the park. By 2008, wild horse numbers in the National Park had reached 1,700 with that figure growing by up to 300 each year, resulting in park authorities coordinating their culling and relocation. Flora The high country is dominated by alpine woodlands, characterised by the snow gum. Montane and wet sclerophyll forests also occur across the ranges, supporting large stands of alpine ash and mountain gum. In the southern Byadbo wilderness area, dry sclerophyll and wattle forests predominate. Amongst the many different native trees in the park, the large Chinese elm has become naturalised. Snowy Mountain Bushfires In summer 2003, the Australian Alps experienced their largest bush-fires for over 60 years with an estimated 1.73 million hectares burning. The bush-fires burnt across Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) during a drought that ranks as one of the worst in 103 years of official Australian weather records. Fires are a natural feature of the park's ecosystem. In November 2004, a committee "The Snowy Mountains Bush-fire Recovery Taskforce" was set up by the NSW State Premier's Department to help residents in the region recover from the fires. The Taskforce commissioned Louise Darmody from Sound Memories to produce a documentary involving 26 people from the Snowy Mountains to talk about their experiences. The interviewees included farmers, school children, volunteers and employees from the NSW Rural Fire Service and National Park Snowy Hydro. Again in 2020, there was a large bush-fire in the Snowy Mountains. See also Skiing in Australia Snowy Mountains Scheme Kosciuszko National Park Bushfires in Australia - 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires References External links The Snowy: The People behind the Power – An historic account about the multinational workforce that built the Snowy Mountain Hydro-Electric scheme by Siobhan McHugh. Visitor's Guide to the Snowy Mountains - Visit NSW "Oral history interviews for the 'Spirit and Survival Project' regarding the Snowy Mountain bushfires by Louise Darmody, November 2004-January 2005". Amplify - State Library of New South Wales Catalogue. Retrieved 4 June 2018. "People of the high country interviewed by Klaus Hueneke,1976-1986". State Library of New South Wales Catalogue. Retrieved 4 June 2018. Great Dividing Range Biogeography of New South Wales IBRA subregions Regions of New South Wales