Namadgi NP - post fires reopening plan

[Chev]

The ACT Government has released more info about the staged reopening of Namadgi NP after the summer fires (80% burnt).

[url]https://www.environment.act.gov.au/parks-conservation/parks-and-reserves/find-a-park/namadgi-national-park/namadgi-national-park
[/url]

Quite a bit is now open again, but some areas will remain closed for years. In short:

The northern Brindabella section is now open as far south as Mt Gingera

The Corin Road corridor is open through to the dam.

Boboyan Road is open, opening up the southern and eastern section of the park (Naas and Boboyan valleys)

But:

Honeysuckle Creek to remain closed until September 2021.

Bimberi Wilderness and Orroral Valley to remain closed until 2023. Wow!

Interested to see reports and photos as people go back in.

[potato]

Wow 2023. I remember after the 2003 fires they put signs up that branches may fall without warning, which I thought at the time was a bit much and the bureaucrats needed to get outside more. But this is beyond anything reasonable.

[potato]

This also means the northern section of the AAWT is effectively closed for this time as well.

[Huntsman247]

2023... That's crazy....

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

2023 seems ridiculous. If it's good enough for (much more heavily forested) areas like the Nattai, BMs (parts are still closed but won't be for three more years!!) and the Budawangs to reopen after being essentially razed it's difficult to fathom why Namadgi would take so long. Can only assume certain ecosystems are being given time to recover, but surely the aawt corridor could be opened up at least?

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[potato]

The ecosystems aren't too different from those you find in kosci - they just haven't been trampled by feral horses.

[goanna]

The adjacent Scabby Range NR is open. Why is it going to take ACTParks 3+ years to open Bimberi?

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

The adjacent Scabby Range NR is open. Why is it going to take ACTParks 3+ years to open Bimberi?

Very weird. Scabbys are some of the most pristine/vulnerable areas (both in the Namadgi and NR sides of the border), but the inconsistency is odd

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[north-north-west]

Given how much of that section of the AAWT is on fire trails, it seems ridiculous.

Not that we''re any better off down here. Mt Anne circuit is not likely to be open much sooner, ditto for the Eastern Arthurs. And our fires were a year earlier.

[Zapruda]

I’m quite shocked at the 2023 date. This beyond any reasonable amount of time. This means people won’t be able to complete the AAWT for almost 3 years...

What is the logic here? It is very rare for people other than experienced bushwalkers to travel to the remote Sphagnum blogs in Namadgi and most of them treat those areas with reverence.

As mentioned above, how can Scabby Range remain open and and a footstep over the border be closed?

The falling tree excuse is rubbish.

[potato]

I wonder who they consulted with. They work very hard to discourage people visiting the area, which in principle I don't mind but this however is reads like they haven't got outside their own echo chamber to talk to stakeholders.

The bogs and other ecosystems are import but only unique in that they fall within the ACT border.

In the past the Corin/Bendora dam catchments provided untreated water to Canberra. Since the 2003 fires the water is now treated at the mt stromlo treatment plant. There is no longer the need to limit access due to protecting the water supply.

[Chev]

It's unclear what's driving the go slow. Is it concern around safety/public liability? Catchment quality? Ecosystem recovery? Insufficient resources to rebuild infrastructure quickly? 3+ years seems an unreasonably long time for any of those reasons. It does give the impression that they just prefer not having people in there. Hopefully there can be scope for more staged reopenings - e.g. allowing on track walking/AAWT access through the closed areas as soon as infrastructure allows.

[Mark F]

I am a bit surprised by the length of time to reopen Orroral etc. They can really cut down visitor numbers in that area by not reopening the Orroral Road as most visitation is day trip access to Nursery Swamp and the old tracking station area.

[potato]

Orroral is closed as ACT parks is of the view that all people access the valley via the Orroral Rd which is extensively damaged on the low priority list for ACT Roads to repair.

There is no reasonable rationale for closing the rest of the valley or the Bimberi Wilderness to walkers. The adjacent NSW parks are open.