NSW WILDERNESS RED INDEX
Published by the Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd
(September 1999)
2/332 Pitt Street Sydney NSW 2000 ph 02 9261 2400; fax 02 9261 2144
email keith@colongwilderness.org.au web site colongwilderness.org.au
| NAME: | Murruin |
| NOMINATED BY: | Not nominated (September 1999). |
| LOCATION: | Approximately 45 km south of Oberon and 55km west of Picton. |
| SIZE: | 28,000 ha (assessment area) |
| TENURE: | Blue Mountains National Park 23,700 ha
(approx.) Crown land 1,200 ha (approx.) Crown leasehold land 1,000 ha (approx.) Freehold land 2,100 ha (approx.) |
Wilderness Declared:
None.
Wilderness Not Declared:
Blue Mountains National Park;
| Size: | 23,700 ha |
| Percentage of entire assessment area: | 85 % |
Crown land;
| Size: | 1,200 ha |
| Percentage of entire assessment area: | 4.0 % |
Crown Leasehold lands;
| Size: | 1,000 ha |
| Percentage of entire assessment area: | 3.5 % |
Freehold land;
| Size: | 2,100 ha |
| Percentage of entire assessment area: | 7.5 % |
DESCRIPTION:
The Great Dividing Range forms an axis through the Murrin Wilderness with the Mt. Werong plateau being its physiographic centre. This small plateau, which ranges up to three kilometres wide, has an elevation of between 1,000 and 1,215 metres. It is drained from all points of the compass by the Abercrombie River to the west, Mt. Werong Creek to the south, Burnt Hole Creek to the north and Murrin Creek to the east.
The Werong area is within a folded belt or "Rim Rock" area markedly different from the Permo-Triassic sandstone-dominated landforms of other parts of the Blue Mountains. The Palaeozoic basement rocks, which are elsewhere buried well below the Permo-Triassic Measures, are on the surface as high land. The rock types include quarzite, Devonian volcanic diorite, rhyolites and rhyo-dacites, and metamorphic phyllites, slates, siltstones and tuff limestones from the Silurian Period. Approximately two thirds of the wilderness rests on these steeply inclined layers of metamorphic rocks. In the east, however, these Palaeozoic rocks were intruded during the Permian by the acidic Banshea granites which forms a very poor, dry sandy soil. The youngest rocks of the area are the flat lying Tertiary clays, gravels and volcanic lava flows which form Mt. Werong.
The complex geology, climate, fire regime, and topography has enabled a variety of ecosystems to develop. The Mt. Werong plateau supports: tall forests of Mountain Gum (E. dalyrympleana)- Snow Gum (E. pauciflora), Narrow leaved Peppermint (E. radiata) on the Silurian metamorphic rocks; and Mountain Gum - Broad leaved Peppermint (E. dives) and Narrow leaved Peppermint on the Tertiary alluvial soils. A Messmate (E. obliqua) forest, abundant on Mt. Werong itself, is genetically different from that found on the Boyd Plateau and hence is of scientific interest. The rich basalt soil areas also carry Brown Barrel (E. fastigata) and Yellow Box (E. viminalis) in pure stands and in association with E. Dalrympleana. Poorly conserved eucalypt forests with western plain species, such as Yellow Box and White Box and Brown Barrel - Ribbon Gum (E. viminalis) communities, are also present.
The understorey is mostly an open layer of grasses (Poa spp.), shrubs such as Gompholobium huegelii, Hibbertia obtusifolia and Acacia obliquinervia. High altitude areas, subject to strong winds, generally support heath and closed scrub communities. In areas of impeded drainage, various swamps occur, dominated by sedges and scrubs such as Leptospermum and Baeckea species.
The Blue Mountains National Park contains 27 marsupials and both monotremes. Over 200 birds and 98 reptile species have been recorded. The wilderness is noted for its abundance of Red-necked and Swamp Wallabies, Greater Glider (Petauroicles volans) and Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua), Squirrel Glider (Petaurus norfolcensis), the endangered Yellow-bellied Glider (Petaurus volans), Dingo and Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus). The plateau region represents a post-glacial montane refugia, with a distinctive, but poorly surveyed, herpetofauna. Further, it contains the endangered Large-eared Pied Bat and the River Blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus), the latter being protected by fisheries management legislation.
