NCC Fire & Restoration

The Challenges of resuscitating a fuel management program in a complex regulatory framework

Mick Wilson, Justin Williams, Nick Bush, and Mark Drury

Typical Strategic ObjectivesUp to 1996 Forestry Commission managed about 8 Million ha…… down to 2 Million Hectares by 2003

Mid North Coast Forest Protection Area = 360,000ha

Fuel and Fire Management Objectives Land Management Objectives

Reduce wildfire risk Maintain or enhance biodiversity or cultural heritage

Protect life and property Protect soil and water values

Improve fire-fighter safety Maintain Carbon stores

Protect wildlife from damaging affects of wildfire

Protect Scenic values

Maintain natural or appropriate fire regimes

Provide for Recreation

Keep fire from travelling off estate Protect Timber values

Minimise smoke and health risks Protect stock and infrastructure

Example Problems

1. Mega-fire phenomenon in Southern Australia and west coast continental states.

2. High-intensity, late season fires in northern Australia.

3. Rainforest expansion in northern tropics4. Understorey thickening, dieback and

biodiversity impacts in eastern NSW and Qld.5. Frequent, high-intensity fire regime in coastal

heathlands

Coastal Forests NSW - Example

Area burnt by wildfire increasing, area burnt by prescribed fire decreasing since 80sGrassy forests decliningBell-Miner Associated Dieback affected forests increasingLimited HR burning resources and windowExpectations to do more burning highCurrent constraints on HR limit ability to address problem

Environmental Legislation Fire Management Legislation pertaining to State Forests in NSW

Environmental Planning & Assessment Act

3 Possible Pathways for Forestry

BFEAC

All tenure

IFOA

Native State ForestP & R Code

Plantations

Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (logging)

Advantages Disadvantages

Best Management Practices for Roads and Trails

Harvesting exclusions are also burn exclusions – burning of old growth or corridors and other flammable communities not permitted

Fire regime intervals do not apply May not allow for practical burn boundaries

Do not need to issue a certificate No coverage for burning Endangered Ecological Communities

Surveys not required

Base net area map is basically a burn exclusion map

Practical Solutions

Bushfire CodeAdvantages DisadvantagesLess burn exclusions Certificate process clumsy – for a Land

Management Agency with already sophisticated planning systems and highly skilled practitioners

Not a specified forestry activity and not audited – less compliance risk

Many long fire intervals in conflict with long standing science of fuel accumulation and fire behaviour

Coverage for burning EECs Not all threatened species and communities listed so there are grey areas in terms of coverage for those

Clear intent to encourage planned, prescribed fire

Some prescriptions loose, some quite tough – enforcement riskDoes not have practical conditions for fire trail maintenance workNO COVERAGE FOR ECOLOGICAL BURNING

Mixophyes balbus & M. IteratusBFEAC – 100m on all streamsIFOA – 30m buffer on streams within 200m of the record

Prescriptions

“The science of Fuel Accumulation is KNOWN!”Wilson et al – last Night

Source: McCaw, Forest Ecology and Management 2013; Based on dry fuel conditions and moderate to high FFDI

Intensity that wildfire can be controlled

Nor a habitat management outcome

Source: Hollis et al, Forest Ecology and Management 2011

Using Weather ParametersFire Parameters Target Fire Parameters Target

Wind speed <15km/hr Wind Direction(s) N/A

FDI <10 BKDI <100

FMC Dry 10 - 16% FMC Wet >20%

Head Fire ROS <60m/hrRelative Humidity >40

FMC Elevated >10%Temperature <280 C

Flame height 1-2 m

Rate Of Spread of Test burn (15 minutes) Spot Ignition Spacing

2.5 metres 20 metres

5.0 metres 40 metres

7.5 metres 60 metres

The Challenge of Containment

LiDAR – Heavy Understorey

Bell Miner Dieback

Containment

Understanding the problem

•Have we described the problem by?• Landscape Tenure• Vegetation community Location (risk)• Interaction with scale, tenure and land management

objectives

•Is the problem getting worse? •What are the potential solutions?•How quickly do we need to act?

Eden Burning Study Area Patchiness of burning in Dry Shrub ForestL- Logged; U – UnloggedF – Frequent (2years); R – Routine (4 years)Mean Coupe Size – 32 ha

Plot Level Burning at Eden

Source: Penman et al ; Forest Ecology and Management 2007

BFEAC Tolerable Fire Intervals for Moist Blackbutt Forests

NSW - Minimum Interval 30 years (full stop) !

QueenslandSEASON: Summer to winter. INTENSITY: Plan for low to moderate. Unplanned occasional high intensity wildfire will occur. INTERVAL: 4-8 years maintains a healthy grassy system. 8-20 years for shrubby elements of understorey.

STRATEGY: Aim for 40-60% mosaic burn. Needs disturbance to maintain RE structure (eucalypt overstorey with open understorey of predominantly non-rainforest species).

