The Dunns Road fire started in a private pine plantation near Ellerslie Nature Reserve, located in the SW Slopes near Adelong, on 31st December and travelled in a southwesterly direction, threatening the townships of Batlow and Tumbarumba, and burning out an area of 333,940 ha in total. Catastrophic fire weather on the 4th January resulted in secondary fronts moving in a northeasterly direction, and the fire merged with the Green Valley fire south of Tumbarumba on the 11 January, and along with the East Ournie Creek fire, became a 600 000 ha megafire. Ecologically Endangered Communities (EECs), along with many threatened animal species, were severely impacted.
Murrumbidgee Landcare teamed up with Holbrook Landcare to produce an Ecological Recovery Report for the Murray and Riverina Local Land Services. Satellite mapping was used to identify the extent of EEC damage and the existence of refuge areas across the fire scar. Previous research on threatened species across the SW Slopes was collated, and ecological knowledge gaps were identified. Various strategies were developed for recovery including the protection and improved connectivity of EECs, engagement with key stakeholders to emphasise the importance of these EECs to ecological fire recovery, and the monitoring of threatened species across refuge areas to identify recovery nodes and improve scientific understanding.
