Is prescribed burning a good thing or not? How do you resolve potential conflicts between impacts on tourism and public health with its role in bushfire management and the ecological health of our forests?

 

These are the kind of questions that will be open for discussion in a public seminar “Taking the heat out of prescribed burning” presented by Charles Sturt University’s Institute for Land, Water and Society on Tuesday, August 15 at the Nowik Theatre, Guinea St., Albury from 6 to 8pm.

 

As Prof Allan Curtis, director of the Institute for Land, Water and Society says: “I don’t see that the debate on prescribed burning being is at all well-informed. What we are trying to do is facilitate that process.”

 

The evening will look at the questions around prescribed burning which include what is its role in terms of bushfire management and maintaining ecological health; and, if prescribed burning is a useful tool, how do we resolve some of the tensions caused by potential negative impacts on tourism and public health.

 

“There are competing values at stake here around ecological issues, protection of assets and life, and impacts on tourism and public health,” says Prof Curtis. “We are in a region where tourism is becoming increasingly important and we are seeing more and more people seeking to live in the rural areas around Albury-Wodonga. We need to fully discuss the issue of prescribed burning, consider all stakeholders’ views and look at what the ‘trade-offs’ might be and how these can be best managed.”

 

The evening will feature four speakers who will talk from different perspectives on the issue, followed by a panel discussion with a public “question and answer” session.

 

Prof Bruce Shindler, a social scientist from Oregon State University in the United States will provide an international perspective on prescribed burning and discuss his research on enhancing its social acceptability.

 

The other three speakers are: