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Parliamentary Questions


Question On Notice No. 2936 asked in the Legislative Council on 12 May 2020 by Hon Diane Evers

Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment
Parliament: 40 Session: 1


Question

I refer to the prescribed fire Frankland_072, Mount Lindesay National Park, part of the Walpole Wilderness Area, Frankland District, Warren Region bounded by Denmark-Mount Barker Road (east), Nutcracker Road (south), Stan Road (west) and Blue lake Road (north), in November 2019 and I ask:
(a) on what days in 2019 was fire applied to the prescribed fire area;
(b) what was the forecast for the day(s) of ignition and the following two days (temperature, humidity, wind);
(c) how many other prescribed fires were ignited on the same or adjacent days and where were they lit;
(d) how many hectares were intended to be burnt in:
(i) Mount Lindesay National Park;
(ii) Walpole Wilderness Area;
(iii) other (please specify); and
(iv) total;
(e) which agencies were responsible for managing the prescribed fire and from which office(s) did they operate;
(f) will the Minister please provide full details on what resources were employed and what management actions were implemented in relation to the prescribed fire;
(g) what was the total cost of the prescribed fire and which agencies paid the cost;
(h) what species of threatened flora and fauna and/or threatened ecological communities are known to be within the burn area for prescribed fire Frankland_072;
(i) have any post burn surveys been done to assess the response to the fire of threatened flora and fauna and/or threatened ecological communities identified in (h):
(i) if yes to (i), please table the results; and
(ii) if no to (i), why not;
(j) will the Minister please table for prescribed fire Frankland_072:
(i) the full prescribed fire plan;
(ii) detailed maps showing 'fuel ages' immediately prior to the prescribed fire;
(iii) detailed maps showing burnt and unburnt areas;
(iv) post-fire aerial photos;
(v) any post-fire assessment; and
(vi) if no to (j)(i) to (j)(v), why not; and
(k) are copies of all documents relating to prescribed fire Frankland_072 available to members of the public:
(i) if no to (k), why not?

Answered on 16 June 2020

(a) 7 and 8 November 2019.

(b) See table below:

Date

Forecast Issued

Maximum Temperature (oC)

Minimum Relative Humidity (per cent)

1100 wind (km/hour)

1500 wind (km/hour)

7/11/2019

Incident Forecast for FRK_072 issued 0923 hrs 07/11/2019

18

59

SSW @ 15

S @ 15

8/11/2019

Incident Forecast for FRK_072 issued 0627 hrs 08/11/2019

23

41

E @ 15

E @ 15

9/11/2019

Incident Forecast for FRK_072 issued 0747 hrs 09/11/2019

33

15

NNE @ 25

NNE @ 15

10/11/2019

Incident Forecast for Walpole issued 0721 hrs 09/11/2019

21

60

S @ 15

S @ 20

(c) No other prescribed fires were ignited within the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions’ (DBCA) Frankland District on the same or adjacent days.

(d)

(i) Approximately 7,729 hectares of FRK_072 is within Mount Lindesay National Park.

(ii) Approximately 7,980 hectares of FRK_072 is within the Walpole Wilderness Area.

(iii) Other tenure within FRK_072 includes:

  • approximately 149 hectares Main Roads WA road reserve;
  • approximately 36 hectares Shire road reserve;
  • approximately 134 hectares unallocated Crown land;
  • approximately 94 hectares other Crown reserve; and
  • approximately 23 hectares freehold private property.

(iv) The total area for FRK_072 is approximately 8,165 hectares.

(e) DBCA’s Frankland District, operating from the Walpole office was responsible for managing the prescribed burn.

(f) See table below.

Date

Staff (office)

Staff (field)

Heavy Fleet

Other

7/11/2019

3

24

8 trucks

1 reconnaissance aircraft

8/11/2019

3

35

(includes   7 volunteer brigade staff)

12 trucks

(includes 2 brigade 3.4 trucks)

1 front end loader

1 bulldozer

1 prime mover

1 reconnaissance aircraft,

1 contract ignition rotary aircraft (a second contract ignition aircraft was also made available in Manjimup if required)

2 contract traffic management staff

9/11/2019

3

29

9 trucks

1 front end loader

1 bulldozer

1 prime mover

1 reconnaissance aircraft

2 contract traffic management staff

10/11/2019

3

26

10 trucks

1 front end loader

1 bulldozer

1 prime mover

1 reconnaissance aircraft

2 contract traffic management staff

  • All resources are DBCA unless otherwise indicated.
  • DBCA undertakes a range of pre-burn, day of burn and post-burn management actions. These management actions include but are not limited to those focused on staff and visitor safety, biodiversity conservation, stakeholder and industry values, management and visitor access and burn standards and security.

 (g) The prescribed burn program is costed across the delivery of the entire program over the financial year and not for individual burns. DBCA incurred all costs for this burn.  

 (h) Threatened fauna:

  • Calyptorhynchus banksii naso (forest red-tailed cockatoo)
  • Galaxiella munda (western mud minnow)
  • Pseudocheirus occidentalis (western ringtail possum)

 

 Threatened flora:

  • Drakaea micrantha (dwarf hammer orchid)
     

Threatened Ecological Communities (TEC):

  • No TECs are present within the burn boundary

(i)

(i) No.

(ii) Monitoring for the dwarf hammer orchid will be undertaken this spring 2020. Monitoring for threatened fauna will be conducted later this year.

An established Western Shield monitoring transect has been in place in Denmark block (adjacent to the burn) since 1997. Standard monitoring of this transect was recently conducted and showed no change in the abundance and species diversity recorded.

(j)

(iii) (iv) (v) (vi)  

Due the complexity and format (multiple components) of the prescribed fire plan and the supporting documentation requested I would be happy to include this information as part of a briefing for the Honourable Member from DBCA.

(ii) Fuel ages within the prescribed burn boundary were all greater than six years.

(k) Prescribed fire plans are available for the public to view on request at the relevant DBCA office.