Bushfire Planning & Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2009:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

The course covers the fundamentals of setting and achieving bushfire management objectives for ecological and fire protection purposes in natural ecosystems. It covers the contents of a fire management plan, setting objectives, developing fire prescriptions, undertaking monitoring and evaluation of the management process, and review.

By the end of the subject students should:

• Be able to set fire management objectives for individual burns and for broader management areas.
• Be able to develop burning prescriptions to achieve fauna, flora, and protection objectives.
• Be able to use a knowledge of plant and animal life history attributes to devise sustainable fire regimes.
• Be able to devise fire management strategies and plans that maintain water quality and yield.
• Be able to use GIS programs to develop fire management plans.
• Be able to establish and run a monitoring program to assess the effectiveness of a fire management plan.
• Be familiar with the use of Codes of Practice to achieve world best practice in fire management.
• Be familiar with some key legal responsibilities related to fire management including the maintenance of biodiversity, protection from damaging fires and fire suppression.

Several small daily "quizzes" - 20%

Literature review assignment (2000 words) - 30%

Bradstock, R.A., Williams, J.E. and Gill, A.M. (eds.) (2002) Flammable Australia - The Fire Regimes and Biodiversity of a Continent. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, U.K.. 462 pp.

Cheney, N.P. and Sullivan, A. (1997) Grassfires - fuel, weather and fire behaviour. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne, Australia. 102 pp.

Finney, M.A. (1998) FARSITE: Fire Area Simulator - Model Development and Evaluation. U.S. Dept. Agriculture, Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station, Research Paper RMRS-RP-4. 47 pp.

Gill, A.M., Groves, R.H. and Noble, I.R. (eds.) (1981) Fire and the Australian Biota. Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, Australia.

Pyne, S.J., Andrews, P.L, and Laven, R.D. (1996) Introduction to Wildland Fire. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York. 769 pp.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.