The Editor

A record number of Australian Catholic University pre-service teachers have headed into regional, rural, and remote areas nationally to complete their teaching placements this year. More than 250 teaching students will have travelled far and wide to learn on the job by the end of 2022 ... “We are hoping they will love it so much they will want to return to these regions as teachers on graduation.”

Both researchers I referenced show regular low intensity burning, as practised by Aboriginal people across the landscape, has been lost and Dr Fletcher believes the loss of cool, mosaic burning since European settlement has left us, as a nation, dangerously fire prone. Philip Zylstra seems to have missed this critical point.

In his 24 October response on this issue, Zylstra states that in their study seven times more area of recently burnt forest was burnt than long unburnt forest. That is not in dispute. But was this because there were seven times the number of ignitions in these areas to start with because of chance or differences in area or because of some flammability factor? We simply do not know because this basic statistical requirement was not considered in the study.   Is the conclusion biased, by how much, and in what direction? Who knows?

The Cairns Tropical Writers Festival was established in 2008 and is a biennial event. It brings together our regional community of writers and readers with Australian and internationally revered authors and celebrities, who inspire us and feed our literary minds.

Livingstone Shire Council and leading e-scooter operator, Neuron Mobility, have announced the city’s first e-scooter programme is due to start on Thursday, 10 November. The 12 month trial will see the gradual roll-out of up to 150 of Neuron’s distinctive orange e-scooters throughout the city, including central Yeppoon, Farnborough Beach and Rosslyn Bay Harbour.

Key scientists, conservationists, wetland managers, birdwatchers and farmers from across Australia with a passion for the iconic Australasian Bittern will meet early next year for an Australasian Bittern Summit ... the Bringing Back the Bunyip Bird: Australasian Bittern Summit is the first time such a conference has been held where delegates can see and hear all things Bittern.

I have recently re-read Think Trees, Grow Trees, a 1985 publication from the Institute of Foresters of Australia. This excellent little book was the brainchild of, and was edited by Dr Wilf Crane, one of my contemporaries at the Australian Forestry School, a notable forest scientist and famous and eccentric character ... To me, the most important part of the book (in terms of contemporary relevance) is the chapter called Living with Fire. It is written by Phil Cheney.

Firefighters will be better protected from exposure to dangerous carcinogens than ever before with Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) rolling out world-leading decontamination technology and new fire station designs ... FRNSW Commissioner Paul Baxter said the Clean Firefighter, Clean Appliance and Clean Buildings Plan helps to understand the risks confronting frontline staff and take appropriate action.

John O'Donnell. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service has recently prepared three useful fact sheets in regards to reducing wildfire risks, hazardous fuels and improving forest resilience ... These documents are valuable reading for those involved in land and fire management in Australia.

The Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party leader, Robert Borsak, warned Coles  supermarket group that their request for farmers to "cut costs" rather than increase prices would propel NSW  into a food security crisis ... "Telling farmers to "cut costs" is beyond condescending and risks farmers dropping out of the market altogether, which puts our food security at risk.