NSW WILDERNESS RED INDEX

Published by the Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd (September 1999)
2/332 Pitt Street Sydney 2000 ph 02 9261 2400; fax 029 299 5713
email keith@colongwilderness.org.au web site colongwilderness.org.au

Wilderness Declared (NSW):

Pilot Wilderness in Kosciuszko National Park;

Byadbo Wilderness in Kosciuszko National Park;

Wilderness Not Declared (NSW):

Kosciuszko National Park;

Crown land;

Ingebirah State Forest No. 1029;

Freehold land;

Wilderness Declared (VIC):

Indi addition to Pilot region of wilderness;

Cobberas addition to Pilot region of wilderness;

Tingaringy addition to the Byadbo region of wilderness;

Buchan Headwaters Wilderness Area;

Wilderness Not Declared (VIC):

Alpine National park;

Limestone State Forest;

DESCRIPTION:

The Snowy-Pilot Wilderness embraces part of the Great Dividing Range, south of Dead Horse Gap. The tops of the Range carry alpine to sub-alpine vegetation and are snow covered in winter. Mount Pilot is the highest peak at 1,830 metres. Just across the border, the skyline is dominated by the slightly lower, but dramatic outlines of Cleft Peak, Moscow Peak and the two Cobberas Mountains. Mount Pilot is formed mostly of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, while the jagged Victorian peaks are comprised of rhyolitic rocks forming part of the Snowy River Volcanics which rise toward Mount Tingaringy (1,449 m), the highest point in East Gippsland. The remainder of the Victorian section of the Snowy-Pilot Wilderness consists of deeply dissected Ordovician metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.

The valley sides of the Range are heavily forested, with the familiar Snow Gum woodlands and snow grass growing on high exposed places. An altitudinal succession consists of pure stands of Alpine Ash, followed by Messmate growing with Mountain Gum, Ribbon Gum and Apple Box, at lower levels. The creeks west of the divide form part of the headwaters of the Murray River (known locally as the Indi River) and on the eastern side form part of the headwaters of the Snowy River.

The eastern quarter of the wilderness consists of granite landscapes with more gently rounded hills or plateaux between steep sided valleys, rising in the east to Mt Byadbo and Black Jack, prominent ranges dominated by quartzites and slates. This is dry country, owing to the rain shadow formed by the high Great Dividing Range and the Monaro Tableland to the east. Environments range from dry cypress pine communities of the Snowy River corridor to a wide variety of montane communities towards Mt Tingaringy. The vegetation is dominated by dry sclerophyll forest or rainshadow woodland.

Faunal distribution in the wilderness is poorly understood but significant species recorded include the Tiger Quoll and the Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby.

LAND USE HISTORY:

Hydro-electricity

HISTORY OF CONSERVATION MEASURES:

THREATS:

A number of tracks within the area are disused fire trails that have been re-opened by 4WDs. These trails, averaging 4 metres in width, also serve as access routes for horseriding, brumby running, tour operators, and hunting and shooting parties. A number of management vehicle only (MVO) tracks are also being used illegally.

The advent of 4WDs into Alpine areas in the past twenty years has led to a proliferation of tracks and roads. By 1990 there were over 500km of 4WD roads in Cobberas-Tingaringy. Within the entire Alpine National Park, over eight square kilometres are disturbed by 4WD roads, generating considerable amounts of sediment.

A number of roads have been pushed though into wilderness areas, the most significant of these being:

B15/39 Cowombat Flat Track. Cowombat Flat is the heart of the wild area incorporating Cobberas and Pilot ranges. It is currently being used as a point of illegal ingress to the declared Pilot Wilderness across the NSW border A number of 4WD groups have advocated that this become an official crossing point. Over 400 vehicles were present to demonstrate opposition to wilderness protection at an Easter rally in 1991;

B15/21 and B15/23 Davies Plain Track and Davies Plain Loop. This is the largest subalpine area in the Alpine National Park with no 2WD road. These tracks traverse the ridge forming the backbone of Davies Plain;

B68 MacFarlane Flat Track. This climbs up from the eastern side of the Cobberas Range;

B71 Cobberas Track. Passing through the Playgrounds, this track cuts off the Cobberas Range from the Rams Horn Range. From it, illegal excursions are made to the sensitive snow plains of the Playground;

Ten thousand 4WD owners are represented by a number of associations, from those who advocate "sensitive" use of 4WDs to those who believe 4WD owners should roam wherever they wish. This large membership is possibly the reason why the LCC was so contradictory in its views on 4WDs in its proposed wilderness areas. While recommending that there should be no vehicular access to wilderness areas, it has drawn its wilderness boundaries in favour of the retention of 4WD drive tracks, rather than securing wilderness and prioritising its management. As a result, significant areas were precluded from the wilderness, and very few tracks have been closed, the closure of the Cowombat Flat Track being a welcome exception.

