Billiatt District Fire Management Plan I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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Fire Management Plan Billiatt District Incorporating Billiatt Wilderness Protection Area; Billiatt, Peebinga and Karte Conservation Parks; included Crown Lands and participating Heritage Agreements Department for Environment and Heritage Department for Environment and Heritage South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources PREPARE. ACT. SURVIVE. Management Board www.environment.sa.gov.auwww.environment.sa.gov.au This plan has been produced by the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage with the support of the Australian Government through the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT, 2005). For further information please contact: Department for Environment and Heritage Phone Information Line (08) 8204 1910, or see SA White Pages for your local Department for Environment and Heritage office. This Fire Management Plan is also available from: http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/management/fireplanning.html Front Cover: Karte Conservation Park by Ben Kaethner Permissive Licence © State of South Australia through the Department for Environment and Heritage. Apart from fair dealings and other uses permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced, published, communicated, transmitted, modified or commercialised without the prior written approval of the Department for Environment and Heritage. Written requests for permission should be addressed to: Design and Production Manager Department for Environment and Heritage GPO Box 1047 Adelaide SA 5001 Disclaimer While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Department of Environment and Heritage makes no representations and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of or reliance on the contents of this publication. Reference to any company, product or service in this publication should not be taken as a Departmental endorsement of the company, product or service. © Department for Environm ent and Heritage September 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Billiatt Wilderness Protection Area (WPA) is one of the largest protected areas of remnant native vegetation in settled South Australia. It was proclaimed a Wilderness Protection Area under the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 in 2008. The reserve, along with Billiatt, Karte and Peebinga Conservation Parks, adjacent unalienated Crown land and Heritage Agreements represents more than 115 000 hectares of mallee heath and shrubland habitat. The planning area contains a diverse range of flora and fauna species, including some threatened species exclusively found within the region. The recognition that inappropriate fire regimes present a threat to biodiversity regardless of land tenure is important in such a fire-prone landscape. Consequently, the development of this plan has been funded by the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) through the South Australian Murray- Darling Basin (SAMDB) Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board. This Fire Management Plan has been developed to provide direction for fire management activities, including bushfire suppression, in the Billiatt District. The plan emphasises the protection of life and property as well as providing direction for land managers in the protection and enhancement of the district’s natural and cultural heritage. It is important to note there will be a transitional phase while the activities and works proposed in the plan are implemented. Some degree of flexibility is needed for fire suppression in those areas where there has only been partial implementation of works. The Billiatt District was identified as a priority area for fire management planning within the DEH Murraylands Region to address the following issues: • General protection of life, property and environmental values in the planning area. • Protection of important habitat for many species and communities including those with conservation ratings. • The protection of fire management blocks and reserves, both public and private, within a landscape context, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of a whole reserve or a large portion of a reserve burning in a single fire event. These issues were addressed by: • applying a risk assessment process to identify life, property and environmental values at risk from bushfires • applying DEH Fire Management zoning principles to manage fuel in Asset and Buffer Zones • identifying significant ecological assets and applying Ecological Fire Management Guidelines to determine appropriate burning in Conservation Zones • auditing tracks within Billiatt WPA and Billiatt, Peebinga and Karte Conservation Parks using the Government Agencies Fire Liaison Committee’s (GAFLC) ‘South Australian Firebreaks, Fire Access Tracks and Sign Standards Guidelines’. Billiatt District Fire Management Plan i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A number of recommendations as a result of applying the above processes will be made including the following: • Prescribed burning to: reduce fuel in Asset and Buffer zones as outlined in the plan. Other methods of fuel reduction will also be used, and in some cases are specifically mentioned reduce fuel in strategic areas within Conservation zones to provide landscape and habitat protection for included lands and known threatened species populations create mosaics with a range of fire ages. • Track upgrades in accordance with GAFLC standards. • Identification of suppression considerations that may assist bushfire suppression operations to contribute to improved fire management. The local community and South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) volunteers have contributed extensive amounts of time, energy and resources to fire suppression in the Billiatt District and they are to be commended for this contribution. The co-operation of both stakeholders and the local community will be critical to the success of the plan. The risk that fire presents to a variety of land tenures provides a unique opportunity to manage the landscape with respect to fire through combining the resources and experience of stakeholders such as the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage, CFS and Heritage Agreement owners. A major review of the plan will occur after ten years of implementation, or earlier if required. Recommended works will be reviewed on an annual basis. ii Billiatt District Fire Management Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... III List of Figures..................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables...................................................................................................................................... iv List of Attached Maps .................................................................................................................... iv 1 RATIONALE AND KEY OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Key Objectives.................................................................................................................... 3 2 THE PLANNING FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Legislation............................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 DEH Fire Management Policy........................................................................................... 4 2.3 Zoning Policy ....................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Local and Regional Environmental Planning / Recovery Planning ........................... 5 2.5 Reserve Management Planning...................................................................................... 5 2.6 Fire Management in Heritage Agreements................................................................... 6 2.7 The Role of the Local Country Fire Service..................................................................... 7 3 BUSHFIRE ENVIRONMENT .......................................................................................................... 8 3.1 Location............................................................................................................................... 8 3.2 Terrain................................................................................................................................... 8 3.3 Climate ................................................................................................................................ 8 3.4 Fire Behaviour in Mallee Ecosystems............................................................................... 8 3.5 Fuel ....................................................................................................................................... 9 4 FIRE HISTORY AND FIRE REGIMES ..........................................................................................