Posted 1st of July 2017 to the Mountain Scene Newspaper Queenstown NZ
It seems time for the some rethinking of the way our public lands are managed in high pressure places such as the Queenstown region.
The call to make a new National Park out of the Remarkables Range and also use the Public Works act to as a tool to preserve Iconic Landscapes
for the good of all is on the surface an easy solution, but be mindful that National Parks in NZ are a political football as far as funding goes and the
general public are not really encouraged to use them as originally intended when they first where designed.
It is standard practice for the Government not to plough profits back into parks that earn them. Certainly at the moment the Department of Conservation
ground staff are too few with too many jobs to cover and their Minister has directed them mainly onto biodiversity and not tourism.
Perhaps a more progressive Government might rule in the future and give DOC managers a bonus incentive but don’t hold your breath for that day.
Meanwhile as long as biodiversity is the number one objective there is no concrete way of measuring any value or even progress for that matter.
In the USA some special places get National Monument status and are preserved for historical & aesthetic reasons and Tourism.
Probably something to think of now that our traditional landowners are clearly under huge pressure from huge overseas & Auckland funded developments.
It seems time for the some rethinking of the way our public lands are managed in high pressure places such as the Queenstown region.
The call to make a new National Park out of the Remarkables Range and also use the Public Works act to as a tool to preserve Iconic Landscapes
for the good of all is on the surface an easy solution, but be mindful that National Parks in NZ are a political football as far as funding goes and the
general public are not really encouraged to use them as originally intended when they first where designed.
It is standard practice for the Government not to plough profits back into parks that earn them. Certainly at the moment the Department of Conservation
ground staff are too few with too many jobs to cover and their Minister has directed them mainly onto biodiversity and not tourism.
Perhaps a more progressive Government might rule in the future and give DOC managers a bonus incentive but don’t hold your breath for that day.
Meanwhile as long as biodiversity is the number one objective there is no concrete way of measuring any value or even progress for that matter.
In the USA some special places get National Monument status and are preserved for historical & aesthetic reasons and Tourism.
Probably something to think of now that our traditional landowners are clearly under huge pressure from huge overseas & Auckland funded developments.
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