LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 Management of public land in New South Wales Ordered to be printed 15 May 2013 according to Standing Order 231 Report 37 - May 2013 i LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Management of public land in New South Wales New South Wales Parliamentary Library cataloguing-in-publication data: New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 Management of public land in New South Wales / General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 [Sydney, N.S.W.] : the Committee, 2013. 420 p. ; 30 cm. (Report no. 37 / General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5) “May 2013”. Chair: Hon. Robert Brown, MLC. ISBN 9781921286896 1. Public lands—New South Wales—Management. 2. Land use—New South Wales. 3. National parks and reserves—New South Wales—Management. I. Brown, Robert. II. Title. III. Series: New South Wales. Parliament. Legislative Council. General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5. Report ; no. 37. 343.944 (DDC22) ii Report 37 - May 2013 GENERAL PURPOSE STANDING COMMITTEE NO. 5 How to contact the committee Members of the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 can be contacted through the Committee Secretariat. Written correspondence and enquiries should be directed to: The Director General Purpose Standing Committee No. 5 Legislative Council Parliament House, Macquarie Street Sydney New South Wales 2000 Internet www.parliament.nsw.gov.au Email [email protected] Telephone (02) 9230 3081 Facsimile (02) 9230 2981 Report 37 - May 2013 iii LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Management of public land in New South Wales Terms of reference That General Purpose Standing Committee No 5 inquire into and report on the management of public land in New South Wales, including State Forests and National Park estate, and in particular: 1. The conversion of Crown Land, State Forests and agricultural land into National Park estate or other types of conservation areas, including the: a. Process of conversion and the assessment of potential operational, economic, social and environmental impacts b. Operational, economic, social and environmental impacts after conversion, and in particular, impacts upon neighbours of public land and upon Local Government c. That the following cases be considered in relation to Terms of Reference 1(a) and 1(b): (i) River Red Gum State Forests in the Southern Riverina, (ii) Native Hardwood State Forests in Northern NSW, (iii) Yanga Station in Wakool Shire, and (iv) Toorale Station in Bourke Shire. 2. The adherence to management practices on all public land, that are mandated for private property holders, including fire, weed and pest management practices. 3. Examination of models for the management of public land, including models that provide for conservation outcomes which utilises the principles of “sustainable use”. 4. Any other related matters.1 1 LC Minutes No 78 (1/05/2012), Item 24 iv Report 37 - May 2013 GENERAL PURPOSE STANDING COMMITTEE NO. 5 Committee membership The Hon Robert Brown MLC Shooters and Fishers Party Chair The Hon Rick Colless MLC The Nationals Deputy Chair The Hon Cate Faehrmann MLC The Greens The Hon Luke Foley MLC Australian Labor Party Mr Scot MacDonald MLC Liberal Party The Hon Dr Peter Phelps MLC Liberal Party The Hon Peter Primrose MLC Australian Labor Party Report 37 - May 2013 v LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Management of public land in New South Wales Table of contents Chair’s foreword xvi Summary of key issues xvii Summary of recommendations xxi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Conduct of the Inquiry 1 Terms of Reference 1 Stakeholders 1 Submissions 2 Proformas 2 Hearings 2 Site visits 2 Briefings 3 Report structure 3 Chapter 2 Background 7 What is public land? 7 Crown land 7 National park estate 8 State forests 10 How is public land managed in New South Wales? 12 Crown Lands Division 13 NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 13 Forestry Corporation of NSW 14 Other public land managers and authorities 15 Sustainable land management 19 What is sustainability and sustainable land management? 19 Principles of sustainable use and sustainable development 21 Chapter 3 Establishing national parks 23 The purpose of national parks 23 Conservation aims of national parks 24 Policy framework around national parks 25 International commitments 25 National commitments 27 New South Wales policy 29 Conservation planning and land selection 32 Biogeographical regions 33 vi Report 37 - May 2013 GENERAL PURPOSE STANDING COMMITTEE NO. 5 The CAR principles 34 The ‘science’ of land selection 36 Are national parks fulfilling their conservation objectives? 