Friends of the Gippsland Lakes, Parks and Reserves (FOGL)

Recent working bee out on north arm of silt jetties – mainly for plant maintenance and rubbish collection.  Good weather and comaraderie made for a great morning.

This is such a beautiful and usually (outside of duck shooting season) peaceful part of the Gippsland Lakes –  a wonderful place in which to spend several hours working.

As usual, we collected several very large bags of rubbish including wads of fishing line, bait boxes, drink cans and bottles, food wrappers and a lot of toilet paper.  Some disgusting piles of fresh human waste with toilet paper piled on top were discovered.  Pity some of the people who use this area just rubbish it.

When we finished the area was almost pristine and the plantings look cared for.

FOGL members gathered along the Silt Jetties recently to hear from Parks Victoria’s Sean Phillipson, Manager for Regional Delivery, about plans to protect and rehabilitate this special part of the Gippsland Lakes.

As a stakeholder having had major projects along the Silt Jetties for ten years, FOGL was involved in workshops regarding their future held about 16 months ago and had input into the development of the current plans, so we were keen to hear how they are being implemented.

While we all had a cuppa, Sean showed us maps and gave an extremely interesting talk explaining the background to concerns about instabilities of the Silt Jetties (more…)

FOGL has been working for the past several months with other Community groups on plans to further rehabilitation works begun by EGSC and EG Water on McGees Gully in Bairnsdale. McGees Gully has an interesting history and McGees Gully Creek is an important waterway which runs from town into McLeods Morass.

The project, if approved and funded, would include a Shared Path and new signage highlighting the history of McGees Gully and the native flora and fauna found in the area, providing East Gippsland residents and visitors with a very interesting path along McGees Gully down to the Morass.

Last Friday FOGL representatives Anne Schmidli and Bill Cotter met with Frank McShane from EG Water, Anthony Nelson from EGSC and Bill Gamble from Mitchell River Rotary at the EG Water pumping station to discuss progress on the plans.

FOGL recently joined members of Rotamah Island Bird Observatory Inc for a working bee at the old bird observatory homestead.  Several members arrived on Friday afternoon and others throughout Saturday.

Friends of the Gippsland Lakes, Parks & Reserves (FoGL) has serious concerns in relation to the impact the proposed Bosworth Road bypass would have on the Macleod Morass Reserve and its significant ecology and wildlife…

fogl bosworth road submission