LAND USE HISTORY:
| Aboriginal | The available information suggests that Aboriginal people occupied the area for about 20,000 years before the onset of European settlement. The area constituted lands traditionally occupied by the Gandangarra Aboriginal People. The occupation of the upland areas was mainly seasonal, during spring and summer when game was more abundant. The major rivers would have been important routes between the tablelands and the lowlands. |
| Grazing | Cattle have been grazed in the nominated area
since the 1820s. 1960: The flooding of Burragorang Valley following the completion of Warragamba Dam: obliterated some holdings, led to the resumption of others; and made some land isolated and uneconomic to manage. Now that so much of the land once used by graziers is national park, there can be no return to grazing for the marginal lands to the east of the Murruin Wilderness. Grazing still continues in the area on private lands and will coexist with the wilderness until the lands are voluntarily acquired. |
| Mining | The Tertiary alluvial sediments around Mt
Werong contain gemstones and the area was the focus of several small gemstone and gold
‘rushes’ from the late 1800s until 1930s. Around 1899, a silver-lead-zinc
deposit was discovered on Ruby Creek. A small mine was opened and the Mt. Werong village
was proclaimed on 11th May 1910, near Lanigans Swamp. A claimed alluvial platinum and gold rush in 1927 and 1928 was eventually contradicted by the Chief Inspector of Mines and mining interest in the area quickly subsided. The only recent mining activity near the Murruin Wilderness Area was a small prospecting operation at Ruby Creek. The prospecting leases expired in 1994, and the disturbed areas should be rehabilitated to a natural condition. |
| Limestone Quarrying | Although Wombeyan Caves was protected from mining in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, mining interests continued to push for exploration leases around Mount Colong, where a number of scenic caves were known to speleologists. These mining interests were very persistent and only defeated by the Colong Committee in 1974 when the mining leases were revoked. |
| 1950s –1999 | Limestone of high quality has been mined at various times but the deposits within the wilderness area are small and very remote making continued extraction uneconomic. However, the marble quarry that adjoins the wilderness at Wombeyan Caves places these caves at risk of dust and water pollution. In the longer term there may be a risk of quarrying within the park area as the resource within the mining lease becomes depleted. |
| Logging | Small and isolated areas of the Blue Mountains were selectively logged in the nineteenth century, in particular for Red Cedar. The years following the Second World War saw the cutting of the remaining accessible stands in the upper Kowmung tributaries. The mountain forests of Brown Barrel, Messmate and Ribbon Gum on the Great Divide have been managed as state forests by the Forestry Commission (FCNSW, now known as State Forests) for many years, during which they have been heavily logged, largely for pit props. |
| 1970 - 1976 | The clearing of Gurnang State Forest of
eucalypts for pine was undertaken without environmental impact assessment or public
comment. In 1973 the Forestry Commission proposed to convert 6,700 ha of the Werong State Forest to pine plantation. |
| 1978 | October 26: Minister for Planning and Environment redefines the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Abercrombie Investigation Area, excluding Manus Creek and most of the Gurnang State Forest. |
| 1978 - 1984 | Temporary hold on pine plantation ceases and
the program of clearfelling the Gurnang State Forest and planting to pine is completed.
During that time the Werong State Forest was vigorously logged along certain ridgetops,
and in the Mt. Werong Creek area, for sawlog and mining timbers. In 1981 the Forestry Commission, in an attempt to preempt further conservation decisions by the Wran Government, the Mt. Werong State Forest is extended and the pine plantation proposal reduced in size. These attempts to expand the pine plantations into the area stall when it is realised that the area is unsuitable for broad acre pine planting . |
| Access | Since 1970, numerous fire trails are constructed in the Murruin Wilderness Assessment Study Area (WASA) in association with the intensification of forestry activities. |
| 1982 | Mt Werong Fire Trail is proposed as alternative route to Wombeyan Caves by the Mulwarree Shire Council. This is to by-pass the Abercrombie River crossing on Jerrong Rand which occasionally becomes impassable during floods. |
HISTORY OF CONSERVATION MEASURES:
| 1866 | Dedication of Wombeyan, Jenolan, Kanangra, Dungalla, Morong, Mouin, Colong and Tuglow Recreation and Cave Reserves. |
| 1891 | Kanangra Tourist Resort established. |
| 1898 | Camping Reserves established at Sawpit Gully
and Budthingeroo Creek. Cave Preservation Reserve established at Tuglow. |
| 1899 | Boyd Creek Crossing reserved for camping and travelling stock. |
| 1900 | Jigger Creek reserved for camping and Whalans Creek crossing also reserved. |
| 1901 | Jenolan Caves Reserve established. |