37 The role of national parks in the public land system 40 Chapter 4 The conversion process 41 Steps in the conversion process 41 Process for establishing national parks 42 Considerations in establishing national parks 44 Assessment of potential impacts 45 Environmental assessments 45 Operational assessments 46 Economic assessments 46 Social assessments 47 Criticism of the assessment process in recent conversions 47 Concerns regarding environmental assessments 47 Concerns regarding operational assessments 49 Concerns regarding social and economic assessments 50 Concerns regarding community engagement 51 Response to criticisms of the assessment process 53 Concerns that the conversion process has been politicised 55 Committee comment 57 Chapter 5 Case Study – River red gum forests 59 Timeline 61 Riverina Bioregion Forest Assessment 63 The decision to convert to national park estate 65 Response to the decision 66 Results of conversion 68 Timber industry 68 Employment 70 Community 70 Firewood collection 71 Indigenous communities 72 Tourism 74 Forest health and management 75 Committee comment 78 Chapter 6 Case study – Native hardwood forests 79 Timeline 80 Comprehensive regional forest assessments 81 Report 37 - May 2013 vii LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Management of public land in New South Wales Decisions to convert to national park estate 81 North East Forest Agreements 1998 81 Further reservation of State forests 2003 83 Response to the decisions 84 Results of conversion 85 Timber industry 86 Environmental impacts 91 Tourism 92 Committee comment 93 Chapter 7 Case Study – Yanga Station 95 Timeline 96 Results of conversion 97 Economic 97 Timber industry 99 Employment 99 Other industries 100 Environmental 100 Community 102 Indigenous communities 103 Firewood 103 Tourism 103 Committee comment 106 Chapter 8 Case study – Toorale Station 107 Timeline 107 The decision to convert to national park estate 109 Results of conversion 110 Economic 111 Community 114 Tourism 114 Conservation values 115 Water access 116 Fire management 117 Committee comment 118 Chapter 9 Case study – Pilliga forest 119 Timeline 121 Brigalow Belt South Bioregion Assessment 121 The Sinclair Report and the BRUS option 121 The decision to convert to national park estate 123 Response to the decision 124 viii Report 37 - May 2013 GENERAL PURPOSE STANDING COMMITTEE NO. 5 Results of conversion 125 Timber industry 126 Employment 127 Community 129 Tourism 129 Forest health and management 130 Committee comment 130 Chapter 10 Environmental and heritage impacts 133 Responsibility for managing environmental outcomes 133 Crown Lands Division 133 NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 134 Forestry Corporation of NSW 134 Biodiversity 135 The importance of biodiversity 135 Potential impacts of forestry practices on biodiversity 136 Biodiversity and hollow-bearing trees 138 Monitoring of Forestry Corporation compliance with environmental obligations 140 Impact of active management on biodiversity 141 Stem density and biodiversity – river red gum and cypress forests 143 Thinning as a mechanism for managing stem density 145 Joint New South Wales-Victorian thinning trial 148 Committee comment 151 Carbon dioxide sequestration 152 Forests as storehouses of carbon 152 Contribution of forestry practices to carbon dioxide sequestration 153 Committee comment 155 Water catchments and water access 156 Reservation and the protection of water catchments 156 Conversion and impact on water access – Toorale 157 Conversion and impact on water management – river red gum forests 159 Committee comment 161 Indigenous and other heritage values 161 Protection of Indigenous and other heritage values 162 The process of determining traditional ownership 163 Indigenous management of land 165 Committee comment 167 Chapter 11 Fire management impacts 170 Fire management in New South Wales 170 Responsibility for fire management in New South Wales 170 Fuel load and fire intensity 174 Benefits of hazard reduction 175 Report 37 - May 2013 ix LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL Management of public land in New South Wales Aims and historical use of hazard reduction 175 Responsibility for hazard reduction in New South Wales 177 Committee comment 179 Adequacy of hazard reduction practices 179 Hazard reduction burning 179 The impact of hazard reduction burning on biodiversity 183 Mechanical hazard reduction works 185 Grazing as a hazard reduction method 185 Committee comment 187 Coordination and resourcing of fire management 188 The need for a coordinated approach across land tenures 188 Resources for fire management 190 Maintenance of fire trails 191 Examples of good practice in cooperation across land tenures 194 Committee comment 196 Chapter 12 Pests, weeds and other management impacts 199 Feral pest and weed management in New South Wales 199 Responsibility for managing pests and weeds 201 Crown Lands Division 201 NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service 202 Forestry Corporation of NSW 202 Game Council NSW 203 The impact