Initially the LCC recommended boundaries for the Cobberas Wilderness excluded 630 ha around Cowombat Flat Track because "there are few alternative four-wheel drive through routes in this region" and because the area "is already a point of interest to significant numbers of four-wheel drive users, horse riders and to an increasing extent, commercial tour operators". Following strong lobbying by VNPA, Cowombat Flat was included in the final recommendations of the LCC which were subsequently adopted by Government in 1992.

The LCC also excised the highest reaches of the Buchan River to the north of the Benambra/Black Mountain Road, within Buchan Headwaters Wilderness. This was because the proposed management plan for the National Park intended to establish camping sites for vehicle and horse based campers.

The Suggan Buggan River area of 17,800 ha, north of the Black Mountain Road, was also excluded for vehicle and horse based campers.

The retention of vehicle tracks is a blatant disregard for wilderness and constitutes a cynical exercise on behalf of the LCC, as it has contracted wilderness boundaries to accommodate existing uses. In many cases these uses are associated with former pastoral activities that are no longer appropriate for the national park.

Both the Victorian National Parks Legislation and Kosciusko Plan of Management wilderness practices prohibit "The private or commercial use of any form of motorised transport" in wilderness areas. The intention of these wilderness protection provisions is being ignored.

Recommendations: Most of the disturbance in Pilot is the result of 4WD incursions from Victoria. Four-wheel driving should be excluded from the 174,000 ha of potential wilderness as it is in NSW. These roads should be closed, ripped and revegetated.

The 2WD B63 Benambra/Black Mountain Road should be closed between Emu Flat in the east, and Limestone Creek in the west, thus rejoining Buchan Headwaters to the rest of Snowy-Pilot.

Closure, rehabilitation and revegetation of management trails in this wilderness would reduce the occurrence of environmental impacts and be consistent with Section 1.10.13 (b) of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW) Wilderness Conservation Policy.

A number of licensees in Victoria and New South Wales are permitted to catch or "run" brumbies. The activities of brumby runners have an even greater impact on the environment than the wild horses themselves. These include: use of 4WDs in wilderness areas; dogs, guns and the consequent destruction of native wildlife; litter; tree felling for corral construction; and extensive scorched areas from excessively large bonfires. One affected area was Cowombat Flat, in the heart of the Snowy-Pilot Wilderness Area, until road closure curtailed 4WD access.

In Victoria, the LCC investigation accepts the detrimental impact of brumbies in wilderness areas. It also advocates the removal of introduced animals. While the investigation does not openly come out against brumby running, its control programmes and recommendations suggest that: "techniques that do not require vehicular access" be used. In a comment that refers to control of feral population numbers, the investigation comments that: "rounding up such animals with cars or using dogs or horses, and then shooting them appears to reduce numbers of large populations but is less effective (than aerial control)".

In NSW, the 1982 Kosciusko National Park Plan of Management considers the environmental impact of wild horses to a "negligible", although "The NPWS will undertake a study of the environmental impact of wild horses and methods for their control". Furthermore, "The current licensing system, which authorises particular persons to catch wild horses, will be reviewed for its effectiveness as a control measure". Evidence of severe degradation by brumbies has grown, with numerous alpine water courses in the Pilot area suffering major hoof damage and bank erosion. In 1996 the NPWS proposed to take a census of horse numbers in the park, which caused opposition from the horse riding lobby.

Recommendations: Brumbies (Equus caballus) are feral animals and should be culled within NPWS estate as effective mustering is impossible in rugged terrain. Head shooting from helicopter by trained shooters is the most humane way of reducing the number of feral horses.

