Land & environment

Campaspe Shire Council has announced a package of rates relief in 2022-2023 for properties impacted by the October 2022 floods ... “About 1,000 properties have already had rate adjustments by the Victorian Valuer General as they have had a secondary impact assessment and been through the supplementary rates process": Campaspe Mayor Cr Rob Amos.

The Linklater family ... of Trentham Farms, near Gol Gol, NSW, crop 9800 ha of sandy loam country and appreciate the value of older and cheaper herbicides that are still effective options against their major weeds. With a focus on maximising yield by cropping as often as possible, Daniel says it is necessary to take a medium to long-term view when making decisions rather than focusing on the lowest-cost options in a single season.

Rod Moss. Good rains recharged  Lhere Mparntwe (Todd River) drawing crowds to its banks for the infrequent spectacle. When its rushing subsided waterholes became an unparalleled recreational attraction. In full rage it is perilous as friends, Johnathan Rodd and Rowley Hill, would discover, drowning near Wigleys Gorge.

The sound of the musical eastern banjo frog ringing out across the Pike floodplain is among the incredible sights and sounds ecologists are observing as floodwaters recede throughout the Murraylands, Riverland and Lower Lakes ... "We will eventually go back into a drier period and that is when the 450 gigalitres promised SA under the Murray Darling Basin Plan but not delivered will be of the utmost importance to maintaining the health of the river system": Susan Close.

The annual Sustainable Seafood Awards held by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council in partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council were held ... at Melbourne Zoo, showcasing the Aussie heroes of responsible seafood farming and sustainable fishing practices in Australia ... The winners were a fantastic mix of organisations and individuals who have made significant contributions to responsible aquaculture, from retailers to producers and even an inspiring young person in the industry.

What is a sacred site? According to the government, sacred sites are places within the landscape that have a special meaning or significance under Aboriginal tradition. Hills rocks, waterholes, trees, plains, lakes, billabongs and other natural features can be sacred sites ... When heritage moves from easily identifiable caves, rock art, convict buildings and federation houses to mythical spaces that are not registered on published maps, widely known and regularly visited, then we face endless abuse of process, as everything everywhere becomes sacred with a price attached to any disturbance.

Current issues and challenges around wild dog management were under the spotlight as more than 50 operational, agency and research staff from around the nation attended a three-day symposium in northern NSW.

The Darling River was once again making headlines as the muddy waters were hardly visible through a blanket of dead fish. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s mantra of ‘just add water’ has had a schooling once again by mother nature as the kills come on the back of some of the highest inflows and floods on record.

A Narrandera Inland Fisheries Centre team is on site at what is the worst ever mass fish kill to hit the Darling River at Menindee. A constant stream of mostly bony bream has been floating down the river since last Friday morning, as well as golden perch and silver perch and some Murray cod.

Five candidates for the seat of Clarence in the March 25 state election have signed a pledge launched by the Clarence Catchment Alliance to oppose and ban mineral mining developments in the Clarence catchment ... The pledge, Ms Fleming said came about after the CCA attended a meet the candidates’ night in Grafton and every one of the local candidates said they were anti mining in the Clarence catchment.

Vic Jurskis's clear account of the history of the cycle of plagues and crashes of koalas in Australia's eastern states and the circumstances of those plagues and crashes makes one question whether the time frame for assessing the status of koalas should be 200 years, not 20, and whether the public perception about this much-loved animal is fully informed.

The Murray–Darling Basin Authority is moving ahead with detailed design work on a suite of options to improve the movement of water through the Barmah–Millewa Reach of the Murray River. Basin governments in February noted the results of the  Barmah–Millewa Feasibility Study  and committed $2.35 million to the next stage of investigation in what will be known as the Barmah–Millewa Program.

The Paddock Run flood initiative, which was driven by the Buloke community, has been nominated for the Disaster Preparedness category in the 2023 National Awards for Local Government ... Council partnered with over 45 food businesses and grain receival sites across the shire to deliver flood support and assistance information to the paddock, truck, tractor, harvester, ute etc., using a less conventional, but more practical delivery method – via their stomachs.

This week Council will be removing the Leichhardt tree at the Rockhampton Memorial Gardens and replacing it with two young trees which have been propagated from the original ... “This tree has been part of the Memorial Gardens landscape since the site was created in 1996": Communities and Heritage Councillor Drew Wickerson.

Scenic Rim Regional Council is set to put the bite on wild dogs with its biannual baiting program ready to roll out mid-April.  The program, which uses sodium fluoroacetate baits more commonly known as 1080, assists owners of larger land holdings in managing pest animals which not only pose a threat to native wildlife but also pets and other domestic animals.  

"Landowners and farmers have made it clear at a rally held in Widgee on Friday 17 March, Powerlink and the State Government are not listening to the community ... The community has attended so-called stakeholder meetings in rural and regional Queensland only to discover that the consultation process is tokenism with little to no consideration of alternative power corridors on State owned land": Chair of Property Rights Australia (PRA) Rob Atkinson.

While the Centre is facing what experts say is likely to be the biggest bushfire season in recorded history, the question is not what the NT Government is doing about it, but what it is not. The first blaze is already under way, in the Ormiston Gorge area of the West MacDonnells.