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Bans, limits for alpine cattlemen
25 Nov 2003
The Victorian Government has announced that the grazing rights of mountain cattlemen will be severely curtailed for the next two years to allow bushfire-burnt areas to recover. Around half a million hectares of alpine area will be subject to bans and other restrictions. Areas of national park and state forest that were 80 per cent or more burned will be totally off limits for cattle grazing. Areas that burned less than 80 per cent will carry restrictions, including a reduction in the number of cattle grazed and the fencing off of sensitive areas.
There are 61 alpine national park licence areas; 20 of these were not affected by fires and will not carry any restrictions. The restrictions and bans will affect 176 licence holders in Victoria's north-east, with 135 banned from grazing and the remainder facing restrictions. Affected licence-holders will not receive any compensation, but a Parks Victoria spokesman said they'd had "plenty of warning and consultation" and should have made other arrangements.
Simon Turner, the Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria president, said he was not surprised by the moves but was disappointed. He blamed "extreme environmentalists" who want cattlemen banned from the high country for good.
The Age, 25/11/03.
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