NSW Voters take notice, this is what happens when the Hard Right has absolute control.

In NZ, the Hard Right wanted to mine National Parks

In Vic, they want cattle destroying the National Parks.


Alps already damaged by grazing - Burke

here has already been much damage caused six weeks into a cattle grazing trial in Victoria's high country, the federal government says.

Canberra wants the Victorian government to scrap the trial but Premier Ted Baillieu has vowed to push ahead.

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said he found extensive damage to the state's Alpine National Park during a tour on Friday.
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He said he was still investigating whether the Victorian government had broken federal law when it reintroduced 400 cattle to the park six weeks ago.

But he said the move breached an environmental principle.

"Using a national park as a farm is wrong, simple as that," he told reporters on-site at the park.

"You can see already in just a few weeks the damage that's being done.

"There's a separate question as to whether or not it breaches federal law. That's something I need to take further advice on from the department - as to whether federal law is breached."

The state government is trialling cattle grazing as a tool for bushfire fuel reduction in the high country.

Four hundred cows were introduced to six sites across the park.

Mr Burke said the Victorian government was yet to provide any information to the federal Environment Department which supported the scientific merit of the trial.

"My department has been asking for information about this so-called scientific grazing for some time.

"The information that's come to us so far hasn't shown any evidence that they even did a base-line study as to what the situation was before the cattle were introduced."

Mr Baillieu said he was confident the grazing was not damaging the national park.

"Our mission is to reduce the fuel load in bushfire prone areas and strategic grazing has been used before and we want to have that capacity available to us in the future and this project will proceed with that in mind," he told reporters on Friday.

The Mountain Cattlemens Association president Mark Coleman questioned the value of Mr Burke's day-trip to the national park.

"What we've seen in past is people coming up for five minutes," he said.

"You've got to see the environment over a long period of time to make a judgment."

Melbourne Greens MP Adam Bandt plans to introduce a bill to ban alpine grazing to federal parliament next week.

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/alps-already-damaged-by-grazing--b...

 









http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/09/3133946.htm?section=justin

In Europe it is routine for national parks to have agricultural uses.  Because Europe is very densely populated and has a long tradition of exploitative stewardship, this is not particularly controversial.

I don't see anything particularly wrong with grazing in national parks, provided it is properly managed so it doesn't simply strip grasslands of top soil.  Properly managed grazing actually improves the health of the grass and increases top soil levels.  This shouldn't be surprising to anyone with a lawn, as we all know that frequent mowing improves the health of the lawn.

That said, I'm sure the liberal party has no intentions to integrate grazing into some sort of permaculture framework that improves the health of the land while allowing for economic exploitation.  They worship at the altar of gross domestic product growth and simply want to facilitate refined, sedentary piracy.

It's not just the grazing. Herbivores move slowly, and therefore aren't large spreaders of weeds and introduced species.

But farmers attending the cattle in vehicles, or on horseback, will transport weeds from farmland into the national parks.

mantra wrote on Mar 1^st, 2011 at 5:56am:




This issue alone just makes my blood boil. That no where is  Sacred anymore.
Listening to John Hatton plight on radio the other day about this issue AND the mining exploration recently happening on the Southern tablelands as well as else where. His passion alone was worth his weight in gold.

All I can say is please vote for a John Hatton endorse candidate.

Dnarever wrote on Mar 1^st, 2011 at 7:57am:




so you dont like my idea of the greens cleaning it all up???.. what a shame but have to admit not in the least unexpected...hahahahahahaha

cods wrote on Mar 1^st, 2011 at 8:24am:


Yeah this lie was run after the Vic Bushfires & was proven false.
But don't let that stop you from spreading it again, people may have forgotten besides falsehoods like this help maintain the rage.

Dsmithy70 wrote on Mar 1^st, 2011 at 8:34am:




so who stopped the burning off??????? our Stromlo forest was razed to the ground after the fires of 2003.. what they found was disgraceful