| 1909 | Extension of Jenolan Caves Reserve gazetted. |
| 1910 | Part of Hollanders Creek reserved for camping. |
| 1912-13 | Public Recreation Reserves established at Chardon Canyon, Tuglow Falls and Box Creek Canyon. |
| 1922 | Kanangra Tourist Resort extended (with further extensions in 1937). |
| 1928 | Colong Caves reserved for preservation and proclaimed as a bird and animal sanctuary. |
| 1932 | National Parks and Primitive Areas Council (NPPAC) founded, largely through the efforts of Myles Dunphy, to campaign for the creation of a large national park extending across the Blue Mountains (first considered by Dunphy from 1922 onwards). |
| 1934 | Park proposal submitted to Blue Mountains Shire Council. This Greater Blue Mountains National Park covered 453,000 ha from the Wirraba Range in the north to the Wombeyan road in the South. |
| 1937 | Sydney Water Board reserves 38,870 ha as part of Warragamba catchment. Although this did not directly serve the interests of recreational use, and effectively blocked moves for the Greater Blue Mountains National Park Southern Section, it nevertheless protected a considerable area of native flora. By 1940 the catchment had been extended to as far as Kanangra Tops. |
| 1946 | A National Park Committee appointed by Premier McKell. |
| 1959 | 62,000 ha gazetted as Blue Mountains National Park, and a Trust appointed. These were added to in 1977, 1985, 1986 and 1987, to total 245,716 ha by the end of the 1980s. |
| 1968 | 39,748 ha Kanangra-Boyd National Park founded. |
| 1976 | December: Premier Wran calls for an NPWS investigation report into proposed park and pine proposals resulting in a moratorium on clearing of native forests for pine plantations. Two areas examined by the NPWS were the Abercrombie Investigation Area and the Nattai Investigation Area. |
| 1979 | NPWS investigation report on the Mt. Werong area produced . |
| 1984 | March: Canopy National Forest Committee of Total Environment Centre produces a proposal for a 34,000 ha Werong Extension to the Southern Blue Mountains National Park System. |
| 1985 | September 1: Premier Wran announces 30,000 ha of additions to the Blue Mountains National Park, including the Mt. Werrong additions. |
| 1987 | October: Unsworth Government adds 8,750 ha of the remaining native forests in the Gurnang, Banshea and Mount Werong State Forests to the Blue Mountains National Park. |
| 1988 | Proposed Mount-Piper/Marulan power line
re-routed to avoid passing through Kanangra-Boyd National Park. Graziers unsuccessfully
challenge route in Land and Environment Court. Their aim was to route the line through
"public lands" i.e. the park. January: NPWS produces Draft Plan of Management for the 51,000 ha Blue Mountains National Park. |
| 1989 | Colong Foundation for Wilderness releases "Blue Mountains for World Heritage", proposing 897,661 ha of the Blue Mountains be inscribed onto the IUCN World Heritage list of properties. |
| 1993 | 21 September : Ministers for the Environment Ros Kelly (Federal) and Chris Hartcher (State) support "Blue Mountains for World Heritage" listing. |
| 1994 | A preliminary assessment of the Colong Foundation’s 1989 Blue Mountains for World Heritage proposal by the National Herbarium identifies most of the Sydney Basin sandstone National Parks and adjoining areas as suitable for inclusion in a nomination boundary. |
| 1995 | August: The Carr Government abandons the proposed raising of Warragamba Dam and instead adopts the side spillway option proposed by the Kowmung Committee. |
| 1998 | January: A second draft Plan of Management for
the Blue Mountains National Park released for public comment. The draft plan indicates
vehicle-based visitor facilities at Mt. Werong and Limeburners Flat and the upgrading of
Fatigue and Limeburners fire trails to public access roads. These proposed management
actions would be incompatible with wilderness management of the area. February : Planning Minister, Craig Knowles, approves the construction of a side spillway on Warragamba Dam with work to commence in late 1998. June 25: The Howard Government nominates one million hectares of the Blue Mountains National Parks for inscription on the World Heritage list of properties. December : Tendering of the Warragamba spillway is awarded to Abigroup for $90 million with work to commence in late February 1999. The State Opposition remain committed to raising the dam. |
| 1999 | Sydney Water Corporation and NPWS release a Special
Areas Strategic Plan of Management in early 1999. Its release is short lived, as the
Sydney water scare leads to the creation of a Sydney Catchment Authority and a decision to
revise the plan so as to improve catchment protection and management. 31 May: The National Parks and Wildlife Service Southern Zone releases its Wilderness Assessment study areas for the Southern/Tumut Forest Comprehensive Regional Assessment (CRA). Through this process, the Murrin wilderness assessment study area will be examined . |
THREATS:
The relative ease of accessibility makes this wilderness area particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
| Trails, off-road vehicles, horseriding and inholdings: |
There are a number of fire trails in the area.
