Abstract: Members of the Mountain Cattlemen’s Association of Victoria (MCAV) claim broad inter-generation al knowledge relating to the alpine landscapes in which they graze their cattle. Since the early 1830’s, they and their forbears have observed the effects of grazing on vegetation across the geographically diverse sites of their runs in Victoria’s high country. They have witnessed first-hand, fire behaviour and its effects in a variety of seasonal weather conditions, in a variety of high country vegetation types, in a variety of different growth stages. Mountain cattlemen have more than one and a half centuries of making such observations, trying out different grazing management and burning practices, and continually refining their practices based on their observations. Contemporary natural resource management theory and terminology calls this approach ‘adaptive management’. Mountain cattlemen are among the most experienced ‘adaptive management’ practitioners in Australia.