Alpine Grazing - The Burning Issue.


LIES, pseudo-science, green activism and politics.

All of these have been successfully employed in the long running green war against alpine grazing and at the end of the day science and Australia have been the biggest losers - science has suffered blows to its reputation and prestige and Australia has lost a magnificent cultural heritage that has been celebrated in art, literature, music and on film.

Even more importantly the precious environment of the Victorian high country has lost a true custodian and advocate - the legendary Mountain Cattlemen.

The litany of lies, pseudo-science, activism and politics that have conspired to exile this fine breed of country Australians from the high plains they have cared for and loved for nearly 200 years, is the same theme that caused the Australian Alps to fall victim to utterly destructive feral wildfire twice in four years.

In the wake of the twin holocausts of 2003 and 2006-07 much of what was is no more and much will never be the same again. More than two million hectares was burned with diabolical consequences for forests, soil, hydrology, native wildlife and biodiversity.

In a matter of weeks 100 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas escaped from the forests in which it had been imprisoned.

To put this in its true perspective consider that by comparison Australia's total industrial and domestic emissions total about 450 million tonnes annually.

These wildfire emissions do not count under the Kyoto Protocol because they are the result of an assumed natural disaster. But how natural were those fires? To those of us who know and understand the country they were wholly unnatural - the result of an unprecedented build-up of fuel. That is why we refer to them as feral.

Ultimately they were the tragic consequence of green inspired mismanagement fed by an astounding lack of knowledge of the fire regime that had governed the Australian bush for tens of thousands of years.

Those areas of the high plains that were spared the catastrophe survived in large part because they had been grazed.

Green activists love to talk about "the science" as if it is a precious gift over which they hold exclusive rights. It is their Ark Of The Covenant, their "Holy Grail, but it is not what most of us consider to be science. Nor it is what reputable and accomplished scientists consider to be science. Peer review by mates and the mystical power of green religion isn't particularly scientific.

If you asked national parks activists, or the Victorian Labor Government, to describe the state of scientific knowledge pertaining to cattle grazing in the Australian Alps they would refer you to a inventory of biased propaganda compiled by a core group of green minded and politically motivated researchers. This is the written word of "The Science."

As an example in the wake of the bushfires it was critical for the enemies of the Mountain Cattlemen to discredit the well known slogan; "Alpine Grazing Reduces Blazing."

So yet another study was organised which purportedly proved that grazed areas burnt as intensely during the fires as non-grazed areas. Not only did the conclusions of this study contradict the evidence of the eyes it was conducted on an area where where cattle had not been recently depastured. In other words it was a set-up.

The only link to cattle was the fact that the study took place on an area which formed part of an alpine grazing licence. There was no evidence that the area had actually been grazed in recent times or how heavily. Yet this study was used by the Victorian Government as one of its justifications to end a beneficial environmental practice.

Victoria's Commissioner for Emergency Services, Bruce Esplin, has warned that climate change will bring even an even greater fire threat to the Victorian Alps.  Mountain Cattlemen demand to know how the Victorian Government plans to protect our precious alpine environment.