Fire management

Bushfires pose a significant threat to life, property, and the environment. We have a responsibility as a land management agency to manage and reduce these risks to keep our communities safe.

Crown Lands works with other public land managers, fire combat and emergency management agencies, local councils, and community representatives in local Bush Fire Management Committees to ensure a coordinated response to both bushfire mitigation planning and bushfire emergencies. This also includes the management of fire trails, Asset Protection Zones (APZs) and other bushfire management activities including hazard reduction burns.

Our ongoing bushfire mitigation program includes the upgrade and maintenance of fire trails and Asset Protection Zones (APZs), and hazard reduction burns within bushfire districts across the state. This work is governed by the Rural Fires Act 1997.

Crown Lands’ expenditure on bushfire mitigation ranges from $12–20 million each year, supported by funding from various Australian and NSW Government sources. Our works program includes:

• Maintaining over 670 hectares of APZs on Crown land, reducing the bushfire risk to approximately 31,000 properties across the state.
• Establishing and maintaining APZs through slashing, mowing, tree pruning, or removal.
• Maintaining and upgrading approximately 2,120 km of fire trails on Crown land, providing safe access for firefighters during bushfires and hazard reduction burns. This work can include grading, drainage, and vegetation maintenance, installation and maintenance of infrastructure such as signage, bridges, culverts, fencing, and gates to facilitate access and compliance.
• Facilitating hazard reduction burns on Crown land through local fire authorities.

We developed a Cultural Burn Program in response to recommendations from the 2019–20 Bushfire Inquiry. This program aims to facilitate cultural fire management on Crown land.

We work with the Rural Fire Service to check the condition of fire trails from helicopters ahead of the bushfire season. These annual inspections allow for quick identification of critical work required to make trails operational prior to summer and are supported by on-the-ground trail maintenance by the NSW Soil Conservation Service.

Each year, hundreds of fire trails – covering thousands of kilometres of Crown land, including multi-tenured fire trails across national parks, state forests and adjoining areas – are inspected by helicopter. These inspections ensure that fire trails are safe and accessible for firefighters.

Aerial inspections are an efficient way to inspect the fragmented Crown land fire trail network, particularly in remote or less accessible areas, reducing inspection times from months to weeks. The helicopter, equipped with a camera, identifies issues that require follow-up work, such as fallen trees, erosion, vegetation growth, and damaged creek crossings.

Following aerial inspections, condition reports are circulated to Bush Fire Management Committees. Contractors are then engaged to remove vegetation, repair erosion, and undertake drainage and soil stability work.