Before clearing
Adequate provisions for fire breaks are mandatory by law. A huge effort went into complying to this requirement. Where possible Tiny, the mighty bulldozer pushed access roads. Where the incline or rock formations rendered Tiny impractical, manual teams were used to clear an area about 3m wide. While this is not enough to stop a fire, it does help with the making of further fire breaks or access for back-burning during a crisis.
This clearing further serves the dual purpose of providing a fire break as well as affording access for fence maintenance security movement as well as for fire fighting vehicles. These roads are small and not intended to be used by city cars. However, those of you who have diff-lock or 4×4 vehicles are the welcome to use these roads unless a sign indicates prohibited access. While doing so, please help us to look for fencing deficiencies or potential poaching traps (fortunately we have not found any here yet) in wire fences.
After clearing
In the 2008 season we also cleared the fence line on our northern border. You will note from the pic that the fence is only a weak cattle fence. This is because of the fact that there is a thin (some 50m) section of land running between the Alma road on the “Lemoenplaas” side which still belongs to the “Lemoenplaas”. The line we cleared here will thus also act as access corridor to facilitate the eventual upgrading of this fence.
