{"id":101,"date":"2015-04-26T03:42:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T03:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/merribee.swcomputerlab.org\/index.php\/2015\/04\/26\/in-nannup-smoking-grass-smoking-weed-smoking-forest\/"},"modified":"2015-04-26T03:42:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T03:42:00","slug":"in-nannup-smoking-grass-smoking-weed-smoking-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/merribeeorganicfarm.net.au\/index.php\/2015\/04\/26\/in-nannup-smoking-grass-smoking-weed-smoking-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"In Nannup…..smoking grass, smoking weed, smoking forest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“It just seems that they have declared war on the planet.” \u00a0Pete Lane\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DePAw lit up a large forest block ( Kearney block, about 64 sq km) on April 20th and must take responsibility for the health impacts thisis, and will have, on hundreds of \u00a0residents. Kearney block is about 2 km southwest of Nannup. Unfortunately many such blocks of similar size, set aside by all govts since 1920 as high conservation value, were logged in 2012. Should these all be burnt this autumn there will be implications for human health (1) and climate change will accelerate. Burning forests produce more hazardous smoke than burning coal.(2)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0It turns out that the very weather conditions which\u00a0favor\u00a0safe burning conditions in terms of homes and\u00a0property damage, \u00a0maximizes \u00a0human health effects. \u00a0Virtually no wind and dew every evening has\u00a0 ensured the residents sat in carcinogenic smoke every night for more than a week and counting. Health impacts of exposures to these gases and some of the other wood smoke constituents (e.g., benzene) are well characterized in thousands of publications. The Polycyclic aromatics released\u00a0 in particular are not only \u00a0irritants,\u00a0 but mutagenic,\u00a0 carcinogenic, and neurotoxic.<\/p>\n

As a nearby resident I was not warned of this controlled burn.\u00a0Were people with\u00a0 pre-existing heart or lung conditions warned? Data suggests there was an increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Melbourne during the 2006-2007 bushfire season\u00a0in Victoria, many hundreds of kms away from where the forest was burning in the Victorian Alps. (3)<\/p>\n

The conventional thinking has been that controlled burns are needed to reduce debris under the forested areas to reduce the intensity of a fire. Recent fires have showed controlled burning has little to no effect in slowing, reducing and stopping forest fires. Recent Northcliffe fires are a case in point. A lightening strike in a prescribe burnt area started the fire. The fire quickly spread .Fire Chiefs were expecting\u00a0 that when\u00a0 the fire\u00a0 reached a certain area that had been prescribe burnt 5 years earlier, it would slow down and \u00a0be containable. It did not slow down.<\/p>\n

Controlled burns don’t stop wildfires but they do cause human and native health and crop damage. So why are we burning again ? There is little reason to continue putting the health and welfare of local residents, animals and agricultural systems (grapes etc) at risk with annual controlled burns. With residents ill, crops damaged, health damaged, lifestyle damaged, the sentiment that wood smoke\u00a0,(being a natural substance) \u00a0must be benign \u00a0is still sometimes heard. It is now well established, however, that wood-burning stoves and fireplaces as well as wild land and agricultural fires emit significant quantities of known health-damaging pollutants, including several carcinogenic compounds (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, benzene, aldehydes, respirable particulate matter, carbon monoxide [CO], nitrogen oxides [NOx], and other free radicals) (4)The range of potentially toxic gases and other substances of concern include atmospheric mercury, ozone precursors and volatile organic compounds.<\/p>\n

When I rang the hospital to enquire about a respirator. the nurse said I should go for a drive to some fresh air. I rang the department DePAw duty offficer and asked him \u201cwhere is there some fresh air? \u201c He was a nice young man who said he couldn\u2019t help me. He said there were fires everywhere and not just \u00a0his department’s fires burning, but farmers and householders. Everyone is keen to \u201creduce fire risk\u201d to their property….what about risks to something more important , our health?<\/p>\n

Does the government have the right or legal freedom to cause us harm?<\/p>\n

Could we not plant fire retardant trees shrubs and ground covers as fire breaks? Growing these shelter belts would ameliorate climate change which leads to increase in wild fire intensity and frequency. South Hampton homestead owner Jeff Pow told me some of his animals sheltered behind a Robinia hedge to survive. \u00a0Oaks also provided shelter for fire fighters in the blaze, while other tree species exploded.<\/p>\n

Eucalyptus forest burns. Our native forestshave been artificially created by human intervention (fire) in recent history. We humans should not live in the forest, or we should protect our homes with fire retardant plants and intelligent design rather than controlled burns.
\nLand developers have an obligation here to develop already cleared land , not settle people amongst the \u00a0trees.
\nSolution! \u00a0We can reduce\u00a0 property loss\u00a0 from bushfire and other catastrophic results of global climate change by planting\u00a0buffer zones of flame retardant\u00a0 vegetation.<\/p>\n

In other words, we fight \u00a0fire not with fire but with plants. Logged forest areas should\u00a0 be\u00a0 left\u00a0 un-burnt\u00a0 to decompose \u00a0into humus ( it doesn\u2019t burn, and facilitates the growth of plants which in turn create lush conditions )<\/p>\n

We can make soak up carbon from the air by making compost, and again by \u00a0planting \u00a0the many flame retardant species available (5) \u00a0(eg Robinia, succulents) to shelter our homes and livestock from \u00a0fires.<\/p>\n

