DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND WILDLIFE —
PRESCRIBED BURNING PROGRAM
1339. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the minister
representing the Minister for Environment:
(1) In order to
calculate the fuel load of an area to be burnt in a prescribed burn for fuel
reduction, does the Department of Parks and Wildlife use —
(a) fuel age—time since fire;
(b) visual assessment; or
(c) other; and, if so, please
specify?
(2) What measures
has the department taken to determine the accuracy of the calculations made
using these methods?
(3) Can the minister please list the
references for the scientific research on which these methods are based?
Hon DONNA FARAGHER replied:
I thank the member for some notice
of the question.
(1) Time since
fire is an indicator of fuel load. In planning for a prescribed burn,
Department of Parks and Wildlife staff take field samples to confirm fuel
loads. Sampling involves measuring the depth of leaf and other surface layer
fuels, along with visual assessment of the density of lower storey vegetation,
which is then used to estimate fuel load.
(2) The
correlations between these methods and the fuel load available during a prescribed
burn are based on research conducted by the department and its predecessors.
(3) Some relevant references include: Sneeuwjagt RJ
(1971) Understorey Fuels in Karri Forest, Forests Department of Western Australia,
Research Paper 1; Sneeuwjagt RJ (1973) Measuring forest fuels, Forests
Department of Western Australia, Research Paper 9; McCormick J (1973) Assessing
Maritime Pine Fuel Quantity, Forests Department of Western Australia, Research
Paper 7; Burrows ND (1980), Quantifying Pinus radiata slash fuels, Forests
Department of Western Australia, Research Paper 60; Sneeuwjagt RJ and
Peet GB (1985), Forest fire behaviour tables for Western Australia, Department
of Conservation and Land Management.