By Andrea Johnson, NT DBIRD, 2002
The Bushfires Council NT, the TS-CRC, and the NT Department of
Business, Industry and Resource Development has written and
compiled a full-colour, 25-page guide, North Australian
Grassland Fuel Guide – Sturt Plateau and Victoria River
District. The guide was produced to assist land managers and
fire authorities in the Sturt Plateau and Victoria River District
to estimate fuel characteristics for strategic fire management or
to prevent wildfires.
Price: $5 (GST incl.) ISBN: 0 958376 9 X
A field guide that helps land managers and fire authorities
estimate the amount of fire a pasture can carry, as well as the
flammability of those pastures is now available. The North
Australian Grassland Fuel Guide focuses on the red and black
soil country of the VRD and Sturt Plateau , but should also be
useful in other parts of north Australia.
It features two sections:
Section 1 shows high definition photos of different red
soil and black soil plots at various stages of curing from green
(0–10% cured) to tinder-dry (80–100% cured). These
photos can be used to gauge the curing of red and black soil
country in the region..
Section 2 shows high definition photos of different types
of country with various fuel loads ranging from lightly grassed
pastures (0–1000 kg per hectare) that will normally only
carry a patchy fire, to thick pastures of up to 6000 kg a hectare
that can carry intense wildfires. When combined with the curing
photos, these fuel load photos can be used to help gauge the types
of fire a pasture can carry.
The production of the all-weather, full-colour, 25-page booklet
was supported by the Bushfires Council NT and the Tropical Savannas
Management CRC and fits in the glove box or a large pocket.