References supplied below.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Bee Winfield\u00a0\u00a0 Thomas Rd Nannup<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The health toll from burning fossil fuels:https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/naturensw\/photos\/a.175414079136806.45532.156271657717715\/974346895910183\/?type=1&theater<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. Burning forests are more dangerous than burning coal: http:\/\/grist.org\/news\/whats-worse-than-burning-coal-burning-wood\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0heart conditions worsened by smoke inhalation\u00a0\u00a0 http:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/health\/thepulse\/stories\/2013\/10\/21\/3873524.htm<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    4) \u00a0Tuthill, 1984; Koenig & Pierson, 1991; Larson and Koenig, 1994; Leonard et al., 2000; Dubick et al., 2002; Smith, 1987; Traynor et al., 1987).<\/p>\n

    [ Smoke\u00a0 travels]\u00a0 and \u201c is known to irritate the\u00a0 respiratory system, but evidence suggests it’s the particles that damage people’s health, says Dr Fay Johnston from Menzies Research Institute in Tasmania. Dr Dennekamp adds it’s the very small particles \u2013 those with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometres \u2013 that are likely to cause the most significant concern\u201d.”And in particular the very small particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs,” she says.\u201cSymptoms caused by these particles can continue for days after they are inhaled.\u201d<\/p>\n

    WHO’s\u00a0International Agency for Research on Cancer<\/a>(IARC) scientist Christopher Wild says”We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n

    NSW Air Quality Monitoring agency says:”An air quality alert may be raised when pollutant concentrations reach levels which exceed national air quality standards for gaseous pollutants (ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide), fine particles \u2026. During an air quality alert,\u00a0people sensitive to the effects of air pollution are likely to feel its impacts (POOR\u00a0and VERY POOR categories) or during extreme episodes of air pollution such as during prolonged bushfires (HAZARDOUS category)\u00a0which can affect everyone’s health” \u00a0www.environment.nsw.gov.au<\/a><\/p>\n

    5) a small sample of suitable flame retardant species : salt bush,Coprosma, elms, oaks, willow, guavas, tagasaste, paulownia, hydrangea, geranium, comfrey, sweet potatoe, alfalfa tree tomatoe \u00a0etc. For a list of native plants that will not burn in the face of continuing flame, see this website\u00a0http:\/\/www.apsvic.org.au\/plant_fire_resistant.html<\/a>. People can test more plants by throwing a small branchlet into a fire and watching how it behaves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    We may be exposed to the obvious hazards of a wild\u00a0 fire occasionally in our lives\u00a0 but\u00a0 this has been a(poorly) planned event . Many other folks will be similarly afflicted as the score of other same sized forest blocks in the shire and adjacent shires, \u00a0logged 2 years ago, \u00a0are burnt.\u00a0Mowen and Helms recently logged will swell \u00a0the area beyond the 640 square km area already logged . \u00a0 We \u00a0know that the logging operation runs at a financial loss, and cancer treatment was certainly not factored in .<\/div>\n

    This is all just so crazy, but we can revolutionize the thinking:<\/p>\n

    GREEN FIREBREAKS<\/div>\n
    Fear of fire will lead to the felling of \u00a0what is left of \u00a0native vegetation since white settlement ( 5 %), and the repeated burning of anything that tries to grow. As society \u00a0clambers to protect property in the face of climate change and it\u2019s resulting increase in the \u00a0frequency and intensity of bushfires, expect \u00a0guys with matches \u00a0to destabilize climate further and therefore increase the threat of wildfire with every prescribed burn. As Alan Savory warned us: burning bush is more toxic and polluting than burning coal, and far more so than cars.<\/div>\n
    Fear of fire could be addressed with green fire breaks. Says the Nannup Council, as it encourages landowners to burn roadside vegetation but to take precautions \u201cSmoke over roads can create an extremely hazardous environment for road users\u201d<\/div>\n
    but I have replied, what about \u00a0breathers and eaters? \u00a0Air quality and climate are more important considerations, actually.<\/div>\n
    \u00a0\u00a0I am asking Main Roads \u00a0( who have cut down a lot of Jarrah and Marri trees lately in the name of road safety ( but there- in is another issue: sadly a method of suicide around here is to aim your car at a big tree on the side of the road) ) to please encourage the \u00a0planting of flame retardant vegetation on all roadsides, which would create extremely good air quality and a safe climate. \u00a0Main Roads could encourage the planting of deciduous trees and succulents instead of mandating natives. \u00a0We have taken over the management of our road side verge at Karridale because otherwise it is sprayed annually with Round Up. Much bureaucracy later, we\u2019ve STOPPED THE SPRAYING and been allowed \u00a0to \u00a0plant trees on this grassed verge, but only natives. Let us research species which are unburnable and unpalatable to kangaroos. With fear of fire addressed in this manner, \u00a0we can dispense with thousands of liters of carcinogenic \u00a0Round Up being used on roadsides . This obviously poisons \u00a0waterways.\u00a0Succulents are drought tolerant and do not burn, climb over embankments, are easily propagated \u00a0and maybe even taste yuk to roos. With teams of young ones potting up pig face in organic soil, who may otherwise feel lonely and depressed ( remember good soil is an anti depressant) , climate change, \u00a0suicide, air quality and fire protection would all be addressed at once. If you like the plan, please agitate for it by contacting your council, fire chief, \u00a0MP, minister for health, the environment, forestry, \u00a0and the Premier.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n
    \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    “It just seems that they have declared war on the planet.” \u00a0Pete Lane\u00a0 DePAw lit up a large forest block ( Kearney block, about 64 sq km) on April 20th and must take responsibility for the health impacts thisis, and will have, on hundreds of \u00a0residents. Kearney block is about 2 km southwest of Nannup…. <\/p>\n

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