Autumn provides the best opportunities for Planned Burns

As the weather becomes cooler and rain more frequent, land managers around Tasmania will take the opportunity presented by the favourable conditions to conduct prescribed burning. Forestry Tasmania will begin its regeneration burns in the days ahead.


Fire has always been part of Tasmania’s landscape and is a necessary part of the life cycle of Tasmania’s eucalypt forests. By conducting these burns we mimic the natural process of regenerating eucalypt forests by fire. This is part of being a responsible forest manager and ensures a future availability of forest products.


Photo 1/ 1989 Picton 39A after regeneration burn



Photo 2/ 2003 Picton 39a now showing vibrant new forest

Fires create ash, which supports the germination of seed and growth of new eucalypt trees and the safest time for this burning is in the autumn, when weather conditions are stable and surrounding areas of forest are damp.


Autumn is also the best time of year for land managers to conduct fuel reduction burning. As part of an ongoing investment in reducing forest fuels, The Government of Tasmania recently produced an informative booklet entitled Fire: Managing the Risks, which is available for download as an Adobe PDF file - click to download . It sets out the government’s plan for creating corridors of low forest fuel loads with the goal of helping to protect communities from the risk of large and dangerous bush fires.

The booklet also offers information for those suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses.

Forestry Tasmania and the Forest industries Association of Tasmania jointly support the Tasmanian Forest Industry planned burning web site, which can be found at www.plannedburnstas.com.au

Each day during the burning season, generally late March to late winter, the map on this site is updated at 10:00 am to show the burns likely to be undertaken around the state. The map may be updated at other times of the day if operational considerations mean that burns are withdrawn or additional burns proposed.

Note: multiple copies of the brochure Fire: Managing the Risks are available for tourism operators and anyone else looking for information on the rationale and benefits of planned burns. Simply contact Forestry Tasmania at forestry.tasmania@forestrytas.com.au, or phone 6233 8203