Friends of Grasslands | Environmental conservation organisation

Friends of Grasslands

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25.01.2022 Last weekend some FOG members spent the day wandering through the grassy woodland and grasslands of Wandiyali, guided by Carolyn. It was a perfect day and very informative.

23.01.2022 Restoring the native vegetation of Hall Cemetery FOG has been holding regular working bees at Hall Cemetery since 2009, initially to protect the population of the endangered Tarengo Leek Orchid first discovered there, and since then to roll back the weeds in the understorey of the woodlands. Drought and rain have led to a proliferation of herbaceous weeds, setting back our attempts to remove weeds in the woodland. In response, several volunteers have put in many hours to redu...ce the weed load and more recently FOG received a Chief Minister’s grant of $1800 to employ professional sprayers to assist. In addition an ACT fire funded team is also undertaking work there. Join us on 3 October and 7 November (9am - noon) to learn about our efforts and to assist. To find out more and to register for work parties contact [email protected]. See more

22.01.2022 Franklin Grassland Open Day on Sunday, 6 September, organised by the Parks and Conservation Service with help from Friends of Grasslands A fair crowd gathered to hear about grasslands and particularly about Franklin Grassland from Minister and local MLA, Suzanne Orr, Ian Walker, the ACT’s Executive Director Envi-ronment, and Friends of Grasslands’ President, Geoff Robertson. We then walked with Ranger Thea O’Loughlin and Geoff through part of the grassland. They showed us pat...ches of grassland with varied native vegetation, and tiles laid out to provide shelter for small animals and a means for checking what was there. There were lush green leaves but no flowers yet. The walk ended in the box-gum woodland at the north end of the grassland. A fire truck, and lizards, snakes and skinks from Canberra Snake Rescue were a drawcard, and staff from PCS, FOG and Ginninderra Catchment Group answered visitors’ questions. Grassland plant seedlings from Provincial Plants attracted attention and questions and went home with some of the visitors. See more

21.01.2022 Successful restoration of grassy woodlands at Gurubang Dhaura - Stirling Park in Yarralumla, near Lotus Bay. FOG began planting local trees and wildflower species three years ago in this area where Chilean Needlegrass was sprayed out. This wet spring has seen a mass wildflower display as the planted species have recolonised the disturbed ground. FOG's work at this site is supported by a partnership with the National Capital Authority.

21.01.2022 There are a growing number of examples of how environment laws fail to protect our grasslands. Amongst the most outstanding examples is the failure of the Commonwealth and Victorian Governments to safeguard natural temperate grasslands on the fringe of Melbourne, according to an article by Royce Millar and Miki Perkins in the Melbourne Age 24 July and an earlier article by Miki Perkins of 18 June. https://www.theage.com.au//madness-how-governments-failed-

21.01.2022 MORE EVENTS! Sat 28 Nov 9:30am-4pm, replacing the previously cancelled event at WANDIYALI near Googong. Visit for a morning or an all day walk (BYO lunch); joining for the afternoon is not practical. Sat 5-Sun 6 Dec, COOMA HOT SPOTS. Sites will include: Top Hut Travelling Stock Route, where there will be plant ID and weed removal. Also included an exciting new Adaminaby grassland; Adaminaby cemetery; and Bushrangers Hill Road for the Monaro Golden Daisy. ... Thurs 10 Dec 5-7pm: SILLY SEASON CELEBRATION @ Franklin Grassland. Light refreshment, wine and light beverages provided. To register for any of these events, contact: [email protected]

21.01.2022 October FOG events. Sun 18 Oct, 10am-noon: Bioblitz with Young Rangers FOG will be guiding the ACT Young Rangers Club on a Bioblitz to increase awareness and understanding of the plants and animals endemic to our local grasslands. Register with [email protected]. Sat 24 Oct, 1.30-4.30pm: Carwoola walk (2.5km round trip) to see some of the nearly 100 native species flowering on this property. Register with [email protected] S...un 25 Oct, 10am-noon: Grassland open day at Lawson Ginninderra Catchment Group is organising an open day at Lawson which FOG is supporting by providing brief talks and leading walks. GCG is looking for support to form á group to look after the grasslands and nearby grassy woodlands To inquire, participate in this event, get directions, please contact [email protected]. Sat 31 Oct, 9.30am: Wandiyali near Googong Wandiyali is a Biodiversity Conservation Trust property near Googong. To find out more and to register, contact Margaret. [email protected] November FOG events Sat 7 Nov, 6:30-8.30pm, Conservation Council 2020 ONLINE Spring Dinner. FOG will organise a table for dinner at a FOG member's home. Contact [email protected] to join this table. The cost of an early bird ticket bought before 15 October is $90. More details at https://conservationcouncil.org.au/online-spring-dinner-20/ Wed 11 Nov, 8.30am-4pm, Scottsdale monitoring FOG has undertaken annual monitoring surveys at the Bush Heritage property at Scottsdale, particularly monitoring efforts to control African Lovegrass. To learn more and to register for this year's monitoring, contact [email protected]. Sat-Sun 14-15 Nov: Best of the Monaro Travelling Stock Routes Contact [email protected]

