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Dendrocide excelsa
This species and other plants in dry rainforest pockets of the Mount Kaputar region are at risk of becoming locally extinct; through impact from fires, feral goats and long periods of drought. Three mature and fertile Giant Stinging Trees were found at this location but no recruitment seeedlings are present at this western limit of distribution of the species.
An explorative walk to a known record form 1994 confirmed the continued survival of at least three individuals.
Celastrus subspicata
Large-leaved Staff Vine occurs here at a western limit, this individual is possible a new most western record.
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Time is just flying past, it seems only like yesterday when we all met at the pub in Hamelspringe.
I have fond memorys of that day, although some details are missing, might have had one drink to many. I hope the turn up is as good as last time and it would be great to get some photos later, if someone could post them.
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| From 25th Annivers... |
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| From 25th Annivers... |
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| 25th Anniversar |
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| Richard Glover, Graham our winning bidder, Jan Kingston from RFWCHS and Ken Done with the $5000 tea towel |
702 Drive raised $5000 for the Royal far West Children's Home by making a unique tea towel at the Royal Easter Show.
Last year we created a jam sandwich from scratch, but this year, we sought a different challenge!
During their 3 hour program the Drive team, with the assistance of many others, created the cotton tea towel from the raw materials.
Cotton especially trucked in from Narrabri was plucked from the bushes to the tune of deep south rhythms, the cotton was ginned on site, spun into a thread which was then woven into a tea towel.
Finally, the towel was hemmed, then decorated by one of Australia's most prominent artists, Ken Done.
The one-of-a-kind tea towel was then auctioned off reaching an amazing $5000 dollars - all the money will go to the RFWCH.
What an effort by the Drive team, and from all the supporters, suppliers, workers, bidders, experts and the live audience, and what a great result for this deserving charity!
Unofficial stuff from the team behind the World's leading mobile GIS platform
Macquarie has signed an agreement to investigate taking gas from
coal seams being drilled by junior Eastern Star Gas and its partner,
Houston-based Gastar Exploration.
It's a watershed deal. Not only does it unleash a potential new
energy source in the state, but it gives further credibility to the
coal seam gas story and it could transform Eastern Star, with the
potential project costing about $1.5 billion.
Eastern Star managing director Dennis Morton said his field in the
Gunnedah Basin would change the energy equation in NSW, where almost
all gas now comes from Bass Strait and the Cooper Basin in South
Australia.
"NSW will at last have a truly major, indigenous source of natural gas," he said.
Eastern Star shares moved only slightly, rising 1.5c to 30.5c - but
the subdued response could be due to a sharp rise in the shares in the
week preceding the announcement.
Macquarie is interested in taking the gas by pipeline to its Bayswater power station in the Hunter Valley.
The 2640 megawatt plant is now wholly coal-fired but the plan is to
use the gas to reheat the steam after it is used by the existing
generators into a second set of generators, allowing higher power
output without expanding coal usage and keeping the lid on greenhouse
emissions.
The extent to which NSW will be able to shed its reliance on gas
from other states hinges on how much gas Eastern Star and Gastar can
prove-up in their area lying to the west of the towns of Gunnedah and
Narrabri.
They hope to announce an initial resource of 100 petajoules by the
middle of the year, but the aim is to get that up quickly to 600PJ.
It has been estimated that their 9100sqkm licence area contains as
much as 17,000PJ, or 17 trillion cubic feet, of gas within the coal
seams.
Macquarie has agreed to work with the two companies to investigate a 300km high-pressure pipeline from Narrabri to Bayswater.
Mr Morton said the longer-term plan would be to sell gas into the
large urban markets centred on Sydney by extending the pipeline beyond
the power station.
The high cost of gas piped in from other states has meant that NSW is lagging other states in using the energy source.
NSW used about 120PJ a year, compared with 260PJ in Victoria, 140PJ
in Queensland and about 400PJ in Western Australia, he said.
The shorter distance of pipeline would mean cheaper gas for Sydney. And the pipeline makes coal seam gas commercial.
"If you can't sell it, it's not much good to you," Mr Morton said.
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Pilliga Scrub: is a huge forested area in mid-western
The Pilliga Scrub is at its best in spring and is home to a wide range of wildlife, including large koala colonies. However, there are 2700 km of crisscrossing roads in the scrub which are dry-weather only trails.
