Gulaga Mountain to open, Indigenous students graduate from fire training

Gulaga board of management chairperson Iris White said Gulaga Mountain will reopen to walkers this Friday.

“We wanted to open for the long weekend, so any visitors, or locals, will have a chance to go for a walk,” Ms White said.

The maintenance work on the trail had been completed by National Parks and Wildlife Service workers some weeks back, but she said the board of management wanted a chance to have a final inspection.

Ms White and the newly appointed director of NPWS South Coast park operations, Kane Weeks had chance to climb up the mountain and refurbished trail just after last month’s big rainfall event.

“It gave us an opportunity to see how the new drainage systems were working and we also identified a couple of bits of trail that needed more work,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Indigenous students from the Gulaga Biamanga National Parks Indigenous boards of management have now graduated from the recent basic fire training and were recognised at a graduation ceremony at Bellbrook Farm in Gulaga National Park two weeks ago.

The training was a collaboration between the boards of management, the RFS and National Parks.

Related story: Training for cultural burning on Gulaga Biamanga country

Ms White said she was proud of all the graduates and thanked the RFS trainers and local brigade for allowing the students to complete the course, which would allow them to play a more hands-on role in the management of the two National Parks and any burning, especially using traditional methods.

“It’s the first step toward implementing a cultural burning program on our lands,” Ms White said.

RFS community safety officer for the Far South Coast, Marty Webster said he too was proud to be involved in the process and that it was a great opportunity for the sharing of knowledge.

“We look forward to strengthening our relationship with the boards, and with local Aboriginal land councils throughout the Far South Coast,” Mr Webster said. “I’d also like to thank all the trainers and participants involved for the passion and enthusiasm they brought to gatherings.”