20.01.2022 Murrumbateman Cemetery A handful of FOG members visited this cemetery on the afternoon of Sunday 5 July. We were met by Annaliese from Murrumbateman Landcare Group who showed us part of the Plan for the Cemetery. Unfortunately, it appears that they are to develop one part of the cemetery.... We headed for the Themeda Grassland at the southern end of the site. We had to negotiate the ubiquitous onion grass that unfortunately infests part of the cemetery. We then entered the Themeda with its two versions of Common Everlasting, a green- and a grey-leafed version. This area also contained rosettes of Scaly Button, Yam Daisy and Blue Devil, and the leaves of Milkmaid, Fringe Lily, Bulbine Lily and Creamy Candles. It had Sundews, Woodrush and Geranium, a moss and a few orchid leaves (greenhood and onion). We hope to return later in the year to see the spring flowering.

20.01.2022 Our Nov-Dec 2020 Newsletter is available from our website. As usual it is a good read. You may find it here. http://www.fog.org.au/Newsletters/2020-11newsletter.pdf

19.01.2022 Yesterday I attended a bush fire recovery tour (Covid safe) to Namadgi NP, organised by Lori Gould and hosted by Brett McNamara (ACT Parks & Conservation Service), as a representative of Friends of Grasslands, to see the impact of the 2020 fire and the slow recovery, and to begin the discussion about how groups like ours might contribute to its recovery, especially using our plant ID skills and knowledge of restoration. Before the tour began, Brett treated us to an amazing s...lideshow illustrating the impact of the 2020 fire and describing the amazing effort to keep the fire away from Canberra and to divert it around important built and biodiversity assets. The ecological issues to be faced in the recovery include soil run off and sedimentation, overgrazing by kangaroos and deer, damaged by horses, weeds, and identifying the impact of the fire on populations of endangered and rare plant species. The images show some of what we saw. The image of the rock is one I find fascinating, as it shows the burnt rock on top, with a layer under that of newly exposed rock resulting from the washing away of the soil.

17.01.2022 Recently Friends of Grasslands completed this ACT environment grant demonstrating the scrape and sow method for establishing native grasslands. https://vimeo.com/415344930

16.01.2022 Here is more on what is not happening on the promised Victorian Western Grassland Reserve.

15.01.2022 Photos from the Burra hot spot taken on 8 October.

15.01.2022 This is a great video on identifying woody weeds and similar native woody plants.A number of both are found in our grassy woodlands and grasslands. https://youtu.be/Y3u13UgCPC8

14.01.2022 Open Day at Franklin Grassland, Franklin ACT from 10am to noon on Sunday 6 September. Entry to the reserve near the junction of Christina Stead and Gentile Streets. The Nullabor Avenue light rail stop on Flemington Road is the closest to the reserve. Franklin Grassland is a new 20ha reserve with natural temperate grassland, box woodland, an ephemeral lake, a large wetland, six threatened species and many more rare ones.... Join us to launch the Draft Franklin Grassland Landscape Plan and comment on it. Enjoy displays on the reserve, its grassland, woodland and many special animals and take a guided walk. Social distancing rules will apply on the day.

13.01.2022 Andy Russell has provided a couple of photos from Murrumbateman Cemetery to add to the ones posted on 7 July. There's a sundew and the seedhead of Short Wallaby Grass, Rytidosperma carphoides.

13.01.2022 Guy’s Cross, Tim Booth, Sunday afternoon 6th September On Sunday afternoon a handful of FOG members set out on an impromptu adventure to Guy’s Cross, the conservation property of FOG member Tim Booth, near Carwoola. We set out with the promise of prolific Early Nancy (Wurmbea dioica) and were rewarded with many, after a decent walk through an olive grove and beautiful grassland. The Early Nancy were particularly numerous lower down the slope, and especially beautiful where t...hey were interspersed amongst the wispy remains of five-minute grass (Tripogonella loliiformis). Other flowering favourites were Golden Moths (Diuris chryseopsis) and Yam Daisy (Microseris walteri). The Early Nancy certainly are the early flowerers, and we shall need another month for more flowerers to join the mix. (Another visit, around mid October, would be good!!) It was still ob-vious however that Guy’s Cross had a diverse mix of native plants including 14 grass species, 5 lilies species, 3 orchids, 9 rushes/sedges, 2 fern species, 39 species of forbs, 12 species of woody shrubs and at least 7 tree species. Of special interest were the Hoary Sunray (Leucochrysum albicans) which Tim had planted many years before and had successfully spread over his property. We had a fantastic afternoon in the warm spring weather and appreciate very much Tim and his partner Ros for having us and showing us around their magnificent property. Plans to visit again are afoot!

10.01.2022 FRI-MON 25-28 SEPT: FRIENDS OF GRASSLANDS’ NARRANDERA WEEKEND An interesting FOG excursion with Rainer Rehwinkel to visit high quality Travelling Stock reserves and other sites in and around Narrandera. Register with [email protected] Arrive Friday between 2-4pm at a stop on the way to Narrandera. Participants are asked to book their own accommodation. Margaret can advise on options.... Saturday and Sunday: visits to several sites north and west of Narrandera and drop into some place for lunch. Monday: visits to two sites and finish with lunch so that participants can be home at a reasonable time.

