Noxious weeds in the Aussie bush.

[Tassie Daz]

As many of you know, I have been in the Vic Golden Triangle for the last few weeks and while tramping around digging a few holes[and always filling them in, not like some, I might add] I have been pricked, prodded, spiked, scratched and generally mauled by every sharp object in the bush known to detector man.
If you and I are doing immeasurable damage by digging a few holes [filling them in as we go] how can those who speak against the detectorist seem not to see the huge impact the NOXIOUS weeds are having on our environment.
I have been unable to access creeks because they have been overgrown with BLACKBERRY (Tumbarrumba), I have been unable to dig in a creek bed because pampus grass [or its equivalent] has invaded the waterway (Ballarat), I have been unable to walk up a hillside because of a small tree that is laced with thorny leaves (Ararat) and those who speak against the detectorist say we are the badies? Folks, someone is being paid a whole heap of taxpayers money or local Govt money to keep this weed problem in check and from what I saw in the Aussie (Victorian) bush in the last 3 weeks, they are doing a lousy job of it.

Maybe this part of the argument should be included in the discussion when the whole question of harm to the bush is touted.

 

[thedigger]

Well said,I can't agree with you more,problem is the idiots that object to us never go to the bush.
The other gripe of these so called greens is the cattle in the high country,well what about the deer,pigs dogs,cats,but we are easy targets.

Regards Thedigger

 

[Tassie Daz]

I don't know what gets said in the arguments back and forth but a picture always tells a thousand words. You cant get away from the fact that weed control in some of these areas is absolutely appalling and if local councils are getting public money to control the problem then they should be held accountable for the problem. Seems to me that no one is too worried about the problem as its not on the authority's doorstep........its out there in the bush. There was an eradication program for Gorse in Tassie and from a layperson's perspective, it seemed successful. Same for Box Thorn in SA, and pampus grass too.

Hey I'm no greenie, but seems to me that if money is being allocated, then we should see something for our money, not the country side being eaten up by every noxious thorn in existence.

And who knows it might help us get access to rivers, streams, hillsides, and the like.

 

[Goldagettin]

Well said,I can't agree with you more,problem is the idiots that object to us never go to the bush.
The other gripe of these so called greens is the cattle in the high country,well what about the deer,pigs dogs,cats,but we are easy targets.

Regards Thedigger

Don't forget: rabbits, goats, donkeys, buffalo, foxes, bantang, cane toads, camels and countless other introduced critters roaming around this great land.

cheers.

 

[dave14110]

Whilst I hate bushfires for obvious reasons & cause everything to go black, dirty & they smell. I have even heard park ranges saying they wish for a bushfire to get rid of pest such as blackberries. Many area's are to sensitive for poisons to kill pests.

 

[kawman]

fire is good for the bush.. gets rid of the rubbish and adds fire ash to the ground that gets the native plants going and makes their seeds germinate.... It is very sad to see how badly the bush around the towns and citys is miss managed...

 

[lost a bit]

I used to live down at Tumbarumba and was amazed at the amount of out of control blackberries in the state managed pine plantations, in the ones that have had a thinning or two you would not be able to walk through them at all.
what I can't understand is if those blackberries were on my private land I would have to control/eradicate them or face prosecution.
lab

 

[Daniel]

Just thought I'd throw my thoughts out here. I got a Cert 3 in Land care Management and Horticulture and done a few years of bush regeneration. And i say be happy with what you get. The idea of eradicating weeds is pointless it wont and cannot be achieved. For every weed you remove you get roughly 10-20 grow back behind you. It's an endless battle in which the weeds will win.

There is definitively not enough money allocated to the removal of weeds in most councils around NSW. Around my local area the weed removal is in fact pretty good for the funding it has.

As a councils point of view they are definitively gonna target the more noticeable weeds to the average Joe rather then those out in the scrub. Its just a sad fact we have to face. Even with more funding and the increase in the already large amount of volunteers the weeds will never be gone. They may be slowed down for a short time. But they'll just grow back.

 

[GoldCheddar2005]

Up here our biggest weed problem is Mimosa Pigra, we used to have a tonne of lantana around here, the graziers up here are using Camels to control the lantana, definitely not as much around now. I remember horseriding when younger without jeans or chapettes on, legs would be scratched to bits.

 

[Tassie Daz]

Daniel, If the weeds are always going to win mate, none of us would have a garden worth a cracker.....and I know your going to say a garden's a whole heap different to the aussie bush but the aussie bush is all our back yards and WE, you and I pay people to help overcome the problems of our bush. My point is and has always been that there are weeds.....and there are Noxious weeds, weeds that should be eradicated if possible. In SA years ago we had a problem with Pampas grass, Boxthorns and Bindi (I know them as 3 corner jacks). After coming back to SA after being away for 35yrs, the Bindi problem seems not to be as bad, (Box thorns and Pampas are gone,) probably because people were sick of getting the little mongrels in our feet (they hurt like hell). In the end its all about management, control and education. Over the years if there was a problem on your land and the local council got wind of it, you cleaned it up or you faced fines. Surely the same should be expected of the local council and their management of their local area. ............just sayin'

 

[thedigger]

If you burnt the weeds,when the regrowth comes they are very easy to kill,we have stopped the gores on our place by keeping at them.

 

[pjg100]

Hello all,

Was at the local Bunnings today with the wife. Looking for some plants for the garden, well I was dumbfounded when I was in the native section and found a familiar plant that I have seen numerous times whilst being out bush.

This plant is not native and should not be sold by any store or body. It is on the noxious weed list. So how can it can be sold????

LANTANA.

All noxious weeds and plants should be withdrawn and destroyed. Anyone caught selling should be punished to the full extent of the law.

My thoughts.......

Peter.