning of European settlement. Bird estimates that the jetties today are only about half their size compared with estimates in the 1840s and 1870. Ivy Burke (nee Jones) remembers: "...... there were lots of rushes tea-tree and boobialla and other trees along the edge of the lake also a lot of pink pigface, little white daisies and a small purple flower. The lake had lots of swans and other birds on it. It was quite shallow cuuJ sandy at the edge but gradually got deeper as you waded out. ''<41 ) However it is important to note that during the 19th century the unique value of the jetties was recognised by town authorities. The decision not to cut through the southern jetty near Paynesville was finally made on environmental grounds. There were concerns about sparks from boat funnels causing fires on the jetties. In the early part of this century (1910-15) the importance of river bank protection was recognised while actual knowledge of effective measures was somewhat lacking. 42 hence the planting of flax, willows, osiers and reeds!C ) There were also regulations on the speed of shipping since boat speed per se was erroneously thought to cause river bank erosion. The appointment of the .Mitchell River Improvement Trust, efforts to construct various types of protective walls for shorelines and river banks in the 1960s, and the reports of individual experts and committees in the 1970s and 1980s all contributed to increased public awareness of the unique value of the Silt Jetties. The result being the Government Authorities have been able to work co-operatively and plan positively for their future use and management. The most recent shoreline and river bank rock walling program and the successful re-vegetation of the Northern Jetty since 1986 would appear to have largely stabilised the erosion problems of the Silt Jetties. It would now appear the prediction that by the year 2000 the jetties would merely be a series of islands in Lake King is unlikely to be realised. In May 1991 the Mitchell River Silt Jetties were entered on the Register of the National Estate. -17- IDSTORY OF SETILEMENT OF THE MITCHELL RIVER SU,T JETTIES Reference List (1) Broome, RS. in - Our Trip to Gippsland Lakes and Rivers by Tanjil, published by ML. Hutchinson Melbourne 1882 p.25. (2) Bird, E.C.F. and Rosengren, N.J. - The Disappearing Mitchell Delta in the Proceeding of the Royal Historical Society, 1984 p.153. (3) Adams, J. - Path Among The Years: History of the Shire of Bairnsdale, Baimsdale Shire Council, Baimsdale, 1987 p.13. (4) Bird, E.C.F. and Rosengren, N.J., Ibid, p.153. (5) Ibid. (6)° Adams, Ibid, quoting from diary of Angus McMillan, p.11. (7) Synan, Peter -Highways of Water, Landmark Press, Drouin, Victoria. p.13. (8) Adams, Ibid p.15. (9) Adams, Ibid p.18. (10) Adams, Ibid p.2.3. Our Province in the Making. ( 11) Gippsland Guardian 1 May 1963. (12) Ian Drummond & Associates Pty Ltd - Fluvial Geomorphology of Tributaries of the Gippsland Lakes, 1990 p.15. (!3) Adams, Ibid p.48. (14) Alexander, 1. - Notes on Broadlands State School No. 2487 to editor of East Gippsland Historical Society Newsletter 3/10/94. (15) Scotl, B. -The Ideal and the Actual : A Study of