Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip, from 1955, shows the devastating environmental effects of land clearing and grazing in the high country (subalpine and alpine regions) of the Snowy Mountains in south-eastern New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria. Over scenes of dead trees and bare hills, the narrator describes the practice of intentional burning off and grazing and how these activities have increased the risk of bushfires and contributed to soil erosion.

Educational value points

• The documentary Snowy Hydro – Conservation in the Snowy Mountains was produced at a time when soil erosion was beginning to be recognised as an important environmental issue. Made by the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority (SMA) in 1955, the film publicised how the Authority was caring for a landscape made famous by AB 'Banjo’ Paterson in his poem The Man from Snowy River (1895). The Authority wanted to demonstrate its guardianship of the area, but was also conscious that the erosion caused by grazing could affect the water catchment area of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

• The clip highlights the environmental degradation of the high country in the Snowy Mountains. In the 1940s, the NSW Government established the NSW Soil Conservation Service to monitor erosion and the deterioration of water catchments, and to rehabilitate damaged areas. The Service persuaded the SMA to rehabilitate construction sites and implement erosion controls. In 2000, the SMA was recognised by the International Organisation of Standardisation for its ongoing environmental management of the Scheme.

• Pastoralists began grazing sheep and cattle in the high mountain region in the 1820s, often sending livestock into the mountain country during droughts. In 1889, the NSW Government introduced the Snow Lease Tenure Act, which granted pastoralists either a licence or lease to graze an area of alpine pasture for up to 7 years. The early leases and licences did not limit livestock numbers or the grazing season and this led to overgrazing.

• As demonstrated by the clip, the hard hooves of cattle compacted soil in the Snowy Mountains and prevented new plants from becoming established. The lack of plant cover then left the soil vulnerable to frost damage and water and wind erosion. Livestock movement on the alpine slopes also caused the formation of 'terracettes’, step-like terraces that eventually break down and slide into each other, stripping slopes of soil. Grazing in the region was phased out between 1958 and 1969.

• Prior to the 1950s, pastoralists frequently burned grazing land to remove undesirable vegetation and to promote the new growth of grass shoots for livestock to graze. Intentional burning was also used to prevent massive bushfires by reducing the forest litter that fuels fires. However, there is some debate about the effectiveness of this practice, and in the Snowy Mountains it has resulted in fire-resistant snow gums being replaced by highly combustible tree saplings and leafy scrub.

• Disruption of one element of an ecosystem can set off a chain of events, as shown here. When grasslands are burned, leaf and grass litter essential to the maintenance of the soil are also destroyed. As a result, bare soil is exposed and is vulnerable to the effects of frost and ice, causing further erosion. Furthermore, the risk of bushfire is increased by the intentional burning of snow gum woodlands. Rain compounds the effects of erosion, washing top soil into rivers and creeks.

• Snowy Hydro – Conservation in the Snowy Mountains is an 'expository’ documentary, a style that relies on the spoken word to advance an argument, and use images to support the argument. The voice-over script for the documentary may have been written first, generating a list of images for the camera crew to film. In expository documentaries, the narrator gives the impression of objectivity by using an authoritative tone similar to the tone of a newsreader or reporter.