Bushfire Recovery Plan for Public Land A plan to guide the recovery of public land in Victoria affected by the 2009 Black Saturday and related bushfires Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment Melbourne, August 2010 © The State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2010 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. Printed by Stream Solutions Printed on Recycled paper ISBN 978-1-74242-617-4 (print) ISBN 978-1-74242-597-9 (online) 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. Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, such as large print or audio, please telephone 136 186, 1800 122 969 (TTY), or email [email protected] This document is also available in PDF format on the Internet at www.dse.vic.gov.au ii Contents Minister’s foreword. v Executive summary . vi 1. Introduction . 1 1.1 Objectives, strategies and scope of the plan. 2 1.2 Scale of the damage . 3 1.2.1 Parks and reserves . 3 1.2.2 State forest . 4 1.2.3 Crown land reserves . 4 1.2.4 Public land fires, 2009 . 7 1.3 Governance . 8 1.4 Financial summary . 9 1.5 Rehabilitation. .11 1.6 Recovery planning . 11 1.7 Fire severity mapping . 12 2. Project summaries . 13 2.1 Reconstruction pillar . .13 2.1.1 Steavenson Falls. .14 2.1.2 Marysville Caravan Park . .15 2.1.3 Kinglake Ranges Wilderness Camp . .15 2.1.4 Grand Ridge Rail Trail . .16 2.1.5 Pomborneit Recreation Reserve . .16 2.1.6 Recreational assets . 17 2.1.7 DSE and PV road network infrastructure and clean up . 18 2.1.8 Fire towers and communications equipment . .18 2.1.9 Marysville Office and Depot. .19 2.2 Environment pillar . 20 2.2.1 Emergency stabilisation works . 20 2.2.2 Yarra Ranges State Park – asset reconstruction and re-opening . .21 2.2.3 Kinglake minor sites – reconstruction and re-opening. .21 2.2.4 Threatened species (including Leadbeater’s Possum and Barred Galaxias) . .22 2.2.5 Threatened species (other) . .23 2.2.6 Invasive plants and animals . .24 2.2.7 Forest regeneration . 25 2.2.8 Forest monitoring . .26 2.2.9 Land and water management. .27 2.2.10 Recycling for recovery. .28 iii 2.3 Economy pillar . .29 2.3.1 Kinglake National Park icon sites – reconstruction and re-opening . 29 2.3.2 Kinglake National Park office and depot reconstruction. .30 2.3.3 Toorourrong Reservoir Park – asset reconstruction and re-opening . 30 2.3.4 Cathedral Range State Park – asset reconstruction and re-opening . 31 2.3.5 Other fully insured park assets . 31 2.3.6 Forest assets . 32 3. Communications and community engagement . 34 4. Reporting. 35 5. Project evaluation . 36 Appendix 1: Major recovery projects and key milestones. 37 Table 1: Reconstruction Projects . .37 Table 2: Environment Projects . 38 Table 3: Economy Projects . 41 iv Minister’s foreword Since the nation’s worst bushfires in February 2009, many Victorians have felt a deep sense of loss not just for the people and communities impacted, but also for the plants, animals and places which were effected. Victoria’s parks and forests are much loved for a range of recreational activities that underpin local economies, for their inherent natural beauty and for their ecosystem and biodiversity value. Thankfully, the Victorian landscape has adapted over hundreds of thousands of years to recover from bushfire. New growth in our burnt bush is very evident, but in some areas the bush will take many years to recover fully – this is natural and to be expected. This Bushfire Recovery Plan for Public Land details recovery works on public land affected by the 2009 bushfires. This work includes protecting and restoring water quality and cultural heritage sites, looking after endangered and vulnerable species of plants and animals, and rebuilding assets such as visitor facilities on public land. Much work has been done, but more is needed. By helping places recover, we’ll also help communities recover. The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE), Parks Victoria (PV) and Victorian Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) are working closely with VBRRA and other government agencies, local shires, environment groups and volunteers to make sure the bush in these areas thrive once again. Gavin Jennings MLC Minister for Environment and Climate Change v Executive summary In February 2009, Victoria experienced the worst bushfires in the Nation’s history. The ‘Black Saturday’ bushfires burnt 406,337 hectares of land. The fires affected 70 parks and reserves spanning an area of approximately 77,274 hectares and 170,169 hectares of State Forest, affecting significant commercial and recreational assets. A further 15,470 hectares of other public land were also impacted. Melbourne’s water supply catchments were also impacted