FINAL FIRE OPERATIONS PLAN 2011/12 – 2013/14 Bairnsdale Office 574 Main St Bairnsdale VIC 3875 GIPPSLAND REGION Phone No. (03) 5152 0600 East Gippsland Area Fax No. (03) 5152 6865 Final 2011/12 – 2013/14 Fire Operations Plan – Gippsland Region (East Gippsland Area) The location and boundaries of proposed planned burn/worksites shown on the attached maps are only TABLE OF CONTENTS approximate and indicative. The precise boundary of any planned burn will be identified on site by DSE before operations begin. REGIONAL DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD 2 FIRE OPERATIONS PLAN 2 SUMMARY OF REGIONAL ACTIVITIES ‐ 2010/11 3 SUMMARY OF REGIONAL ACTIVITIES ‐ 2011/12 3 HOW TO SEND US YOUR COMMENTS ON THE FIRE OPERATIONS PLAN 3 HOW TO READ THE FIRE OPERATIONS PLAN 4 INFORMATION PROVIDED ON SCHEDULES 4 SCHEDULE 1: PLANNED BURNS 5 PROPOSED PLANNED BURNS 2011/12 5 PROPOSED PLANNED BURNS 2012/13 14 PROPOSED PLANNED BURNS 2013/14 22 PROPOSED LANDSCAPE MOSAIC PLANNED BURNS 2011/12 – 2013/14 28 Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, July 2011 SCHEDULE 2: FUELBREAKS MAINTENANCE & TRACK CONSTRUCTION 31 ISBN 978‐1‐74287‐254‐4 (print) SCHEDULE 3: MECHANICAL FUEL MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 34 ISBN 978‐1‐74287‐255‐1 (online) SCHEDULE 4: FIRE INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT 39 © The State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2011 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. www.dse.vic.gov.au Page 1 of 44 Final 2011/12 – 2013/14 Fire Operations Plan – Gippsland Region (East Gippsland Area) Regional Director’s Foreword Fire Operations Plan This document contains the proposed fire prevention and preparedness works to be Following the Victoria Bushfire Royal Commission (2009), the Victorian Government delivered for the period 2011/12 to 2013/14 within the East Gippsland Area. committed to an increased planned burning program on public land to reduce fuel hazards to help protect the community and environment from the impact of This Plan covers all public land including all national parks, State parks and regional bushfires. parks and all State forests. Numerous other small reserves and Crown land are also included. The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria are responsible for undertaking planned burns on public land. The area covered by this Fire Operations Plan is shown in Map 1. Each year DSE prepares three‐year Fire Operations Plans to identify where planned The Plan is prepared, and will be implemented, in accordance with the Code of Practice burning and other fire prevention works will be undertaken on public land. for Fire Management on Public Land, the Fire Operations Planning Manual 2.1 and other relevant DSE Instructions, Manuals and Guidelines. The Fire Operations Plan, which applies to land managed by DSE and Parks Victoria, shows proposed activities such as: It delivers the strategy outlined in the Gippsland Fire Protection Plan 1999. New fire • planned burns; management zones for public land have been developed and form the basis of this Fire • slashing, mowing, mulching and scrub clearing activities; and Operations Plan. These draft zones have also been available for public comment and will be finalised by December 2011. • works to maintain existing firebreaks. It should be noted that burns associated with logging regeneration and small heap burn Each Plan is prepared in consultation with communities, local councils, key offs are not included in the Fire Operation Planning process. stakeholders, Parks Victoria, CFA and technical specialists within DSE. DSE also works with interest groups and the wider community to understand how planned burns may impact people and industries and to gain important local Map 1: East Gippsland Area knowledge to better plan burns. The Fire Operations Plan will be made available for viewing at the various locations listed in this document. Thank you for your input into the Fire Operations Plan. Mike Timpano, Gippsland Region Page 2 of 44 Final 2011/12 – 2013/14 Fire Operations Plan – Gippsland Region (East Gippsland Area) Summary of Regional Activities ‐ 2010/11 Viewing the Fire Operations Plan East Gippsland Area attended 56 fires in 2010/11 burning 12,125ha; the largest of which Office locations for viewing the Plan: was Tostaree – Princes Hwy burning 11,365ha in the Bairnsdale District. The Plan can be viewed during normal business hours at the following locations: Approximately 73% of all fires this year were brought under control before they Location Address reached a size of five hectares, which is a good measure of the success of first attach Bairnsdale DSE Office 574 Main St, Bairnsdale efforts. Nowa Nowa DSE Office 5 Forest Rd, Nowa Nowa Heyfield DSE Office 1 Licola Rd, Heyfield Yarram DSE Office 310 Commercial Road, Yarram