Ownership of Western Arthur Range

This is not written in anger but with a feeling of sadness.

Some years ago there was plenty of controversy about managing the environmental issues resulting from bushwalking, especially in the more vulnerable alpine areas.   Parks and Wildlife Service put together a stakeholder group to work through the issues and try to find solutions.   The outcome of this was a mechanism that would trigger increased management actions as thresholds were approached or exceeded.

The initial target area was the Western Arthur range and PWS put in registration boxes to monitor campsite occupancy.  Books to record the information were printed for 2006 to 2007 and placed in the boxes.

Since then PWS have never reconvened the advisory group, however I recently walked along the Western Arthur  and what should I find but these very books still there at Cygnus and Oberon with all the data recorded by walkers for  the period in question (2006-07) plus plenty more for subsequent months up until now.

Two things spring from this observation; that I have spent many days between 1999 and 2006 on PWS advisory groups that have been a waste of my time, but more importantly that Parks and Wildlife have lost the tradition of a caring land manager.    It seems that various parts of the organisation are responsible for this and that, but no one has has a feeling of ownership to this area of wilderness.  If they did then leaving obvious signs of neglected follow-up in collecting these log books would not happen.  For example, helicopters ferry in and out toilets a few metres from the registration boxes, helicopters ferry in and out equipment and personnel for track work, helicopters ferry staff in to study fauna at Lake Oberon and so on.  Taking out defunct items could be achieved with hardly a minutes extra work.

PWS should take a leaf out of the way the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Australian Bush Heritage operate and get back to giving staff a feeling of ownership.

But to finish on a more positive note, I must congratulate the service for the magnificent work done and still being done in hardening the damaged tracks on soft soils, especially where done with rocks which is very impressive.  The hardened campsites and platforms are also greatly assisting in protecting the area.  All quite impressive really.