Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - Re: [permaculture] [Pil-pc-oceania] Tinder Box Ecology

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: lbsaltzman@aol.com
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] [Pil-pc-oceania] Tinder Box Ecology
  • Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:06:09 -0500

Interestingly, but surprising we face the same problem here in Santa Barbara
California after a recent run of devastating fires.? Home were built into the
foothills next to the highly flammable chaparral. The next town over, Goleta,
still had an agricultural green belt and the fires were stopped cold by it.?
Keyline and intelligent planting would protect the city, provided homeowners
used intelligence in picking trees. Many blue gum eucylyptus and pine trees
exploded in flames in close proximity to homes.

Additionally a local "expert" on native plants said there was no value in
controlled burns based on the last hundred years of data.? Focusing on the
last 100 years when?European immigrants were doing really stupid management
of the land around here was pretty stupid.??The previous 10,000 years of data
of what indigenous people did ended two hundred years ago, but provides a
better guide. They did extensive regular burning of the chaparral and didn't
allow the conditions for massive fires to occur.? The land regenerated
beautifully and California had 25% of North America's biodiversity.

So we left experts telling us not to touch the chapparral, homes being
rebuilt right back up to the edge of national forest and we will also see the
fires return in the next 40 years.

Larry

-----Original Message-----
From: Darren Doherty <darren@permaculture.biz>
To: permacultue discussion list
<pil-pc-oceania@lists.permacultureinternational.org>; Permaculture List
<permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 9:48 pm
Subject: Re: [permaculture] [Pil-pc-oceania] Tinder Box Ecology



Graeme,

I have had some interesting conversations with my wife Lisa's (Heenan) 1st
cousin, Shire of Yarra Ranges Mayor Tim Heenan regarding that same policy as
he is certainly in favour of the nativist policy that you
mentioned....certainly this may bring home some of my arguments with him
though of course time has a way of not only turning a blind eye to the past
but enlivening the maintenance of these somewhat dangerous paradigms.

One thing is for sure is that house's will be rebuilt and the Euc's will
grow back at higher density with each successive burn and in perhaps another
20-40 years we will be back having the same conversation unless there is a
serious attempt to design both policy and systems that practically and
responsibly deal with the problem as it effects human settlements...I wonder
if in the absence of governmental policy to sort this out if insurance
companies will act to demand their policyholders do something as another
angle...I think that unlike John Brumby they have already become athiest and
no longer believe in acts of god...

It will be interesting to see the Victorian Government's Royal Commission's
Terms of Reference and I wonder whether an updated version of David
Holmgren's currently out of print (?!? - perhaps e-book please?) 'The
Flywire House' would be within these TOR unlike the last instance where as I
understand it 'exceeded the criteria' (correct me if I am wrong David or
Su).

All the best and our thoughts are with those who have suffered losses though
all of this.....

Darren Doherty



2009/2/10 Graeme George <earthcarepc@virtual.net.au>

> Steve
>
> Healesville was on high alert overnight as a fire on the N slope of Mt
> Riddell on the eastern edge of the town flared up The choppers were in
> water bombing late afternoon and have been in again earlier this
> afternoon. Fires continue to burn in all areas to the north - Myers
> Creek, Chum Creek, Toolangi, Long Gully, Yarra Glen area and across
> the Christmas Hills to St Andrews. We are relatively fortunate in
> being u
nder the influence of a slow moving high pressure cell bringing
> moderate cool afternoon southerlies, but this is causing some concern
> in other areas. Locally they've just announced that the opportunity of
> the cooler conditions will be utilised to do some strategic burning of
> unburnt pockets in the Healesville area. I did hear yesterday that
> some areas are being watched but allowed to burn out where property is
> not at risk.
>
> The fire storms of last Saturday that hit Kinglake, Strathewan, St
> Andrews, Steels Creek and Marysville were unprecedented. People caught
> in them had no hope. We will certainly have to rethink how we live and
> farm in this part of the world in the future. The Shire of Yarra
> Ranges have a policy of promoting indigenous plants in urban areas -
> in many cases a condition of permits. That policy will certainly have
> to be reviewed.
>
> Regards
>
> Graeme
>
> On 10/02/2009, at 3:04 PM, stevehart@maxnet.co.nz wrote:
>
> > Tinder Box Ecology...I raised this subject some months
> > ago...perhaps its time to ignite it again. Writing the Urban
> > Design Guidelines for the Shire of Yarra Ranges I mentioned that
> > it was well overdue to consider diversifying the ecology.
> > Perceivably a major issue, but do we just stand by and allow an
> > evolved ecolgy to destroy livelihoods and considerable expense.
> >
> > Perhaps it is the Permaculture Netwok responsibility now to
> > present this idea as a reasonable suggestion and develop a
> > strategic plan to evolve it. I got to know King Lake and
> > Marysville well while I was with SOYR...is Healesville safe
> > Grahame George ?...my heart goes out to all...Steve Hart
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Pil-pc-oceania mailing list
> > Pil-pc-oceania@lists.permacultureinternational.org
> > http://jasper.cmsarchitects.com/mailman/listinfo/pil-pc-oceania
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pil-pc-oceania mailing list
> Pil-pc-oceania@lists.permacultureinternational.org
> http://jasper.cmsarch
itects.com/mailman/listinfo/pil-pc-oceania
>



--
Hooroo,
Darren J. Doherty

News 2009!

3-43 day Carbon Farming Courses, NZ, California, Ibiza, New Mexico, Mexico,
Tennessee, February-December 2009
Stacked Modules on: Holistic Management, Soil Food Web, Broadacre
Permaculture, ZERI, Fungi, BioChar, Energy Systems, Natural Building &
Pathways to Relocalisation
with Terry Gompert (HMCE), Kirk Gadzia (HMCE), Abe Collins, Dr. Elaine
Ingham, Paul Taylor, Darren Doherty, Brock Dolman, Brad Lancaster, Penny
Livingston-Stark, Paul Stamets, Howard Yana-Shapiro, Jack Stephens, Rowe
Morrow, Warren Brush, Joel & Daniel Salatin.


Permaculture Design Certificate Courses - NZ, Mallorca, California, South
Dakota, Ohio, February-October 2009
with Darren Doherty, Penny Livingston-Stark, Robyn Francis, Rowe Morrow &
Warren Brush

International Remote & On-site Broadacre Permaculture Design
Cost-effective GIS/CAD-based Land Development Plans & Design Treatments just
about anywhere....
_________________________________________
AUSTRALIA FELIX PERMACULTURE
Broadacre Permaculture Design & Development
International Certified Permaculture Education

Web: http://www.permaculture.biz
PhotoLog: http://picasaweb.google.com/permaculture.biz
Blog: http://www.australiafelixpermaculture.blogspot.com/

+61 (3) 9010 6220
skype: permaculture.biz
_________________________________________

Note: If you do not wish to be on this mailing list then please advice me
and you will be removed from future dispatches.....
_______________________________________________
permaculture mailing list
permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
Subscribe or unsubscribe here:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/permaculture
Google command to search archives:
site:https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/permaculture searchstring






  • Re: [permaculture] [Pil-pc-oceania] Tinder Box Ecology, lbsaltzman, 02/10/2009

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page