A couple of points made by an Aussie friend of mine, now living in Canada, are interesting. Essentially he said that forest management policies, driven by the "eco-green" lobby have resulted in a build up of scrub and plant litter. This used to be eliminated by controlled burning when in the winter. But burning produces smoke and upsets the wild life, so it was stopped. Likewise in California, but made worse because of import of gum trees from Oz about 100 years ago in an effort to have faster growing timber. The gum trees got loose and spread but were not suitable for commercial felling while being much more oily and thus burnable than the native trees. Indeed, most species of gum tree need low temperature fires to set their seed: the trees are largely unaffected by small fires. So, by not doing what native australians and americans had done for years, in the name of conservation, we create far larger problems, and blame it on climate change. Yes, climate change is a contributory factor, but our social stupidity is a far greater cause.
Aboriginal "fire stick farming" actually altered the Australian landscape. Traces of ash layers in Lake sediments can be dated back to the arrival of humans in the region. When early explorers moved out from Sydney they referred to the forest as open forest, This is thought to have meant large but spaced trees with grass or undergrowth separating them. The Aboriginals periodically burned and build up of fire dangerous undergrowth in seasons when it was safe to do so. This also encouraged fresh grass growth to feed the kangaroos that can breed prolifically in good seasons.
The explores Hume and Hovell set out from Sydney in 1824 with 3 horses, 5 bullocks, and 2 wagons. They arrived near the present site of Geelong in 11 weeks. This included crossing several rivers including a flooded Murrumbidgee. They took a more westerly route through easier country to return in only 5 weeks. Clearly this would have been impossible if they had had to hack their way through dense bush for part of the journey. A good deal of the trip is still open farming country today but as anyone who has ever driven down the Hume Highway could tell you a good part of the first few hundred kilometres out of Sydney is thickly forested today.
![[Linked Image]](http://img.geocaching.com/cache/large/3d7ae4ec-0d23-4325-94fd-aa1a8821b5ac.png)
Map showing the out and return routes taken by Hovell and Hume.
![[Linked Image]](http://bradley.it/public_images/drive.jpg)