ISSUES: Frequent fire is needed to maintain understorey integrity, keeping more mesic species low in the profile of the understorey so that other species can compete. However, rainforest invasion is only a problem in moister forest south of the Logan River. North of the Logan River around Venman Reserve this RE occurs at higher elevation and is drier. Burning regimes will need to be adjusted according to location. High fuel loads develop within a short period of time owing to bark drop. High intensity fires occur periodically through time, however frequent low to moderate intensity fires will create the disturbance required to keep the understorey diverse. A follow-up burn soon after a high intensity wildfire can be considered to reduce germinating mesic species. This 'endangered' RE may contain a high number of rare and threatened plant species which require appropriate fire management.

Biodiversity - Mosaics or Functional Response

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sprouters all plants litter dwellers ants

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unburnt

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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

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Only in burntplots

Only inunburnt plots

Morefrequent inburnt plots

Morefrequent in

unburnt plots

Obligate seeder

Resprouter

Total

Bulls Ground Study:

Identified differences in vegetation structure and community composition for both plants and invertebrates

Biodiversity in these groups maximised by presence of both fire regimes

Species in Unburnt Sites Common Name FormFrequency from 77 landscape surveys

Cissus hypoglauca Native Grape Vine 86%

Pandorea pandorana Wonga Vine Vine 79%

Schizomeria ovata Crab-apple RF Tree/Shrub 65%

Smilax glyciphylla Sarsaparilla Vine 64%

Gymnostachys anceps Settler's Flax Grass 56%

Notelaea longifolia Mock Olive RF Tree/Shrub 56%

Glochidion ferdinandi Cheese Tree RF Tree/Shrub 55%

Parsonsia straminea Common Silk-pod Vine 44%

Eustrephus latifolius Wombat Berry Vine 43%

Morinda jasminoides Morinda Vine 38%

Acmena smithii Lilly Pilli RF Tree/Shrub 27%

Psychotria loniceroides Hairy Psychotria RF Tree/Shrub 27%

Geitonoplesium cymosum Scrambling Lily Vine 25%

Clerodendrum tomentosum Hairy Clerodendrum RF Tree/Shrub 21%

Oplismenus imbecillis Beard-grass Grass 17%

Bulls Ground Study – Plants more frequent in Unburnt Plots

Cissus hypoglauca – native grape

Pandorea pandorana – Wonga Vine

Schizomeria ovata – Native Cherry

Smilax glyciphylla - Sarsaparilla

Gymnostachys anceps – Settlers Flax

Notelaea longifolia – Mock OliveMorinda jasminoides – Morinda

Species in Frequently Burnt Sites Common Name FormFrequency from 77 landscape surveys

Breynia oblongifolia Coffee Bush Shrub 86%Lomandra longifolia Mat-rush Grass 84%Imperata cylindrica var. major Blady Grass Grass 83%Ozothamnus diosmifolius Rice Flower Herb 74%Entolasia stricta Hairy Panic Grass 73%Dodonaea triquetra Hop Bush Shrub 70%Billardiera scandens Apple Berry/dumplings Shrub/Twiner 66%Podolobium ilicifolium Prickly Bastard Shrub 47%Themeda australis Wallaby Grass Grass 43%Glycine clandestina Twining Glycine Twiner 36%Kennedia rubicunda Dusky Coral Pea Twiner 36%Tetratheca thymifolia Black-eyed Susan Herb 34%Hibbertia aspera (3) Rough Guinea Flower Shrub 32%Gonocarpus teucrioides Common Raspwort Herb 26%Pratia purpurascens Whiteroot Herb 25%Panicum species(1) Common panic Grass 22%Acacia myrtifolia Myrtle Wattle Shrub 17%Lomandra filiformis Wattle Mat-rush Grass 17%Daviesia ulicifolia Gorse Bitter Pea Shrub 10%Pultenaea retusa Blunt Bush Pea Shrub 10%Vernonia cinerea Fleabane/Ironweed Herb 10%Lagenifera gracilis Slender Bottle Daisy Herb 8%Oxalis corniculata (2) Creeping Woodsorrel Herb 4%

Room for less conservative – tolerable interval approach

• Describe the vegetation change process from fire• Describe the at risk species from burning outside

the theoretical intervals• Assess those in areas you intend to burn and use

their presence/absence/growth stage as more useful guides as to whether burning now is appropriate

Threatened Species Assessment

• Look at risks once a fire regime approach to meeting objectives is developed

• Work out strategies to protect those species based on the type of risk they face

• Focus effort on things genuinely at risk from fire under the proposed model

• Minimise the regulatory burden to deliver burning objectives

Bertya sp. (Clouds Creek, M. Fatemi 4) - No fire more than once every 20 years.Rock outcrop specialist – endangered (~500 plants) restricted to a 7 outcropsDry Sclerophyll Forest – Minimum fire interval of 8-10 years

Summary1. Articulate the problems and potential solutions 2. Establish objectives that align with solving the

problems – landscape and vegetation community, scale, tenure,

3. Establish burning guidelines that align with meeting those objectives

4. Ensure that guidelines for are practical and meaningful 5. Prioritise value assessment towards species, sites,

issues of real concern after developing appropriate strategic processes