❓ Hon Adele Farina asks about prescribed burning practices in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, specifically along Caves Road and in areas unburnt for over ten years. The Minister for Environment provides a detailed response outlining burning history, reasons for limited burning, and future plans.
AnsweredQoN 3968Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to prescribed burning in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River, and I ask: (a) when was bushland along Caves Road in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River last subjected to prescribed burning; (b) are there any areas of bushland in the Shire of Augusta Margaret River that have not been subjected to prescribed burning for ten years or more; and (c) if yes to (b): (i) where are these areas of bushland; (ii) why have there been no prescribed burns in these areas for ten years or more; and (iii) when will these areas be subjected to prescribed burning?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
17 May 2016
Responded by
Minister for Mental Health representing the Minister for Environment
Response time
55 days
The Minister for Environment has provided the following response.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife does not manage all bushland in the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. The following answers to the Hon Member’s questions are therefore restricted to department-managed land within the Shire.(a) The lineal length of Caves Road in the Shire is approximately 66 kilometres. For approximately 17 kilometres there is Parks and Wildlife-managed land on both sides, and for another 13 kilometres Parks and Wildlife-managed land is on one side. Approximately 11 kilometres of the total frontage has been prescribed burnt in the last 10 years.
Prescribed burning and bushfires on Parks and Wildlife-managed land adjacent to Caves Road is as follows:
Block
Burn ID
Year since last burn
Area
Tenure
Biljedup
BWD_043
1
149.6
National Park
Boranup
BS_225
4
106.6
National Park
Leeuwin
BS_267
5
101.8
National Park
Contos
Blackwood Fire 29
10
1496.6
National Park
Conto
BS_236
10
448
National Park
Ellenbrook
BS_240
11
465.9
National Park
Leeuwin
BS_202
12
322.92
National Park
Bilgedup
999
(Unknown historical fire)
16
133.95
National Park
Fuel ages on other department-managed lands adjacent to Caves Road areas are 18 years or more.
(b) Yes. Parks and Wildlife has management responsibility for approximately 109,000 hectares of land within the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. The department has undertaken prescribed burning on 32,233 hectares and bushfires have impacted 4,072 hectares of department-managed land since 2006 (inclusive).
(c)
(i) [See Tabled Paper No. #].
(ii) There are a range of contributing factors as to why more prescribed burning has not been conducted by Parks and Wildlife in the last decade including:
- the continuing drying trend in the south-west of Western Australia that restricts the periods of suitable conditions for prescribed burning;
- an increase in the number of urban-rural developments in the Shire adjacent to areas of Parks and Wildlife-managed land, which has increased the complexity of prescribed burning;
- the effort made by Parks and Wildlife to minimise impacts on regional industries (e.g. viticulture) and events (e.g. Margaret River Gourmet Express); and
- the prescribed burning system and process changes required to be implemented by Parks and Wildlife to address the recommendations regarding prescribed burning in the Keelty Special Inquiry report ‘Appreciating the Risk - Margaret River Bushfire Special Inquiry January 2012’.
(iii) Parks and Wildlife prepares a six-season prescribed burn program which aims to reduce bushfire-related risk to communities, and built and natural assets, and achieve specific biodiversity conservation, forest management, research and other land management objectives. However, the amount of burning achieved in any year will vary with the factors mentioned above.
Additional Royalties for Regions funding of $20 million allocated to the department over four years from 2015/16 for the enhanced prescribed burning program is already delivering an increase in prescribed burning across the south-west forest regions, including the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, with approximately 157,000 hectares burned this financial year to date.
The Department of Parks and Wildlife does not manage all bushland in the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. The following answers to the Hon Member’s questions are therefore restricted to department-managed land within the Shire.(a) The lineal length of Caves Road in the Shire is approximately 66 kilometres. For approximately 17 kilometres there is Parks and Wildlife-managed land on both sides, and for another 13 kilometres Parks and Wildlife-managed land is on one side. Approximately 11 kilometres of the total frontage has been prescribed burnt in the last 10 years.
Prescribed burning and bushfires on Parks and Wildlife-managed land adjacent to Caves Road is as follows:
Block
Burn ID
Year since last burn
Area
Tenure
Biljedup
BWD_043
1
149.6
National Park
Boranup
BS_225
4
106.6
National Park
Leeuwin
BS_267
5
101.8
National Park
Contos
Blackwood Fire 29
10
1496.6
National Park
Conto
BS_236
10
448
National Park
Ellenbrook
BS_240
11
465.9
National Park
Leeuwin
BS_202
12
322.92
National Park
Bilgedup
999
(Unknown historical fire)
16
133.95
National Park
Fuel ages on other department-managed lands adjacent to Caves Road areas are 18 years or more.
(b) Yes. Parks and Wildlife has management responsibility for approximately 109,000 hectares of land within the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. The department has undertaken prescribed burning on 32,233 hectares and bushfires have impacted 4,072 hectares of department-managed land since 2006 (inclusive).
(c)
(i) [See Tabled Paper No. #].
(ii) There are a range of contributing factors as to why more prescribed burning has not been conducted by Parks and Wildlife in the last decade including:
- the continuing drying trend in the south-west of Western Australia that restricts the periods of suitable conditions for prescribed burning;
- an increase in the number of urban-rural developments in the Shire adjacent to areas of Parks and Wildlife-managed land, which has increased the complexity of prescribed burning;
- the effort made by Parks and Wildlife to minimise impacts on regional industries (e.g. viticulture) and events (e.g. Margaret River Gourmet Express); and
- the prescribed burning system and process changes required to be implemented by Parks and Wildlife to address the recommendations regarding prescribed burning in the Keelty Special Inquiry report ‘Appreciating the Risk - Margaret River Bushfire Special Inquiry January 2012’.
(iii) Parks and Wildlife prepares a six-season prescribed burn program which aims to reduce bushfire-related risk to communities, and built and natural assets, and achieve specific biodiversity conservation, forest management, research and other land management objectives. However, the amount of burning achieved in any year will vary with the factors mentioned above.
Additional Royalties for Regions funding of $20 million allocated to the department over four years from 2015/16 for the enhanced prescribed burning program is already delivering an increase in prescribed burning across the south-west forest regions, including the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River, with approximately 157,000 hectares burned this financial year to date.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.