Natural Resource Management

Bruce Rock Natural Resource Management provides the following services for farmers and the Bruce Rock community:

Revegetation - includes species selection
Protection of remnant vegetation
Reserve management and roadside reserve management
Recycling
Project planning - Farm planning, environmental planning
Salinity management options
Sustainable agriculture practices - perennial pastures, pasture rotations, no tillage, tramlining
Surface water management
Water way and creek line restoration and protection
Threatened species protection (flora and fauna)
Deep drainage and Notice of Intent to Drain
Trial site preparation and planning
Coordination with State Government Agencies for information dissemination
Ground water pumping and disposal - Rural Towns Program
Grant Application and submission
Tidy Towns planning and on ground works
Monitoring and Evaluation of previous projects
Promotion of new industries - Aquaculture, nuts, native grasses
Bruce Rock Herbarium
Mapping - GIS software
Field Days
Education (schools) and Publicity
Increase Community involvement
Pests and Vermin control
Project management for Catchment groups

Bruce Rock Natural Resource Management Current Projects

The NRM Officer is currently working on numerous large projects throughout the Shire of Bruce Rock and beyond, some of these include:

Delivery of the “Adopting Innovative Practices to Improve the Resilience of Farming Systems in the Northern and Eastern Wheatbelt of Western Australia” project, funded through the Australian Governments, Caring for our Country funding program. Delivery is being carried out in association with the North Eastern Wheatbelt Regional Organisation of Councils (NEWROC) & Wheatbelt East Regional Organisation of Councils (WEROC) NRM groups;
Delivery of the Salt Land Pastures Association (SPA) Enhancing Valley Floor Environments Project;
Delivery of the 2009 SPA Incentive Program and
Community water grants – implementation of on ground works, just to highlight a few.

Granite Way Committee

The Shires of Bruce Rock, Kellerberrin, Tammin and Quairading have joined together to highlight the conservation and tourism values of some of our most famous landmarks. The Granite outcrops of Mt Caroline, Mt Stirling and Kokerbin Rock are located in an adjacent corner of the above shires. Each of the Council’s would like to increase tourism value of these natural features but realise that they have intrinsic environmental and cultural value. Through the committee Bruce Rock Landcare plays a major role in highlighting the environmental value of these areas while working on an eco-tourism basis to conserve the native beauty of the rocks for future visitors

Rare Plants

The Bruce Rock Shire is home to some of Western Australia's rarest plants which includes Symonanthus bancroftii and Rhizanthella gardneri (underground orchid) both of these species are currently involved in translocation projects aimed atencouraging reintroduction to known areas and actual planting of seedlings in related sites.

Recycling

The Bruce Rock LCDC and Shire of Bruce Rock have worked hard over the last few years to increase the capacity of Bruce Rock to maintain a waste management site and recycling depot. The depot in Bruce Rock is open to the whole community and also includes a drum muster for chemical drums, oil recycling for household and farm oils and seven large skip bins as a drop off point for town recyclables.

Salinity Education

One of the main roles of the LCDC is to implement on ground projects that target salinty control and to use the compiled results to promote natural resource management and provide information on the methods used to help alleviate problems associated with salinity and rising groundwater. This includes a large cross section of the community including school children and sporting groups.