The Pilliga Nature Reserve is based on the Pilliga Sandstone and is underlain by silty sandstones, claystones and shales. The vegetation is dominated by narrow leafed iron bark–broad leafed iron bark–red iron bark woodland. Small areas of Blakely's red gum, yellow box, white box and angophora are also present. White cypress and black cypress are present in the sub-canopy along with the cycad.
A number of endangered fauna are present, including the endemic pilliga mouse, eastern pygmy possum, koala, glossy black-cockatoo, regent honeyeater and turquoise parrot. The Reserve also supports populations of the endangered brush-tailed rock wallaby, red-necked wallaby and swamp wallaby.
The Borah Creek Road was originally an old Cobb & Co coach track.
Large portions of the Pilliga Scrub burned in huge fires in late 2006
Mount Kaputar NP
Mt Kaputar National Park is a rugged island of wilderness, towering high above the surrounding Western Plains. It's the footprint left behind by a series of volcanic eruptions that moved across this area between 17 and 21 million years ago.
Millions of years of erosion have carved this volcanic pile into the Nandewar Range, with its dramatic landscape of lava terraces, volcanic plugs and ring dykes. At the peak of the range is Mt Kaputar, which reaches an altitude of 1200m. There are superb views from the summit, as well as from many other lookouts in the park.
The park protects a wide variety of plant communities, including semi-arid woodlands, wet eucalypt forests and subalpine heaths. It's home to a host of animal species, and provides a haven for many threatened species - including bats, birds, wallabies, quolls and a unique large pink slug, which often appears after rain.
I am looking forward to explore the park.
Cheers Jürgen
Shannon Creek in Northern NSW southwest of Grafton Australia
The Hoop Pine pictured displays an unusual feature. What the ... is it?
Unfortunately the tree was destroyed in the course of land clearing and construction work associated with the Shannon Creek dam.
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| From HoopPineShannonCreek |
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| From Hoop Pine Sha... |
1. Never give me work in the morning. Always wait until 4:00 and then bring it to me. The challenge of a deadline is refreshing.
2. If it's really a rush job, run in and interrupt me every 10 minutes to inquire about how it's going. That helps. Even better, hover behind me and advise me at every keystroke.
3. Always leave without telling anyone where you're going. It gives me a chance to be creative when someone asks where you are.
4. If you give me more than one job to do, don't tell me which is priority. I'm psychic.
5. Do your best to keep me late. I adore this office and really have nowhere to go or anything to do. I have no life beyond work.
6. If a job I do pleases you, keep it a secret. If that gets out, it could mean a promotion.
7. If you don't like my work, tell everyone. I like my name to be popular in conversations. I was born to be whipped.
8. If you have special instructions for a job, don't write them down.
In fact, save them until the job is almost done. No use confusing me with useful information.
9. Never introduce me to the people you're with. I have no right to know anything. In the corporate food chain, I am plankton. When you refer to them later, my shrewd deductions will identify them.
10. Be nice to me only when the job I'm doing for you could really change your life and send you straight to manager's hell.
11. Tell me all your little problems. No one else has any and it's nice to know someone is less fortunate. I especially like the story about having to pay so many taxes on the bonus check you received for being such a good manager.
12. Wait until my yearly review and then tell me what my goals should have been. Give me a mediocre performance rating with a cost of living increase. I'm not here for the money anyway."
EnviTE Newsletter 2007
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2004 - 2005 EnviTE Annual Report 2003 - 2004 EnviTE Annual Report 2002 - 2003 EnviTE Annual Report
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Phyllanthus microcladus Muell. Arg. an individual plant at Grafton NSW showing ripe fruit  Phyllanthus microcladus Muell. Arg. Herbarium specimen taken at time of discovery in 1999 at Grafton Agricultural Research & Advisory Station | ||
Dear Friends & Co- Workers
I wish you all continued success and enjoyment working with EnviTE. I will always remember my time with EnviTE as being full of fun and loaded with achievements for the things we believe in. Sorry I could not personally catch up with everyone in the last few weeks but I hope to be in touch with EnviTE occasionally. I have requested to be put on the mailing list for the public newsletter so I can catch up on some of the things you are working on. Thanks again everyone for a great experience over the last 9 ½ years.
I have heard a few people are coming to Grafton on Friday evening; I am looking forward to seeing you there if you can make it.
My last work day with EnviTE is Friday 16th March
I am commencing my new job on the 26th March with the DEC Northern Plains Region OSCU in Narrabri.
Phyllanthus microcladus here a fully mature fruit is captured on camera. The plant was found in the Grafton NSW Australia area.
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