More than 20 Forests NSW field staff and casuals attended a two-day map reading and navigation course at Bombala in December to hone their skills for the fire season.

Forests NSW fire equipment and technology officer, Steve Brown, said accurate mapping and navigation skills were important when dealing with day to day work such as harvesting and fire fighting.

“Map reading is particularly significant as many forests’ roads are not marked on conventional maps,” Steve said.

Steve said one of the practical points covered by the course conducted by Forests NSW fire management branch was the location of water points close to the fire.

“We check the accuracy of maps and identify additional water points that may not have been identified on the maps,” Steve said.

“In drought times some of these water points dry up and should be checked before the fire season,” Steve said.

As part of the course, staff located water points on the maps to see if they could access them with either a slip-on unit on the back of a four-wheel drive or a fire tanker.

Forests NSW resource protection and infrastructure manager, Jason Vincent, said Forests NSW fire management branch’s input into fire planning for the Monaro region is important in protecting the forests assets.

“The course was very timely as we were about to roll out our new fire mapping atlas to enhance Forests NSW response capability,” Jason said.

This article appears in the Autumn 2008 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.