National Parks and Wildlife Service Pest Management (Aerial shooting)

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Closed consultation

NSW

Start 17/01/2024
AEDT 09:00

End 31/01/2024
AEDT 17:00

Submit feedback to

Kailash Willis

NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service

kailash.willis@environment.nsw.gov.au

Aerial shooting operations are proposed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), near Nowra restricted airspace, from 11 to 15 March 2024.

The issue

In order to control feral animal populations, aerial shooting operations are often conducted by 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 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 Monday 11 through to Friday 15 March 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 Monday 11 to Friday 15 March 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 new shoot area, covering parts of Budderoo National Park and Barren Grounds Nature Reserve 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