The annual population increase in favourable conditions is 25 per cent. Effective methods using a permanent contraceptive technology suitable for use in remote and forested areas should be researched.

No logging has occurred in Pilot in NSW. There are no supplies of suitable timber, only subalpine woodland. On the Victorian side of Snowy-Pilot large significant stands of relatively high altitude Alpine and Mountain Ash forests have been clearfelled on a "once only" basis. These include the ash forests around the LCC's proposed Davies Plain Wilderness. These stands are to be found at the headwaters of Mac, Greenwood, Deadhorse and Smoko Creeks. Logging operations occurring on headwaters are considered to be some of the most environmentally destructive, with ecological consequences throughout the whole aquatic and riparian ecosystems. The logging of water catchments such as these is completely unacceptable.

The Mount Murphy Historic Area, abutting Davies Plain, is to be logged on an "ongoing" basis.

Within the Buchan Headwaters Wilderness 1,600 ha of Ash forest around the Reedy Headwaters have also been logged.

Recommendations: That the approx. 860 ha of State Forest within the LCC and CRA identified wilderness areas be added to the Alpine National Park and also be reserved within the Indi and Tingaringy Wilderness Areas. The CRA outcome for East Gippsland should be adjusted so as to protect all wilderness values and old growth forests of the region. In NSW, the 140 ha of wilderness in the Ingebirah State Forest should also be reserved as wilderness during the Southern Forest CRA process.

No logging activities should be occurring anywhere within a national park. It is essential that core wilderness areas be protected. Any core areas that have been logged within the area, including Mount Murphy Historic Area, should be added to the Alpine National Park, reserved as wilderness and regenerated. All roads within the park used to service external logging operations should be ripped and revegetated.

Recommendations: Grazing leases should be revoked within wilderness areas.

Recommendations: Dams are incompatible with wilderness areas. Following the declarations of Pilot Wilderness, and the adjoining Victorian Wilderness zones, the likelihood of this dam being constructed appears remote.

Recommendations: Environmental flows are essential to the healthy functioning of aquatic and riparian ecosystems. Restoration to the Snowy River of at least 28% of the original total average annual flows from Jindabyne to Orbost is the minimum needed to restore its environmental, economic, social and heritage values. These flows should replicate the natural variation in flow (including in drought) that previously existed in the river.

In conjunction with the environmental flows the Federal, Victorian and NSW Governments should provide:

• infrastructure and other support to Murray and Murrumbidgee Valley irrigators and farmers to reduce water waste; and
• immediate funding of Snowy River catchment and channel programs to remove exotic weeds and restore native vegetation along the river, to prevent erosion and restore the biodiversity of the river.

CONTACT ORGANISATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

Colong Foundation for Wilderness Ltd
2/332 Pitt Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Contact: Keith Muir (Director) Ph: 02 9261 2400
FAX: 02 9261 2144
e-mail keith@colongwilderness.org.au

Total Environment Centre
2/332 Pitt Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
Contact: Frances Kelly (Natural Areas Campaigner) Ph: 02 9299 5680
FAX: 02 9299 4411
e-mail toencen@magna.com.au

Victorian National Parks Association
10 Parliament Place
MELBOURNE VIC 3002
Contact: Amanda Martin (Director) Ph: 03 9650 8296
FAX: 03 9654 6843
e-mail vnpa@vicnet.net.au

RELEVANT CORRESPONDENCE:

RELEVANT COLONG BULLETIN ARTICLES:

See Colong Bulletin Index under:

Alpine National Park.

Colong Bulletin, 128, September 1991 "Victorian Wilderness at the cross roads", p8

Colong Bulletin, 129, November 1991, "Wilderness Last", p1-2.

Colong Bulletin, 129, November 1991, "Wilderness Diminished", p3-4.

Colong Bulletin, 129, November 1991, "Wilderness Between States", p5-6.

Colong Bulletin 151, July 1995, "Delineation of Wilderness" p4.

Colong Bulletin 154, January 1996, "The abuse of National Parks" p6-7.

OTHER RELEVANT CONSERVATION GROUP ARTICLES

Victorian National Parks Association, June 1991, "Green Light for the Alps".

The Wilderness Society and VNPA, July 1991, "Response to the Land Conservation Council's Proposed Recommendations - Wilderness Special Investigation."

Return to NSW Wilderness Index