Skills beat the rills at Normanby

Erosion is officially at risk of extinction at Normanby Station. In the last few months, the Normanby Rangers have been getting seriously skilled up in gully remediation, receiving training in operating bulldozers, excavators, rollers, loaders and water carts.

The Rangers have put their new skills to the test, remediating a large alluvial gully on Clayhole Creek.

With instruction from an experienced trainer and supervision by Cape York NRM, the Rangers have been fine tuning their techniques by knocking down steep eroded banks, cutting and filling material, compacting and smoothing to transform a massive eroded gully into a restored landscape.

The area will now be left to revegetate with a covering of gypsum, mulch and grass seed to establish over the wet season.

Ranger Coordinator Vince Harrigan is stoked with the results.

“We’ve really enjoyed this work and seeing the land restored. Having Glenn and Geoffrey to give the team training with the machines has also been great for us, because now we feel confident to do more remediation projects like this. We want to keep fixing up erosion on Normanby.”

Ranger Trainee Kelsey Harrigan said it was great to get involved in the project. “Working out on Country, having the opportunity to upskill myself, the Clayhole erosion work has given me the chance to learn to use the excavator and the dozer, which I enjoyed learning”.

The work at Clayhole Creek will save over a hundred tonnes of fine suspended sediment from entering Princess Charlotte Bay every year.