National Parks and Wildlife Service Pest Management (Aerial Shooting)

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    Closed consultation
    NSW
    Start 29/07/2024
    AEST 10:00
    End 11/08/2024
    AEST 17:00

    Submit feedback to

    Kailash  Willis
    NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service

    National Parks and Wildlife Service Pest Management (Aerial shooting).

    The issue

    In order to control feral animal populations, aerial shooting operations are often conducted by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Park Air in a Squirrel B3 helicopter. The crew consists of a Pilot, Navigator, Shooter and an on-ground Officer-in-Charge maintaining Flight Following for search and rescue purposes.

    The aerial shooting operations will be conducted within National Parks and Wildlife Services (NPWS) land tenure and specific adjoining private properties, near Nowra restricted air space, performing low flying operations that target pest animals only.

    HMAS Albatross Nowra and other airspace users may be potentially impacted by the upcoming aerial shoot on NPWS parks and reserves from Sunday 3 through to Friday 8 November 2024.

    Purpose

    This consultation is to seek feedback from other airspace users on planned aerial shooting operations for feral animal control by the New South Wales NPWS, South Coast Branch. 

    The proposed aerial shooting operations will take place in parks and reserves near Nowra restricted airspace from Sunday 3 to Friday 8 November 2024. 

    The next round of Post-Fire Aerial Shooting will be undertaken within the Shoalhaven and Illawarra Highlands section of NPWS South Coast Branch area of operations. In order to reduce the potential impact on other stakeholders, the aircraft will only operate during daylight hours and below 3500 feet. 

    This operation is part of a long-term pest animal control program that has been taking place since 1984 using highly trained shooters that are part of the Feral Animal Aerial Shooting Team (FAAST) staff. 

    There are no expectations to fly within the Nowra HMAS Albatross restricted airspace as most of the pest animals being targeted are further to the west in Morton National Park and Bungonia State Conservation Area. However, please note that this operation includes one shoot area, covering parts of Budderoo National Park just west of Kiama, that is close to restricted airspace. 

    Please see the mapping below for further detail. 

    Generally, we will be aiming for peak pest animal activity. This will likely involve flying/shooting with early morning starts (from first light) through to late afternoon (until last light), with intermittent operations throughout the day.

    Proposal

    Aerial shooting operations are proposed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), near Nowra restricted airspace, from 3 to 8 November 2024.

    Submitted by

    Helen Jessup
    NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
    helen.jessup@environment.nsw.gov.au

    Relevant documentation