Sea Village Settlements in the Bairnsdale Area 1893-1915, unpublished MA thesis 1976, p.6. Palmer, V and Palmer, L • The Legend of the Nineties, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne p. 71. (16) Cameron, L. ·Mitchell River Silt Jetties Impact of Settlement, Land Use and Subsequent Protection Strategies. Unpublished thesis Nov 1992, p.3. {17) Adams, Ibid chpt. 9. Synan Ibid p.12. (18) Broome, R.S., Ibid p.34. ( 19) Compiled from various sources Adams, Synan. (20) Synan Ibid p. 181 quoting Baimsdale Advertiser 22 July 1889 - Gippsland, Its Mountains Lakes and Rivers : Special Supplement to The Weekly Times 20 November 1897. -16- APPEI\":"1X l Johll Lardner, SlllVC)W lll8tkcd out 45 e.llotmcnts betwcco tbe Blull' Md bouodnry ofP. W. (lata"Ports & Harbo11ts) dredged facilities 31Point Foster on the ooulhem ailt jetty prefiowily gauttod as RESERVEFOR PUBLICUSE. Allotment 12 11..sn:saved for State School site. 1bc followiagallocations were made by Mr John I.arclaer, Dis!ricl Officer for Lands, BAIRNSDALEon 30I08/1893. 1. o.w.CLAllKE 24. JOS&Pff B. SMlTll 2. OEOROE.llN..L 25. JAMES O'SHEA 3. JAMESNEILSON u. WESillOP£ FYSON 4. C.M. SMITH 27. CHAllLES mJBBS .JOHANNESALBERT 28. ENOCB BAULCH 6.'· JAMES A. BOYD 29. 1.D.HAYLOCK 7. JAMES TAIT 30. HENRY IWll>AlL L Wm BYRNE 31. DAVIDkEIP 9. JOHN llBAltT 32. CJ{AJU.E.8 PECK 10. PATWDJION 3l. UONEL BOCX JONES' BAY II . M06ESWH?JE 34. JAMES Md(EWAN 12. SCHOOL 35. l.OU1SREGOAIIDO 13. TROSHEWAll )6. nlOMl\S FLOOD 14. JOllN SD.VESTER 37. GEORGE HANNES -· ..! u . lLB. Alll 31. HENRYJONES 16. DAVIDDUl'FY 39. GEOllGE DAVIS 17. JOHN LOVELL 40. JAMES MARTIN u. G!OIAMES 41. JOHN l>kKENZlll 19. WmWID're 42. llINR.Y WHrrE :. 20. IOSUH TtASDAl.E '43. JAMESruLLOUL 21. ESA!J TllOlUi!: 44. JOHN A«KENZIE 22. mos w. ROGERS 4j, OAmELHAYLOCK 23. flVINCIS TOMKil'IS LAKE XIRG HcL!ODS KOIUSS EAGLE POiliT SAY ReDRAWN BY JOHN WIL LS A UGUST l':)S~ \.J~'f- ;, -18- Reference List (continued) (21) Alexander, J. - Eagle Point Village Settlement, in East Gippsland Historical Society Newsletter Vol 4 No. 1 Cameron, L., Ibid p.3. Bull, J.C., Sailing Ships and Paddle Wheels and other Gippsland Shipping, Metung 1974 p.170. (22) Adams Ibid p. 75. (23) Synan p.112 and p.125. (24) Adams Ibid p.119. Victorian Year Book, 1951-52 Victorian Government Printer Melbourne 1956 p.438-439. (25) Scott, B. Ibid p.5. (26) ·-- ~tt, B. Ibid p.6. (27) Scott, B. Ibid p.10. Alexander, J. Ibid. (28) Scott, B., Ibid - Appendix 1. (29) Ibid p.14 '& 15. (30) Bushell, A., (Ed.) - Yesterday's Daughters Ivy Burke, Nelson, Melbourne 1986 p.113-114. (31) Scott, B., Ibid p.24. (32) Alexander, J., Ibid. (33} Ibid. (34) Scott, B., Ibid p.14, p.25. ~ - (35) Bushell, A. (Ed.), Ibid p.115. (36) East Gippsland Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 1. (37) Alexander, J., Ibid. (38) Alexander, J. - Eagle Point Settlement School No. 3215 in East Gippsland - Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 4 p.5. (39) Cameron., L., Ibid, p.8. (40) Bird, E.C.F., - The Silt Jetties of the Mitchell River, Bairnsdale Advertiser, Gippsland Studies No. 1 Baimsdale 1972. (41) Bushell, A., Ibid p.112. (42) Gippsland - Its Mountains Lakes and Rivers p.3.