He can count on one hand the amount of times he’s done so in his 42-year-career.

That’s a downside of being a drover – but it’s the only lifestyle Mr Maconochie has ever known and loved.

“I was born into this in North Queensland, and travel interstate a lot,” he said.

“For the past two years I’ve been working around southern NSW.

“I work on my own, and take all my gear ahead on my horse and then come back for the cattle and move them along.

“I don’t get many holidays.”

Mr Maconochie is moving 510 cattle to Holbrook via a network of travelling stock routes and reserves more than 100 years old.

Rural people are familiar with the network, but many Border residents will also have accessed reserves to walk their dog or fish in a creek – there’s one only 10 minutes out of Thurgoona.

Standing at the Bells TSR on Monday, Peter O’Shannassy explained the land, largely characterised by shrub and grass, was of great value.

“The Riverina TSR network is one where travelling stock is still driven in much the same manner as it has been for 150 years,” he said.

“The idea that TSRs are there as a drought refuge is still valid, it’s just that TSRs obviously are exposed to the same conditions as the cocky’s paddock.

“A large percentage of uncleared crown land in NSW is national forests or TSRs, and in some areas they are the only example left of certain vegetation types.”

Just like the Newell, there are recognised highways drovers follow – from Corowa to Wagga, Wagga to Walgett and beyond.

Along the way, parcels of land are dedicated for reserves, where herds stop for an approved period of time.

Mr O’Shannassy said in more developed areas like Albury, conservation groups like Landcare linked their projects to TSRs to extend corridors and protect animals like woodland birds.

“TSRs are on land that is of high value to the original custodians, and TSRs are not just for stock, but are places to visit and are important to biodiversity,” he said.

For nearly 30 years Mr O’Shannassy, a team leader at Murray Local Land Services, has been investigating ways to improve the quality of these reserves.

He led a project from 2012 to 2017 managing the Riverina network, with $3 million from the federal government.

Of 635 reserves in the network covering 105,000 hectares, 109 were monitored, all of which contained at least one endangered ecological community such as inland grey box woodland.

A range of approaches were used to nurture the reserves; 1180 kilograms of seeds from over 30 species were used to reseed sites.

Altering grazing regimes aimed to increase pressure on exotic annual grasses, and reduce it on preferred native perennial grasses and shrubs – some boundary fences were removed to ensure stock could not be grazed for extended periods.

There was also management of species like rabbits, foxes and noisy miners, that posed a risk to flora or fauna.

Mr O’Shannassy said the goal of the project, to maintain all intact sites and increase at least 10 per cent to a high condition, was achieved – 70 improved.

“It was trying to get people to understand how grazing could be used as a beneficial tool in managing biodiversity,” he said.

“A lot of the areas that were graded low to medium in conservation value are now pushing up towards high.

“We got brilliant results with direct seeding and change of grazing.

“It was quite incredible to see the turn-around, and that makes the staff involved really proud.”

The outcomes achieved in the five-year project are being looked at closely for a management plan of TSRs across NSW currently in the works.

Consultation was held in regional towns, including Corowa, last year as part of a review to determine which of the reserves were still used for their original purpose.

Nearly 900 submissions were put to the review, which are yet to be published.

An interim report outlined of 1834 TSRs referenced in submissions, 47 per cent were used for stock and nearly all others had other purposes, including for emergency management, biosecurity or heritage – less than one percent were deemed no longer used or valued.

The final Travelling Stock Reserves Review report was due out early this year but is yet to be released.

The NSW Farmers Association is awaiting the document and policy director Kathy Rankin said despite some TSRs not being used, particularly in the west of NSW, they should be maintained.

“Livestock is being transported on trucks more than by drovers on a horse, but the network still has strong value in terms of livestock management,” she said.

“The most important thing for us is that they aren’t left to just be filled with weeds.

“We would like to see additional and more consistent availability of money from the NSW government for mitigation activities by LLS.”

Mr O’Shannassy echoed the need for a better funding model, as activities were largely funded by permit fees paid by livestock owners moving across the network.

“I don’t know of any other crown land managed in any state that’s not funded for at least its general maintenance,” he said.

“Management costs money and I think we’ve shown that TSRs deserve management and expecting LLS to do that with money only derived from grazing is a negative that can’t be ignored.

“We need government to start to look at some sort of funding per-hectare basis.”

These gaps in the existing funding model were raised by graziers and drovers on the ground during the TSR review, but they also raised other points.

They noted public access to TSRs is critical, “but has been restricted by locked gates, long-term grazing permits and illegal activity”.

On the flip side, where once graziers used to spend extended periods of time on one reserve, they are now moved on more quickly.

Mr Maconochie believed it was red-tape more than anything that led to less droving, though he said restrictions for conservation purposes were important.

“It’s not transport – it’s cheaper to walk cattle to where they have to go, but restrictions mean a lot of people don’t do it,” he said.

“If I need to find different grasses, I will.”

In his previous conservation work at the Coreen TSR near Corowa and in the years since, Mr. O’Shannassy has experienced resistance to the increasing focus on conservation and said it had required a paradigm shift.

“By large, they are co-operative,” he said.

“If you’re just trying to park cattle somewhere, that’s agistment and that’s not droving at all.

“They have their cattle’s interest at heart – that’s what they’re there for, to feed cattle – and are well aware if they over-graze, the cattle won’t do well.”

Management of TSRs continues to be worked on, and the Rural Fire Service recommended there should be only one management agency for all Crown land, pointing out that LLS authorises matters relating to grazing, but other activities have to be referred to Crown Lands for approval.

A statewide plan, and local plans, are currently in the works for management of TSRs.

The work of Mr O’Shannassy and his team will be of use for the entire state network, particularly after winning the prestigious Albert Morris Award – recognising outstanding ecological restoration projects – in September.

Murray LLS general manager Gary Rodda said the Riverina project was selected from five nominations from across Australia and New Zealand.

“It’s a very significant achievement, and making sure we get consistent statewide management of TSRs is one of the things the Albert Morris Award will help drive,” he said.

“A lot the learnings and practises we’ve put in place through this project are going to underpin that management.

“We’ve been able to demonstrate the huge benefits we get, using grazing as a conservation tool, and also the huge benefits we get when we have people co-invest in management of TSRs.

“We do need more funding and the plan for management we’re preparing identifies that and encourages co-investment.”