New research confirms value of fuel reduction burning in karri forests Peer-reviewed research published in the Australian Forestry journal has confirmed something that forest firefighters have long known: if forests are left unburned for many years, they still carry heavy bushfire fuels,…
Letter from Minister Dawson re: Prescribed Burning 
Dear Mr Underwood Officers from the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions andDepartment of Fire and Emergency Services have reviewed the Zylstra etal. (2022) paperand consider that the data does not support the conclusions drawn by the authors forseveral reasons largely due…
Cultural Burning
The concept of “cultural burning” is attracting a great deal of interest these days. We understand the term to mean the burning of the bush in the manner of Aboriginal peoples over many thousands of years prior to European settlement in Western…
Bushfire Front Confronts Anti-fire Campaign!
LETTER TO MINISTER Dear Minister Campaign to undermine bushfire management in WA I feel sure we do not need to bring to your attention the insidious, dishonest and calculated campaign currently being waged to undermine professional bushfire management in WA. This is…
Zounds Professor Zylstra
The expression of truth is simplicity. Seneca the Younger 4BC-65AD The late Professor John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was a well known fiction writer, one of his books being ‘Lord of the Rings’ (1). Yet some have complained that a film made in…
One year on…Wandoo forest aerial burn
In March 2021 I was on a field trip into the wandoo forest of the Helena catchment, when I came across Parks and Wildlife staff just commencing an aerial burn. I stopped to have a look and a chat. Having once been…
Jarrahdale dodges a wildfire bullet
In summer 2007, I planned and supervised the establishment of a research thinning trial in regrowth jarrah (E.marginata) forest about 15 km east of the Western Australian town of Jarrahdale. The trial consisted of eight plots, each one hectare in size, thinned…
Historical Letters on Fire
Four More Historical Letters on Fire ‘History is philosophy from examples.’ – Dionysius of Halicarnassus, circa 30 BC In south-west Australia, over the past few decades, there has been both constructive and misleading debate over past burning by the Noongar people. I, and…
Submission to the Independent Inquiry into the Wooroloo bushfire
Submission to the Independent Inquiry into the Wooroloo bushfire September 2021 The Bushfire FrontWe are an independent organisation comprising experienced bushfire scientists, and specialists in bushfire prevention and operations. Our members have spent entire careers actively involved in fire management.Our mission is…
Rumble in the Jungle at Karagullen
This grasstree is near Karagullen, WA. Careful chemistry and histology confirm that the dark marks (lapachol) show past fires, and the faint brown marks in between (tannin) are annual growth marks. Given a constant growth rate for these plants, it can…