Rangers have burning desire to take care of their Country

It’s a good time of year for the Pormpuraaw Land and Sea Rangers.

17 June 2026

Rangers Clinton Williams, Wesley Conrad, Kiren Tarpencha, Lewelyn Gilbo, Tristan Ballie and Beau Kendall. Picture: Christine Howes.

By CHRISTINE HOWES

IT’S a good time of year for the Pormpuraaw Land and Sea Rangers, as they make their way around as much of their Country as possible, building firebreaks and setting fires to protect them from wildfires later in the year.

“We have to do around the town first, before we head out and do the homelands from north to south,” Ranger Wesley Conrad said. “The best thing about the firebreaks is you get to get out on Country and look after homelands.”

Ranger Kiren Tarpencha, who is in his seventh year as a ranger, said they normally started when things had dried out a bit from the wet season – which has been longer than usual for the past few years.

“We get our fire permits and then we start from May, burning until the end of July,” he said. “Late fires won’t be any good for Country and native animals can get burnt out, especially later in the year, it can come through and burn everything.”

He said a helicopter was now part of their routine. “We probably do two or three stints with the chopper, dropping incendiary balls,” he said.

Fires at sunset, east of Pormpuraaw. Picture: Christine Howes.

Caring for Country

Llewelyn Gilbo, now in his sixth year as a ranger, said he was keen to help with looking after his Country.

Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council Environment Health Worker Tristan Ballie said he worked closely with the rangers.

“Animal control and environmental health, they all come under the same department,” he said. “I believe, thousands of years ago, our ancestors used to do early burning too, to bring the Country back to life. That’s one of the reasons we do it, and the other is to stop wildfires later in the year, when the place dries up in September/October.”

They said there was also a biosecurity presence in the community. Ranger coordinator Clinton Williams said the big picture was they had a very large area to cover and partnerships were important to them.

“It’s just not fires that we’ve got to take care of, it’s biosecurity, feral animals, invasive weeds, tourism,” he said.

“We also have a turtle-monitoring program out on the beaches, taking care of marine turtles, so there’s just more than one thing happening here in Pormpuraaw out on-Country. It’s really important that we connect and make these relationships and network with other stakeholders like DAF, Biosecurity, Cape York Natural Resource Management and fisheries.”