Land & environment

In the lead up to World Water Day on March 22, SOURCE Global has reported on the success of its partnership with the NSW Department of Education, which installed 100 SOURCE ®Hydropanels across 10 drought-impacted schools to provide accessible drinking water for children and teachers, in compliance with Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

Monique Dawson. Recent public commentary about the closure of VicForests has included numerous false and misleading claims.  VicForests knows there are individuals and organisations who are opposed to native timber harvesting who will be celebrating VicForests’ closure ... The most offensive category of false claims being made is the suggestion VicForests is “rogue” or a “cowboy agency”.

Enthusiastic city-driven support for renewable energy infrastructure is in direct contrast to the majority feeling in the Allora district where a public meeting on Thursday night demonstrated strong opposition to any idea that a wind farm should be established in the Goomburra Valley area.

Walk out your front door and look down the street.   If you are in the regions or in suburbia, then you will look at a tall wooden pole that carries the cables that gives you electricity. Have you taken much notice of them?   Probably not, but the pole is native hardwood harvested from a native forest where, through the application of science, it was encouraged to grow that straight.   Timber power poles are selectively harvested from regrowth or working forests.

Michelle Daw. Concerned members of the public have called on Barunga West Council and the state government to take action to help protect a lone dolphin from interactions with people. There are reports some people have interfered with the dolphin, which has been seen along the Port Broughton foreshore.

VicForests, the Victorian Government’s own forestry agency, is being treated deplorably as it braces for a June 30 shutdown ... Peter Walsh, Leader of The Nationals, said it seemed the government was intent on wiping VicForests from the history books.

Let’s go solar. Across the world, in Australia and NSW, there is a push for alternative energy including wind and solar power ... IndyNR.com spoke to a resident ... She is opposed to the Richmond Valley Solar Farm. She has many reasons for her opposition including the fire risk of the proposed large BESS.

Just 16 km north of Wujal Wujal, the historic Mount Louis Station is one of the most fertile and picturesque cattle stations in Far North Queensland,   fattening some of the country's finest Brahman and Brangus steers.  But the severe pounding it received from the flooding that followed Cyclone Jasper, has caused a damage bill, estimated by an agronomist recently, of more than $300,000...

The Ovens River Challenge at Myrtleford Victoria is again on for young and old ... Widely renowned wildlife artist and fly fisher, Trevor Hawkins, will be present to show some of his fantastic works of fish and bird art ... we are researching the abundance of the endangered Macquarie Perch and Trout Cod.

Effective from 14 March, the dingo unprotection order will conclude in north west Victoria - this decision follows new research, strong advice and the effectiveness of non-lethal dingo control methods to protect livestock. Farmers in this area will be  supported by a  $550,000 investment to adopt alternate non-lethal control methods via a  pilot of measures ...

Kerry Cain. Last Saturday, the Newstead Fire Brigade impressed attendees at the Newstead Pool Party by showcasing its latest addition, the Field Command Vehicle (FCV).  With this specially equipped vehicle, the brigade can now respond more effectively and decisively to emergencies of all kinds and direct and deploy its appliances and personnel, as well as those of other services, as required.

A Black Hawk aerial firebombing chopper and the Naracoorte Swimming Lake were valuable resources during a major firefighting operation near Repeater Station, outside of town last week. It took 21 fire trucks, 120 firefighters, and seven firefighting aircraft almost 20 hours to contain the bushfire...

A Transgrid helicopter will take to the skies across the Riverina-Murray, Sunraysia and Far West regions from this week to inspect high-voltage electricity transmission lines for the network’s annual bushfire prevention program.

393 fish were caught during the Moulamein Football Netball Club’s annual fishing competition. ... This year's event saw entrants become citizen scientists, forming a partnership with Dr Nathan Miles from NSW Fisheries at Narrandera to record vital fish data to monitor fish numbers between the Balpool Bridge and 19-mile reserve on the Edward River at Moulamein.

BirdLife Australia, leaders for bird conservation in Australia ... announces the official and certified results of the 10th annual Aussie Bird Count, Australia’s largest citizen science initiative. From last October, 60,598 Australians across the nation turned their eyes to the sky to tally an astonishing 3,608,545 birds, with the colourful Rainbow Lorikeet continuing to hold the crown.

In relation to the discontinuation of the case brought by the Nature Conservation Council (NCC) of New South Wales (NSW) against the NSW Water Minister and NSW Environment Minister in 2021 to challenge the validity of the Border Rivers Water Sharing Plan, media releases have been issued by the Ministers and the NCC.

Australia’s 1500 cotton growers, 90 per cent of them family farmers, are either starting to pick their 2024 crop or are planning to start in the coming weeks as they contemplate another above average season. This season, close to 480,000 green hectares of cotton has been planted predominantly in New South Wales and Queensland, with the Northern Territory and Western Australia also growing cotton crops.

The grandson of Albert "Ernie" Carr, whose family formerly owned five farms around the Carrs Drive area at West Yamba, has expressed concern that areas he knew as swampland when growing up are being overdeveloped.

Women from across the Riverina region gathered at Hay Services Club last week, for Hay Plains Landcare’s highly successful Women of the Riverina Forum. The two-day event was organised by local Landcare powerhouses Jade Auldist and Jenny Dwyer in recognition of NSW Women’s Week, and brought together inspirational guest speakers on a variety of topics.