National Parks and Wildlife ranger in charge of Montague Island Ross Constable said with gale force winds forecast for Thursday, the decision was made to commence the burn on Wednesday afternoon.

“The winds were just right and it was over in 20 minutes,” Mr Constable said.

“The window to burn closes two weeks into July so it had to be done quickly.”

The burn off occurs this time of year because 98 per cent of the island’s little penguins were away from the island with National Parks staffing only having to move a penguin after a thorough search of the area.

Managing wildlife was not without risk and an earlier burn did cause considerable controversy after a number of penguins were killed.

The whole idea of the burn off was to restore seabird habitat with the penguins getting tangled in the non-native Kikuyu and preferring the native scrubland that once covered the island.

The burning off of the 1.5 hectares was over in just 20 minutes with a helicopter assisting to keep the flames to the prescribed area on the southwest side of the island.

About 15 trained National Parks firefighters travelled to the island last week to oversee the burn that was subject to a peer review and approved by the regional manager.

This was the fifth burn on the island with National Parks about half way through the program to eliminate the exotic grass replacing it with native plants, including five native species such as wistringa, casurina and lomandera.

The seabirds on the island prefer these plants to nest and shelter, and the removal of the fire prone grass was imperative to safeguard the wildlife.

About 8000 seedlings are stockpiled at Kangarutha Nursery at Tathra that will be planted by students from Charles Sturt University.

Interestingly, also to be planted are a species of coastal eucalypt found on coastal headlands in the district.

Mr Constable said “there are photos showing gum trees up to 10 metres tall and it was the first lighthouse keepers that no doubt cut down and burned these trees, probably when the coal ships were delayed.

Once the trees and shrubs were removed, Introduced goats and rabbits also helped spread the spores of the Kikuyu grass that also spread by runners.”

Mr Constable said “the island was connected to the mainland only 40,000 years ago and so the plan was to restore its original plant covering.

The burn was on the edge of the off-limits Aboriginal area and an indigenous ranger was on hand to make sure the cultural aspects were preserved.”

“We’re half way through the project and all involved are like a well-oiled machine with everything going smoothly,” Mr Constable said.