by the fires, with 25,240 hectares of water catchment burnt. Considerable effort was put into rehabilitating fire-affected public land immediately after the fires. Within the 2008/09 financial year, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria (PV) incurred rehabilitation costs of $29.8M. Since July 2009, DSE and PV have moved into the recovery phase, focussing on the longer-term restoration of the natural environment and the public land estate in Victoria. The February 2009 Bushfire Recovery Program (Public Land), outlined in this document, will span two and a half years, ending on the 30th June, 2011. This plan details the actions to be undertaken by DSE, PV and CMAs to assist community, environmental, heritage and industry recovery in fire-affected regions. This plan covers the recovery of public land impacted by the following fires: • Beechworth – Library Road; • Bunyip Ridge Track; • Churchill – Jeeralang; • Dargo – White Timber Spur; • Delburn Complex; • Eaglehawk – Bracewell Street; • East Tyers – Thomson; • Horsham – Remlaw Rd; • Kilmore East – Murrindindi North; • Kilmore East – Murrindindi South; • Muskvale – Hogans Road; • Redesdale – Coliban Park; • Wilsons Promontory National Park – Cathedral; and • Won Wron. Following the Black Saturday bushfires, the State and Commonwealth Governments agreed to establish a single authority to manage the very large and complex recovery process. The Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority (VBRRA) was set up three days after the Black Saturday bushfires to advise governments, coordinate efforts and develop an overarching plan for the restoration and recovery of regions, towns and communities affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires. The DSE provides personnel to VBRRA to lead on natural and environment issues and also support the Department of Human Services (DHS) – the lead recovery agency in Victoria – by chairing the Natural and Environment Taskforce within each DHS region. vi In October, 2009, VBRRA released Rebuilding Together – A Statewide Plan for Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery, which outlined a $193M recovery package to assist in the reconstruction and recovery process for fire-affected communities. In November 2009, DSE received $57.413M funding as part of this package to complete recovery works under three of the VBRRA pillars detailed in the plan: Economy, Environment and Reconstruction. The funding was divided as follows: • Reconstruction: $24.25M to replace and restore state-owned facilities in fire-affected towns (e.g. Steavenson Falls, Lady Talbot Scenic Drive, Grand Ridge Rail Trail, Marysville Caravan Park, Pomborneit Sports Ground, Marysville Caravan Park and Kinglake Wilderness Park) and to restore and enhance tourist facilities in fire-affected areas and re-open National Parks (e.g. repair and replacement of visitor facilities at Wilsons Promontory National Park and Bunyip State Park, replacing the Kinglake National Park Visitor Centre and works depot, restoring visitor facilities at Yarra Ranges National Park, and repairing key visitor infrastructure at the Cathedral Range State Park). • Economy: $8.850M to rebuild the Lake Mountain Alpine Resort. A further $2.033M has been assigned to the rebuilding of the Kinglake National Park office and depot; and $1.797M will be used to restore and enhance tourist facilities in Kinglake National Park, Toorourong Reservoir Park and Cathedral Range State Park. • Environment: $27.194M to rehabilitate the environment by performing emergency stabilisation works on public land, controlling pests and weeds on public land, regenerating forests; and restoring waterways and catchments and protecting threatened species. This funding has been invested in 25 sub-projects, each with their own independent Project Implementation Plans. These projects range from the repair of fire towers and assets to the recovery of Marysville Caravan Park. An outline of each of these projects is provided in this plan. In addition, insurance claims from DSE and Parks Victoria (PV) are being processed by the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) for the recovery of fire-affected built assets. This document details the plan for the February 2009 Bushfire Recovery Program (Public Land) to be implemented by DSE, PV and the CMAs. The plan has been developed in accordance with the Code of Practice For Fire Management on Public Land (2006). The Code applies to all public land in Victoria and its purpose is to promote the effective and integrated management of fire and fire-related activities on public land. The Code lays down the minimum statewide standards for fire management on public land in Victoria.