Forestry Tasmania’s controversial annual autumn burn-off started yesterday prompting the Asthma Foundation to warn people with respiratory problems to stay inside away from the smoke.
Curiously, the burns started on the same day Premier Paul Lennon announced international consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff would be engaged to audit the Government’s greenhouse emissions.
The first burn of the season was near Railton, in the state’s North-West.
A further six burns are planned for the Florentine Valley in the state’s south over the weekend.
Kelp collectors on King Island are gearing up for a bumper winter harvest, after westerly weather dumped a large amount of bull kelp on the shore. The kelp is dried and then exported for use as fish food and garden fertiliser. Kelp harvesters rely on rough westerly weather to wash the kelp ashore.
Hobart’s Michael Brennan, is in the running for one of the world’s top big wave surfing awards.
The 19 year-old was the only Australian nominated for the ‘ride of the year’ award which recognises the most amazing performance by a big wave surfer captured on video.
Brennan was chosen for his death defying ride on a monster wave at Shipstern Bluff on the Tasman Peninsula in January.
He is vying with four other surfers from around the world for the $56,000 prize.
A fire that has blackened 17,000ha on the West Coast was started from a car accident on the Western Explorer Highway, a controversial road damned for its scarring of the Tarkine, home to Australia’s largest temperate rainforest.
Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt said conservation groups had warned that the road would prove a source of destructive activity and an ignition point.
‘The Greens are now warning that no further roading into remote Tarkine wilderness should be allowed, although the Government is actively pushing such an agenda via Forestry Tasmania,’ Ms Putt said.
Scientists and a New Zealand dog trainer head to Macquarie Island this month to look at how to best tackle the problem of rodents and rabbits. The World Heritage listed island, half way between Tasmania and Antarctica, is being overrun by the pests. $25 million will be spent on the eradication program.
Hobart residents have been advised to avoid eating two fish species caught in the Derwent Estuary because of elevated mercury levels. Elevated mercury levels were found in 28 black bream and 25 sea run brown trout caught mainly between Bridgewater and New Norfolk.
The Tasmanian Government will introduce legislation to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by the year 2050.
Premier Paul Lennon says the target will be based in 1990 levels.
He says the government’s car fleet will be carbon neutral by mid 2010 and State Cabinet will consider making it mandatory for major government buildings to have solar power and hot water installed.
Mr Lennon has also announced an agreement with Greening Australia to offset the government’s air travel.
thisTasmania.com is Tasmania's Journal of Discovery — a celebration of Australia's wonderful island state.
Volume 2 Number 4
October — December 2009
ISSN: 1834-4364
Our Mountain
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Stanton Bed and Breakfast
The magnificent convict-built country manor, Stanton, is situated on 16 acres of pasture and orchards, in the heart of the historical and beautiful Derwent Valley.
Red Tag Trout Tours
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Cobbers: mates on a mission
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