Starting in Winter 2010 and continuing into Spring, Autumn and Winter 2011 East Swifts Creek DSE Office McMillans Ave, Swifts Creek Gippsland treated 54,925ha of land through fuel reduction and ecological burning. Orbost DSE Office 171‐173 Nicholson St, Orbost This includes the continuation and beginning of a number of Landscape Mosaic Cann River DSE Office Princes Hwy, Cann River Burns. Bendoc DSE Office 2 Nichol St, Bendoc Viewing the Plan online: You can also view proposed planned burns and other works in the Plan online through: Summary of Regional Activities ‐ 2011/12 East Gippsland Area is increasing the area to be targeted by planned burning, below An online interactive map at: are the targets for 2011/12 – 2013/14 • www.dse.vic.gov.au and then select Interactive Maps then select Fireplan. Downloadable maps and planned burn lists at: • www.dse.vic.gov.au, Fire & Other Emergencies, Planned Burns and then Targets Planned in the FOPs select Fire Operations Plans. Total Swifts Bairnsdale Heyfield Orbost How to send us your comments on the Fire Operations Plan Creek Although the public comment period for the 2011/12 – 2013/14 Fire Operations Plan has Year 1 – 2011/12 76,652ha 20,181ha 10,507ha 42,530ha 7,919ha now closed, your comments are still welcome. Please be aware that your comments Year 2 – 2012/13 102,771ha 23,575ha 24,253ha 36,741ha 11469ha may be included in next years plan. Year 3 – 2013/14 143,212ha 43,679ha 41,600ha 66,399ha 15,339ha Contact Details: All comments and suggestions about the Proposed Fire Operations Plan should be sent in writing to: Fire Prevention Coordinator 574 Main St Bairnsdale VIC 3875 Comments may also be sent by email to: [email protected] Page 3 of 44 Final 2011/12 – 2013/14 Fire Operations Plan – Gippsland Region (East Gippsland Area) Preparation of a Fire Operations Plan Schedule 2 – Fuelbreak Maintenance. This schedule provides an overview of strategic fuelbreaks to be constructed or maintained during the three year period. The development of a Fire Operations Plan involves the identification of planned burns and other works by DSE, Parks Victoria and other interested stakeholders. Schedule 3 – Mechanical Fuel Management Program. This schedule lists the mechanical fuel management program such as slashing or mulching. A range of values and priorities must be balanced in the development of the Plan. Schedule 4 – Fire Infrastructure Management. This schedule sets out fire including: preparedness works that will be undertaken within the District. • relevant legislation and Departmental policies relating to environmental and cultural heritage protection, and emergency management; • various Departmental fire instructions and guidelines, particularly the Fire Information provided on schedules Operations Planning Manual 2.1; Area – the maximum area of the work site measured in hectares (ha), including areas • relevant Fire Protection/Fire Management Plans; specifically excluded from disturbance. • the Code of Practice for Timber Production; Burn Number and Name / Road Name / Address – an identifier for each burn or planned • relevant Forest Management and Park Management Plans; work site. • biodiversity, soil, water, economic and cultural values within the Region; and Burn Type – indicates the purpose of the burn including fuel reduction burn (FRB), • environmental, cultural or economic strategies which could be impacted by the ecological burn (ECO). Plan’s implementation. Distance – the maximum length of the work site measured in kilometres (km), including Where necessary, prescriptions for particular values may be specified for each burn areas specifically excluded from disturbance. which are then incorporated into individual Burn Plans. These prescriptions are Firebreak – any natural or constructed discontinuity in fuel that may be used to reviewed annually to take into account experience from burning operations in the segregate, stop, slow or control the spread of a bushfire, or to provide a fire control previous season. line from which to suppress a fire. Fire Management Zone (FMZ) – an area of land upon which fire is managed for specific Important note: asset, fuel and ecological objectives APZ ‐ Asset Protection Zone, SWMZ ‐ Strategic The ability to carry out burns is dependent on seasonal and local weather conditions. Wildfire Moderation Zone, EMZ ‐ Ecological Management Zone. To allow for this, planned burns from the second and third years of the Plan are Fuelbreak ‐ a strip of land where vegetation has been removed or modified to reduce considered as contingencies for the first year. This means that a second or third year the risk of fires starting and/or to reduce the rate of spread and intensity of any fire that burn may be brought forward to the current year to replace a burn planned for the may occur in or enter the treated area.