Environmental Issues
Hunt allows alpine cattle grazing trial despite ‘flawed’ science
Mountain cattlemen expect cows will return to Victoria’s Alpine National Park this month after federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt approved a controversial grazing trial – despite the Australian Academy of Science damning it as scientifically flawed. Sixty cattle can be released into a 262-hectare site in the Wonnangatta Valley in the first year of the program, which the Napthine government says is necessary to test whether grazing reduces the risk of bushfires by removing fuel loads. Critics say past research has shown cattle grazing does not stop bushfires and damages sensitive alpine ecology, and the trial lacks scientific rigour.