These are the principal impediments to upgrading wilderness quality in the area. The Mount
Fatigue and Limeburners fire trails are major intrusions from the north into the proposed
wilderness and provide access to numerous other 4WD trails. The use of 4WDs and horses in
wilderness areas is highly detrimental to the environment. Such private transport
introduce weeds and damage fragile ecosystems, particularly swampy areas that often takes
years to recover. Such 4WD vehicles often carry generators, firearms and dogs, which are
incompatible with wilderness qualities due to the level of noise created and the
destruction of wildlife. The continued presence of private freehold land within the wilderness provides potential opportunities for inappropriate tourism and other incompatible uses, including ‘wilderness lodges’ and the grazing of stock within the adjoining park areas. These inholdings could become a major impediment to wilderness enjoyment and cause loss of wilderness values (eg. the Limeburners Flat clearing). |
Recommendations: All roads within the proposed wilderness should be closed to private vehicle use. Any visitor facilities within the wilderness should be relocated to nearby areas. Horseriding within the Blue Mountains National Park should be discontinued. Private inholdings within the wilderness should be purchased when offered for sale.
| Stock route: | Use of the Oberon stock route by off road vehicles adversely effects the wilderness. Stock may still driven along this route despite the national park status of adjoining lands. The route also encourages off road 4WD use within the wilderness area and the unscrupulous release of ‘stock’, such as pigs, goats and deer into the national park. |
Recommendations: The stock route should be revoked and added to Kanangra-Boyd and Blue Mountains National Parks. The public road should become an internal park road and maintained at its current standard. Preferrably, it should terminate at Batts Camp, then, in the long term, a large area in the vicinity of Yerranderie and Jooriland Creek could be returned to wilderness a condition.
| Pest species: | Wild pigs, goats and even deer, in addition to the damage they cause directly to native vegetation, attract shooters who also destroy the native wildlife. Feral cattle also roam the rough gullies of the area and facilitate the spread of weeds. Pigs and goats can cause considerable erosion and disturbance on native vegetation. Large areas of land are now subject to infestation by blackberries. Exotic pines are also invading the national park from Gurnang State Forest. |
Recommendations: The pest species need to be managed to ensure both the protection of the entire southern Blue Mountains National Park estate and the Sydney Water catchment. The pine wildlings should also be controlled to prevent further spread into national park areas. The Sydney Catchment Authority should provide adequate funds for effective NPWS Pest Species control activities within the Special Area Catchments, including the Murrin Wilderness.
| Fire management: | Over burning causes severe damage to rugged wilderness catchments. The ground cover that binds the soil is burnt leading to massive sheet erosion, as the next rains will strip away the thin soils of the area. Streams then fill with gravel and silt. Fires also wipe out wildlife populations and destroy the old growth vegetation. Often it is these very oldest plants that provide most of the nesting and roosting places. The assertion that Australia’s forest land was once all some sort of grass land, and that it should be burnt more often to mirror Aboriginal burning practices, is incorrect. Dr John Benson is adamant that "most forests and woodlands of Australia would not have been subject to frequent (less than ten-year) burns". |
Recommendations: Fuel-reduction burns should be undertaken where they are most effective, that is close to the assets being protected (eg. rural settlement and pine plantations). Most wildfires burn into parks, not the other way around, and broad-area control burns of wilderness are ineffective in controlling such external fires.
Effective fire fighting in wilderness requires constant aerial or satellite surveillance in bushfire danger periods to enable rapid detection and response. Such an approach eliminates the need for fire towers in wilderness areas. To effectively tackle fires in remote areas while they are still small, more fire fighters need to be trained as ‘smoke jumpers’ and helicopter crews.
The protection of wilderness values in fire management plans needs to be a priority. During fire emergencies bulldozers should not be allowed to scar the scenery by cutting fire control lines on steep slopes. All too often these measures fail to contain a wildfire. Decisions on damaging suppression practices should be addressed during management planning, not in a fire crisis. Except for fire trails in perimeter areas, trails constructed during fire fighting operations should be closed and rehabilitated immediately following the operation.
CONTACT ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS
Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd
Level 2, 332 Pitt Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Contact: Keith Muir (Director) Ph: (w) 02 9261 2400
FAX: 02 9261 2144
e-mail: keith@colongwilderness.org.au