BARMAH cattlemen are demanding immediate access to the local red gum forests to graze down dense vegetation they say poses a fire risk.
The Department of Sustainability and Environment told the cattlemen last Friday their cattle would not be allowed in the forest this summer.
Barmah Forest Cattlemen's Association president Kelvin Trickey said he was astounded at the decision given the density of vegetation in the forest.
"My son's over six feet (1.83m) and there's wild oats up to his chin on Barmah Island," Mr Trickey said."
"We could put 70 cattle in there and clean it up, but Parks Victoria won't let us."
Barmah CFA Captain Shane Moor, who inspected the fuel load on Barmah Island last week, said it posed a high fire risk to the Barmah township.
He said residents located on the southern side of the island were right in the path of a fire driven by a north wind.
However, DSE North-East Land and Fire manager Peter Farrell said recent vegetation assessments found Barmah continued to suffer from the effects of the drought.
"A decision to allow grazing would have been against ecological grazing principles," Mr Farrell said.
"The assessment determined that recovery of native vegetation had not occurred since cattle were removed in autumn 2007."
But Mr Trickey said the Government was implementing the recommendations of the Victorian Environment Assessment Council, despite its claims that it was business as usual.
The Government has established a panel to examine the impacts of the VEAC report before making a final decision on its recommendations to create 100,000ha of new national parks and reserves, from Lake Hume to the South Australian border.
Rivers and Red Gum Environment Alliance secretary Max Rheese said DSE had again put "dubious ecological values before the value of human wellbeing and local communities".
