Patricia Gill, Denmark Bulletin
Local bushfire management committees will respond to the State Government’s thumbs down to a review of broad-scale burning as a prime method of bushfire prevention.
The Shire of Denmark will call on the Bushfire Advisory Committee and the Local Emergency Management Committee to comment on Emergency Services Minister Dawson’s letter of last September.
The decision to call on the committees was made at the December 20 Denmark Shire Council meeting.
It follows the Shire writing to Premier Mark McGowan in August asking for a review of the prescribed burning policy and practices to ensure both were effective in protecting lives, property and the environment.
The Shire asked if the practices were aligned with current science and community sentiment, and that any review would include a 90-day consultation.
The Shire also asked that the State Government recognise that climate change was creating challenges in managing the increased risk of bushfires regionally.
Because of this local governments should be provided with extra resources for early detection and rapid suppression.
Since October the Shire has delayed dealing with the matter to allow the State Government and WA Standing Committee on Environment and Public Affairs to release information, but it is unclear when this will happen.
The standing committee was holding hearings on an Independent Review of Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions Prescribed Burning Practices in August.
Minister backs burning
When he replied to the Shire in September, Mr Dawson considered it pre-emptive to launch an additional public review of the State’s planned burning policy and practices while this Standing Committee process was ongoing.
Mr Dawson, replying to the Shire on behalf of Mr McGowan, pointed out that 95 per cent of WA was designated fireprone.
He wrote that effective bushfire prevention required fuel to be reduced at both localised and landscape scales.
“Small scale fuel management may be achieved by several means, including planned burning, mowing, mulching, slashing or herbicides.
“When fuels are to be managed at a landscape scale, however, planned burning is the only financially and environmentally sustainable method available.”
Mr Dawson wrote that when appropriately targeted and scaled, fuel reduction had been shown to be repaid many times in reduced environmental impact, bushfire response and recovery costs.
Planned burning had also been demonstrated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to a bushfire-driven fire regime and to contribute to positive ecological outcomes. It also provided the ideal training ground for bushfire emergency responders.
The State Government remained committed to the use of planned burning as the primary means of reducing combustible fuel at the landscape scale, and therefore to reduce bushfire risk to communities and the environment. He also noted that the Shire has undertaken 161 mitigation activities.
This was supported by $1,332,900 in Mitigation Activity Fund Grants Program funding, the provision of a DFES-funded bushfire risk planning coordinator, and recently, a co-funded bushfire risk management coordinator.
This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 12 January 2023.
