Wicklow fires and the burning of our uplands

TheChizler

shaveAbullock wrote: »

Also at what level within the Garda is it decided that farmers will not be prosecuted for this and again what is the motivation for this?

Same answer I guess, unless you have proof capable of convincing a judge or jury beyond reasonable doubt why would you prosecute?

Edit - just realized you're not arguing from the side I'm trying to convince

Thelonious Monk

Been some pretty big fires raging the last couple of days in different parts of the country. How much does this cost us every year I wonder?

https://twitter.com/whittledaway/status/1360549463656431616

Thelonious Monk

Count Basie wrote: »

Ruin the people who supply your food?

What could possibly go wrong?

maybe you just don't eat sheep?

Harry Palmr

Sheep farmers need shooting.

Gatling

Who thought it was a good idea to set "controlled fires" during high winds ,
Total idiots

Muahahaha

Just amazing that these lads get the land for free and then they dont respect it. Would expect to see more fires in the coming weeks, its the same every year and the Gardai and NPWS seem powerless to stop it.

Muahahaha

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just amazing that these lads get the land for free and then they dont respect it. Would expect to see more fires in the coming weeks, its the same every year and the Gardai and NPWS seem powerless to stop it.

Serious fines and lengthy jail time for any caught might be the only solution - a few examples may need to be made before people get the picture

Muahahaha

A few examples convicted would help a lot but the problem seems to be catching them in the act, that part isnt easy

Muahahaha

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just amazing that these lads get the land for free and then they dont respect it. Would expect to see more fires in the coming weeks, its the same every year and the Gardai and NPWS seem powerless to stop it.

These lands would be ungrazable if they werent burnt....its being going on with 100s of years (dont think they should burn near woods though)



Heather/scrub would soon take over and the spread of the ticks that cause lyme disease is rampant,burning will curtail it,so be safe for both hill walkers,but mainly animals

46 Long

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

maybe you just don't eat sheep?

Maybe he doesn't eat sheep but wears wool instead of polluting the oceans with microplastics from synthetic materials.

Muahahaha

Deleted User wrote: »

These lands would be ungrazable if they werent burnt....its being going on with 100s of years (dont think they should burn near woods though)



Heather/scrub would soon take over and the spread of the ticks that cause lyme disease is rampant,burning will curtail it,so be safe for both hill walkers,but mainly animals

yeah but the uplands are typically manged by the National Parks and Wildlife service. They manage these public lands and it is their job to burn it when necessary, not random sheep farmers doing it every year. This burning annually is damaging the very bio diversity the NPWS are trying to promote. Then on top of that it costs the taxpayer an absolute fortune every year to be putting helicopters in the sky for hours on end to put these fires out. And all because some people dont want to follow the rules of the free land they have been given to graze sheep. Its actually a slap in the face to the rest of society on how they are treating public land, they are costing us money for their own selfish benefit.

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

These lands would be ungrazable if they werent burnt....its being going on with 100s of years (dont think they should burn near woods though)

Heather/scrub would soon take over and the spread of the ticks that cause lyme disease is rampant,burning will curtail it,so be safe for both hill walkers,but mainly animals

NB I lived in Kerry alongside the National Park where so many of the fires were set. We were almost cut off in every direction by wild fires.

What you write is not true. Cutting just takes more time and trouble . Or carefully controlled burning , Not the "set fire and walk away" that is happening now.

One year 10 % of the National Park was destroyed. Far too great a cost when other methods including controlled burning, would work .

What you write is substantially untrue. Cutting would have the same effect. And there is no appreciable effect on the tick population as that is the wrong time of year. They breed on animals. Only then do eggs drop to the ground. Animals flee fire.

And if walkers dress appropriately then they will not get tick bites. re Lyme disease ; official figures are between 50 and 100 cases a year so hardly " rampant."

Graces7

Graces7 wrote: »

NB I lived in Kerry alongside the National Park where so many of the fires were set. We were almost cut off in every direction by wild fires.

What you write is not true. Cutting just takes more time and trouble . Or carefully controlled burning , Not the "set fire and walk away" that is happening now.

One year 10 % of the National Park was destroyed. Far too great a cost when other methods including controlled burning, would work .

What you write is substantially untrue. Cutting would have the same effect. And there is no appreciable effect on the tick population as that is the wrong time of year. They breed on animals. Only then do eggs drop to the ground. Animals flee fire.

And if walkers dress appropriately then they will not get tick bites. re Lyme disease ; official figures are between 50 and 100 cases a year so hardly " rampant."

