Catchment champions

Amidst an expected flurry of well-deserved back slapping, I just hope the gaiter-clad hikers will somehow find enough puff to blow out the 25 candles that will adorn their cake.

They'll be tired, but it won't be from trudging up a challenging mountain peak, nor from a long-multi-day trek through rugged back country. No, they'll be exhausted from another long day in the bush, crouched on all fours … weeding.

This Thursday the dedicated band of volunteers will complete their 25th annual work party assisting ACT Parks to prevent an aggressive weed – English broom (cytisus scoparius) – from taking over the upper Cotter.

John Thwaite, the founder and coordinator of the secateurs-wielding walkers for the first 20 work parties explains the genesis of the project.

"In 1993 the club decided to undertake a long-term conservation project in Namadgi," adding "it was seen as a way of giving something back to the area that has provided so much enjoyment to club members over many years."

"When the broom control project began, the Cotter Hut area was badly infested with thousands of very large mature broom plants, explains Cynthia Burton, Thwaite's successor, adding, "the seeds of these plants can lay dormant in the soil for more than twenty years, so it was clear that this was going to be a long-term partnership."

And what a success it has been.

Revisiting the site annually and removing up to 1000 plants each year, the CBC in conjunction with ACT Parks has curtailed the spread of this very invasive plant.

Recently, to gain an appreciation of the scale of their efforts, I joined Namadgi Ranger Mark Elford on one of his patrols into the upper Cotter, along a series of typically bumpy fire trails a good hour's drive south-west of Tharwa.

Despite recent rains, not far from its source, the Cotter is not the virile river which delights day trippers and campers closer to town. Up here it's better described as a babbling brook.

Emerging from the seldom-visited forests of the Bimberi Wilderness we eventually reach the Cotter Flats, home of the Cotter Hut, historically the epicentre of the broom scourge in these parts.

Much-loved by rangers, especially those permanently stationed here early to mid-last century, this isolated outpost, which is more of a house than a hut, is now only used as occasional overnight base for rangers during field work. Despite this, it's clear that it remains a special place for this new generation of land managers, including Elford.

"It's part of the soul of being here at Namadgi," reveals Elford adding, "when I come here, I take a deep breath and realise why I became a ranger."

"Look, you have the Cotter, the whole premise for the national park, flowing through here," he says pointing the river trickling by just beyond the hut," adding "it's Canberra's water supply so it's critical we continue to look after this catchment".

"The perseverance of members of the CBC has been pivotal in preserving the unspoiled nature of the upper Cotter," says Elford, adding "their Broom eradication program has to be one of the most successful community land management projects in the ACT."

Elford explains it's the precise timing of the volunteer's annual work party, in late November each year, which is key to the success of the eradication program.

"Now is when the broom is in flower enabling you to spot it," he says, adding "it's also important to find the plant before it goes to seed, because that seed can lay dormant in the soil for up to 20 years."

"This also means the CBC has to keep re-visiting dozens of sites checking for plants just in case some plants grow back," adding "this makes for very laborious and long work parties."

"If left uncontrolled Broom will crowd-out all native vegetation and that will have knock on implications for other flora and fauna that live up here which will in-turn, negatively impact the ecology of our precious water catchment," explains Elford, adding "this is why the work over many years of the CBC to reduce Broom here has been invaluable".

Like Elford, I also dip my hat to the weeding warriors of the CBC. In fact later this week while Thwaite, Burton and Co tuck into their celebratory cake under the shade of the big gum adjacent to the Cotter Hut, back in Canberra, I'll quietly be raising a glass in their honour.

But no, it won't be of the alcoholic kind — it'll be a glass of water straight from the tap, which without efforts like these good folk from the CBC to maintain our pristine water catchment, probably wouldn't taste as good.

If you think we have the best drinking water in the country, I urge you to follow suit.

Canberra Bushwalkers Club: This week to mark their 25th annual Broom eradication work party along with shouting a hearty lunch for the CBC volunteers, ACT Parks is allowing the group the rare privilege of car camping next to the Cotter Hut. More: www.canberrabushwalkingclub.org

Cotter Hut: The current hut was built in 1960 for the Cotter Catchment rangers. For many years a slab hut was at the same location, having been first built in the early 1890s on the other side of the river by Thomas and Hannah Oldfield. Somewhat ingeniously, in the 1930s, the Oldfield's hut was moved by long-time Cotter Catchment ranger Jack Maxwell to be closer to firewood.

Did You Know? According to Matthew Higgins, in his Rugged Beyond Imagination: Stories from an Australian Mountain Region (National Museum of Australia Press. 2009) ranger "Jack Maxwell's attitude of his responsibilities of the job is best reflected by the fact that he would wear coat and tie while riding into the catchment at the beginning of a stint, and out at the end of one." How times have changed.

Don't miss: The epic 655 km Australian Alps Walking Track stretching from Walhalla in Victoria to Tharwa passes the front steps of the Cotter Hut. Generally, the hut is not available to visitors, and therefore is often locked resulting in many a weary walker sheltering from bad weather under one of the hut's water tanks.

Tim's Tip: Apart from the river and the hut, one on the most treasured (and photographed) features of the upper Cotter is Coronet Peak (1490m), which really does resemble a small crown.

Pooh's Corner

This column was recently buoyed by the number of soft toys at Pooh Bear's Corner on the Clyde Mountain.

Regular readers may recall the senseless vandalism in August this year when a heartless soul burned the collection of over one-hundred teddies at the iconic hairpin corner (Pooh Outrage, August 25). However, the response to replenish Pooh's roadside refuge has restored my faith in humanity.

Adorned with Poohs of every size imaginable and also friends like Tigger to keep him company, the landmark is once again a highlight for kids peering out of the windows of passing cars hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite fictional character. All that's missing now missing is a (very) big jar of honey.

Cryptic Clue: Does it look barren, jack?

Degree of difficulty: Medium - Hard.

Last week: Congratulations to Keighley Sutherland of Kambah who was first to correctly identify last week's photo (inset) sent in by Glenn Schwinghamer as some old machinery at Nil Desperandum "Homestead" in Tidbinbilla. Sutherland just beat a number of readers to the prize including Rosemary Parker of Fisher and Martin Kenseley who "walked around the loop there a couple of weeks back".

If you are in search of some solitude in a beautiful bush setting, you can roll the swag out in the basic rammed earth 1896 "homestead" which was given its name, "meaning never despair", by original owner, reclusive Irishman Henry Ffrench Gillman (a story for another column) in 1896. From $149 per night for six people. More: www.tidbinbilla.act.gov.au

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to timtheyowieman@bigpond.com. The first email sent after 10am, Saturday 18 November, 2017 will win a double pass to Dendy.

CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie St, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns online.