Northern and Yorke NRM Board Upper North Operations Officer, Kevin Teague, said the feral plants had infested the creek bed over a distance of more than three kilometres.

“Quite apart from competing with river red gums along the creek and the impact on the biodiversity value of the area, there were concerns about a fire risk for local property owners because of the density of the infestation,” Mr Teague said.

“If a fire occurred, the feral olives and ash could carry flames right into Melrose.

“Flooding emerged as a risk factor because of potential obstruction to the flow of the Willochra Creek and the possibility of water spreading onto low lying areas in Melrose, including homes, sporting facilities and the local caravan park.” The area is adjacent to the Mount Remarkable National Park, and it was also recognised that wind and birds could spread seeds from the offending olive and ash trees.

Kevin said local landowners were consulted about an NRM Board-funded proposal to eradicate the feral trees, and they were unanimously supportive.

“The eight affected landowners were very willing to provide access for machinery and workers to carry out the work,” he said.

Heavy machinery included a 28-tonne excavator to cut down the olive and ash trees, and an implement called the Bandit Beast that converted wood into five tonnes of mulch per hour.

Once the trees were felled, chain saws were used to reduce them to stumps that were treated with an environmentally friendly herbicide.

A wood chipper followed up the heavy machinery to deal with smaller trees that were left.

“There has been a total transformation in the creek bed, and the local landowners and towns people are most appreciative of the natural resource management

outcome,” Mr Teague said. Biodiversity support officer from theNRM Board, Anne Brown, said the project built on another success story upstream in the Willochra Creek.