Ticks are rampant in uplands area of the state,ask anyone shooting deer etc


I know people who have had to adbandon their grazing areas as too close to woods and unable to graze animals there without burning.....


A mountain coated in heather will inside a few years become a monoculture.....


Yous.claim about cutting etc,reminds me of the story of area around newhedge which the english equilivant of npws didnt want sprayed with pesticide,so sent an army of volunteers with slashers to cut thistles,

And upon request for second help as the thistles came back later in the year.....sent 3 drums of grazon90 instead

Muahahaha

Here we go again, from last night

https://twitter.com/FireWicklow/status/1368656027604901890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1368656027604901890%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.broadsheet.ie%2Fpage%2F2%2F

Thelonious Monk

Yes fires all over the place, Wicklow, Laois, Kerry I saw reported last night. No one ever gets done for it, it's sad. I guess farmers have to do it or we might get ticks though.

Muahahaha

A large part of Killarney National Park has been burnt out now with a huge loss of wildlife and their habitat.

MrMusician18

Muahahaha wrote: »

A large part of Killarney National Park has been burnt out now with a huge loss of wildlife and their habitat.

It's absolutely disgraceful what has happened to the park, decades of conservation work lost. What kind of clown goes out to do a "controlled burn" at midnight, during high winds and no rain forecast.

There absolutely has to be consequences for this and if that means the end of the commonage, so be it.

Topgear on Dave

Minister on RTE radio about it now. I wouldn't be holding my breath for anything to happen.

Thelonious Monk

Topgear on Dave wrote: »

Minister on RTE radio about it now. I wouldn't be holding my breath for anything to happen.

He couldn't care less by the sounds of things.

Graces7

MrMusician18 wrote: »

It's absolutely disgraceful what has happened to the park, decades of conservation work lost. What kind of clown goes out to do a "controlled burn" at midnight, during high winds and no rain forecast.

There absolutely has to be consequences for this and if that means the end of the commonage, so be it.

On the Killarney thread there was reference to a barbecue and a report re fire around midnight. But that does not answer re some of the fire locations.

I read the official reactions and this time there may be more repercussions. A third of the National Park is burnt out. For a start they are increasing the number of rangers. it also mentioned action re the farmers.

Farmers are allowed to burn until the end of February.

Graces7

Deleted User wrote: »

Ticks are rampant in uplands area of the state,ask anyone shooting deer etc


I know people who have had to adbandon their grazing areas as too close to woods and unable to graze animals there without burning.....


A mountain coated in heather will inside a few years become a monoculture.....


Yous.claim about cutting etc,reminds me of the story of area around newhedge which the english equilivant of npws didnt want sprayed with pesticide,so sent an army of volunteers with slashers to cut thistles,

And upon request for second help as the thistles came back later in the year.....sent 3 drums of grazon90 instead

??? Non sequitur. And all I said is from accurate scientific sources rather than anecdotal gossip.

We have lost a third of a national treasure and resource. Hen harriers nests burned.

Whoever is responsible in any way must be made to answer for it and safeguards put in place. Be that farmers , or whoever.

The sheer cost of the last few days; and a heroic work by our fire services prevented even greater damage.

Every year there are smaller instances of this.

magicbastarder

Graces7 wrote: »

On the Killarney thread there was reference to a barbecue and a report re fire around midnight. But that does not answer re some of the fire locations.

IIRC, there were fires during the unseasonably warm period this time last year when the whole country was in lockdown.
i'd put money on the barbecue story having been started by a farmer.

two wheels good

Deleted User wrote: »

Ticks are rampant in uplands area of the state,ask anyone shooting deer etc

I know people who have had to adbandon their grazing areas as too close to woods and unable to graze animals there without burning.....

A mountain coated in heather will inside a few years become a monoculture.....

Yous.claim about cutting etc,reminds me of the story of area around newhedge which the english equilivant of npws didnt want sprayed with pesticide,so sent an army of volunteers with slashers to cut thistles,

And upon request for second help as the thistles came back later in the year.....sent 3 drums of grazon90 instead

Nonesense! Where does nature left to its own devices create a mono culture?
I read about an experiment in uplands in the UK where a small area was protected from grazing and in a short few years shrubs and small trees had established themselves unaided i.e a more diverse environment.

two wheels good

"Significant forest fire" near Dunmanway. West Cork yesterday (Sunday) too. Link

magicbastarder

Half of national park now feared lost in devastating Killarney fires
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/half-of-national-park-now-feared-lost-in-devastating-killarney-fires-40358224.html