Push for cattle grazing in ‘fire risk’ Terrick park

By Elise Snashall-Woodhams
Updated November 7 2012 - 6:29am, first published November 16 2011 - 3:22am
CONCERNS: Allen Marlow stands in tall grass he says is a fire risk to the Terrick Terrick National Park.
CONCERNS: Allen Marlow stands in tall grass he says is a fire risk to the Terrick Terrick National Park.
An area of the park infested with prickly pear.
An area of the park infested with prickly pear.

MITIAMO district residents are calling for cattle grazing to be reintroduced into the Terrick Terrick National Park in a bid to curb bushfire danger and the spread of weeds.Allen Marlow maRnaged the park, just north of Mitiamo, on behalf of the then Forest Commission, for 20 years until 1994.Terrick Terrick was made a National Park in 1987, but Mr Marlow was allowed to keep grazing his cattle there until his retirement seven years later.

For more Country news grab today's Bendigo Advertiser.

The 6000-hectare park is now home only to native pine, grassland, volcanic outcrop Mt Terrick and a variety of bird and animal life.But Mr Marlow said maintenance of the park had gone downhill.“I used to do a lot of thinning, maintaining the tracks, controlled grazing and keeping the dams full,” he said.“But it’s been let go ever since – they haven’t done any maintenance at all.“There’s no water in the dams, there’s grass nearly a metre high in some places and Patterson’s curse is rampant.“We used to have the weeds down to nothing and now there’s wild cactus and that can spread very easily.”As well as the problem of weed infestation on neighbouring farming properties, Mr Marlow said the overgrown park also posed a significant fire risk.“There’s only one way to reduce the fuel and that’s by grazing,” he said.“We can never have a controlled burn-off because of the young pine – the extreme heat would kill it.“It’s going to be a hard battle, but there’s no evidence cattle destroy the pine.”Local Member for Swan Hill Peter Walsh will meet Mr Marlow and other residents on November 25 to discuss their concerns.“If I feel these concerns are valid after I inspect the park, I will raise them with the Environment Minister,” Mr Walsh said.Mr Marlow said he was keen to fix gates and fences in the park so cattle could be reintroduced by June next year.

Subscribe now for unlimited access.

$0/

(min cost $0)

or signup to continue reading

See subscription options

Get the latest Bendigo news in your inbox

Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date.

We care about the protection of your data. Read our Privacy Policy.