10.01.2022 The first hot spot visit to ‘spectacular areas/patches’ that are crying out for a visit was to Gungaderra Grasslands Nature Reserve, Crace in the ACT. The flowers in the grassland and grassy woodland delighted the visitors and an extensive species list was compiled. If you would like to hear about future hot spot visits, contact [email protected], and tell Margaret about any hot spots you know.

10.01.2022 The updated calendar of FOG's many upcoming events is now on its website at http://www.fog.org.au/calendar.htm. Included are visits to special places, guided walks, a weekend away, on-ground work at Scottsdale, Hall Cemetery, Frankllin Grassland and Stirling Park, the Conservation Council's dinner, and end-of-year celebrations.

09.01.2022 Friends of Grasslands at last Sunday's work party at Attunga Point on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin in an area previously planted up by FOG.

09.01.2022 Friends of Grasslands will hold several work parties during July 2020 1. Franklin Grassland: Thurs 9 & 23 Jul, 1.15-3.15pm. Register with [email protected]. 2. Stirling Park: Sun 9 Aug, 9am-12.30pm. Register with [email protected] 3. Hall Cemetery: as needed during winter. For more information, contact [email protected] Please contact Margaret, Jamie and/or John for more information.

07.01.2022 And some more photos of the open day at Franklin Grassland

07.01.2022 The dynamic daubing duo bringing death to capeweed: yesterday at Stirling Park work party (photo by Jamie Pittock).

05.01.2022 Sat 3 Oct, 9am-noon: Hall Cemetery FOG has held regular working bees at Hall Cemetery since 2009, so why not come along and see what we have been up to over the last few months? A handful of us has experimented with some potential solutions to the weedy spring we have faced. A spray contractor has done around many hours of spot spraying Milk Thistle rosettes, paid for by the recent Chief Minister’s grant. It is amazing to see how effective it is. We would love more help, howe...ver. Join us and clobber a Capeweed, flatten a Flatweed, ergonomically cut and daub milk thistle or prickly lettuce (from a height of 18 or so inches!), or maybe take a bag, and pluck the flowers off exotic annual grasses? Or could you even bring along a line trimmer to help us with a blitz on some exotic Plantain that is just coming into flower, and ditto with some exotic grasses? After all, our aim is to prevent as much recruitment as possible this year. A further work party is planned for 2 Nov. Join us in October and November to learn about our efforts and to assist. Register: [email protected] See more

05.01.2022 Here is the City news' coverage of over 100 supporters of Canberra's grasslands calling on DHA to reconsider its proposal to build a housing estate on many hectares of natural temperate grasslands, a critically endangered community. So far we have had no response from DHA. https://citynews.com.au//housing-development-threatens-p/

04.01.2022 Here's a snapshot of the on ground restoration activities that the Stirling Park group will be holding on Sunday mornings at a couple of central Canberra locations over the next five months. This group works on National Lands managed by the National Capital Authority and sometimes on nearby areas. It covers a variety of sites and activities: 1. Stirling Park: 9am-12.30pm, Sun, 9 Aug - it is planned to undertake fence removal, plant maintenance and timber stacking. ...2. Yarramundi Grassland beside the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Centre: 9am-11.30pm, Sun, 13 Sep - tasks include maintaining and monitoring areas where the topsoil full of weed seeds has been removed and seeds of native ground cover species have been spread. Also continuing weed control in the wider area. 3. Blue Gum Point on the south shore of Lake Burley Griffin: 9am-12.30pm, Sun, 11 Oct - planting. 4. Blue Gum Point: 9am-12.30pm, Sun, 8 Nov - woody weed control. 5. Attunga Point: 9am-12.30pm, Sun, 13 Dec - proposed planting on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin. Also woody weed control. For more information and to register for any events contact [email protected]. Jamie also puts out a regular newsletter.

04.01.2022 Weeds out, wildflowers in at Yarramundi Reach! Two years ago FOG received an ACT grant to scrape the soil from two sites to remove top soil, seeds and plants (mostly weeds), and seeded the two sites with native grassland grasses and wildflowers. These sites struggled through the drought, almost causing despair, but John Fitz Gerald, our the project leader, stuck to his guns and let nature take its course. The rains have made a big difference. John is delighted by the wildflower display of white (Hoary Sunrays) and blue (Linum).

04.01.2022 Friends of Grasslands is one of over one hundred signatories to a letter requesting Defence Housing Australia to reconsider its housing development proposal for Lawson north, the former Naval Transmitting Station. The development will destroy a large area of natural temperate grasslands, a critically endangered ecological community. This is reported into days Canberra Times. https://www.canberratimes.com.au//conservationists-band-t/ The full text of a press release issu...Continue reading

04.01.2022 Some more dates for activity at the Franklin Grassland by the Friends of Franklin Grassland Parkcare Group: Thursday, 3 and 17 Sept 2020 Thursday, 1 and 15 Oct 2020... Contact Margaret Ning if you are interested in finding out more about the grassland and how you could get involved: [email protected].