Parks Victoria is seriously impressed by its newest land management staff members who have been helping with bushfire reconstruction and economic recovery in east Gippsland and the State’s north-east.
Recovery Operations Manager at Parks Victoria, Susie Cutlack praised the group of 30 who started work over the past two months, based in Bairnsdale, Bendoc, Buchan, Cann River, Cape Conran, Mallacoota, Bright and Tallangatta.
“They’ve plunged straight into work to rebuild and reopen the remaining damaged Parks infrastructure across Gippsland,” Ms Cutlack said.
“The recovery teams are focused on opening up, and keeping open, tracks and trails by manual labour,” she said.
“They are also undertaking replacement of minor assets such as picnic tables and bollards.”
Ms Cutlack said the Parks’ teams were keeping areas open for locals and visitors by managing fast-growing vegetation and replacing the infrastructure that was burnt.
She said that among the efforts the teams took on included the remote Wilderness Coast Walk along far-east Gippsland and a 100km track that needed to be cleared of undergrowth and dangerous trees at the same time as its destroyed lookouts, toilets, steps and bridges were being rebuilt.
“The teams are drawn from many different walks of life,” she said.
“The new teams are a mixture of people already living in the communities and people new to the area, combining local employment and opportunities to bring people in to benefit the local economy,” Ms Cutlack said.
