Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management
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NSW NATIONAL PARKS & WILDLIFE SERVICE Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management environment.nsw.gov.au © 2019 State of NSW and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) has compiled this report in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. DPIE shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. All content in this publication is owned by DPIE and is protected by Crown Copyright, unless credited otherwise. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), subject to the exemptions contained in the licence. The legal code for the licence is available at Creative Commons. DPIE asserts the right to be attributed as author of the original material in the following manner: © State of New South Wales and Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2019. Cover photo: View from Three Peaks Lookout over the upper Grassy Gully valley. Photo: Bruce Gray, NPWS This plan of management was adopted by the Minister for Energy and Environment on 22 August 2019. Morton State Conservation Area is located in the traditional Country of the Wandrawandian Aboriginal People. This plan of management was prepared by staff of NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). For additional information or any inquiries about Morton State Conservation Area or this plan of management, contact the NPWS Office at 104 Flat Rock Road, West Nowra, or by telephone on (02) 4428 6300. Published by: Environment, Energy and Science Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: +61 2 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 1300 361 967 (Environment, Energy and Science enquiries) TTY users: phone 133 677, then ask for 1300 361 967 Speak and listen users: phone 1300 555 727, then ask for 1300 361 967 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or [email protected] See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au ISBN 978-1-922317-20-9 EES2019/0540 September 2019 Find out more about your environment at: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Location, reservation and regional setting ........................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of significance ................................................................................................. 1 Natural values: .......................................................................................................... 1 Scenic values: .......................................................................................................... 2 Cultural heritage values: ........................................................................................... 2 Recreation and tourism values: ................................................................................ 2 Research values: ...................................................................................................... 2 2. MANAGEMENT CONTEXT ................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Legislative and policy framework...................................................................................... 3 2.2 Management purposes and principles .............................................................................. 3 2.3 Specific management directions....................................................................................... 4 3. VALUES ............................................................................................................................. 5 3.1 Geology, landscape and hydrology .................................................................................. 5 3.2 Native plants .................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 Native animals ................................................................................................................. 9 3.4 Aboriginal heritage ......................................................................................................... 12 3.5 Shared heritage ............................................................................................................. 13 Mining ..................................................................................................................... 14 Forestry .................................................................................................................. 15 Other ...................................................................................................................... 15 3.6 Visitor use ...................................................................................................................... 16 Historic Grassy Gully mining precinct ..................................................................... 17 Bushwalking ........................................................................................................... 17 Day use and camping ............................................................................................. 19 Scenery and vehicle touring ................................................................................... 19 Cycling and horse riding ......................................................................................... 19 Group and adventure activities ............................................................................... 20 Information provision .............................................................................................. 20 4. THREATS ......................................................................................................................... 24 4.1 Pests and weeds ............................................................................................................ 24 Weeds .................................................................................................................... 24 i Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management Pest animals ........................................................................................................... 25 4.2 Fire ................................................................................................................................ 26 4.3 Climate change .............................................................................................................. 28 5. MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS AND OTHER USES ........................................................ 30 5.1 Access ........................................................................................................................... 30 5.2 Other uses ..................................................................................................................... 30 Beekeeping............................................................................................................. 30 Mining and exploration ........................................................................................... 31 Other easements and occupations ......................................................................... 31 6. IMPLEMENTATION .......................................................................................................... 32 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 37 FIGURES Figure 1 Location map ........................................................................................................... iii Figure 2 Morton State Conservation Area .............................................................................. iv TABLES Table 1: Threatened animal species known or predicted to occur in the park………………..….10 Table 2: Walking tracks in the park ........................................................................................... 18 Table 3: Illawarra climate change snapshot .............................................................................. 29 ii Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management Figure 1 Location map iii Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management Figure 2 Morton State Conservation Area iv Morton State Conservation Area Plan of Management 1. Introduction 1.1 Location, reservation and regional setting Features Description Location Morton State Conservation Area (referred to as ‘the park’ in this plan of management) is located on the South Coast of New South Wales, 17 kilometres west of Nowra on the southern side of the Shoalhaven River (see Figure 1). Area 1050 hectares Reservation