Walls Of Jerusalem

[RichB]

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/20 ... -news.html

Does anyone else think this article in todays Mercury regarding the Walls of Jerusalem will just be another Govt money making scam?
I can see boom gates going up, and them charging overseas trampers huge sums of money to enter the walls, whilst us residents / tax payers
with our National Parks passes will just have to stay out of the way..Thats if we comply of course ..Anyone elses thoughts on this please..

[Nuts]

Thanks, welcome RichB. This took a while for someone to get to so bumping it up (not only cause I mostly agree )
Personally I think it is as much an us and them between governments & departments for funding but it does seem that more could be done than regulation/ registration..permits?. Good to see people involved (or at least concerned) as to what happens in parks.

[Nuts]

Here's another topic that may be of interest: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13757&p=183131&hilit=walls#p183131

[Walk_fat boy_walk]

I have no problem with the what is described in the Mockery article itself. Registration/regulation of larger groups seems perfectly reasonable to me (just my view... don't shoot me!). That said, I understand it may be the thin end of the wedge and some have mixed feelings about some of the other aspects of the draft management plan. Ideally lower numbers and less infrastructure would best preserve the wilderness aesthetic, but if the hoards are coming regardless do we corral them onto hardened surfaces? Honestly not sure. I know there's been a 'heated' debate in another thread about this... Incidentally it's funny to observe the different levels of discourse between even those diametrically opposed in views on BWT and the comments section in the Mercury article (Peter Spray of Howrah, take a bow). I had no idea so many people were against the idea of "locking up" wilderness for preservation's sake?!

[Ent]

Hi

I think the issue is not preservation but exploitation. Parks is looking for another cash cow to milk. Honestly, why charge for a Parks' pass and then start the round of restrictions and additional fees that tend to follow despite claims they will not.

I for one am very happy at the current level of development in the Walls maybe except the rather unsympathetic Wild Dog site but I accept something was needed. The track work is sensible for protecting the soil. Extending board walk apart from small erosion prone areas is not required. In fact I always thought the Walls was until a couple of years ago was a text book example of good park management and a credit to the rangers responsible.

Many people forget how far the park extends. Only a small area has heavy traffic. Bureaucracy in Hobart has or is in the process of stuffing up Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair to drive Tasmanians out. They "forget" that again only a small defined track is heavily used but use this as an excuse in an attempt to force locals out.

Regards

[Hallu]

I think we're far from the "milking the cash cow" policy. Tasmania still has a "please don't tell anybody" tourism policy, except maybe in mainland Australia. Tasmania will never be the bumper to bumper car tourism of the American parks, where hikers only dare visit in shoulder months. The WoJ valley will be crowded in the future, we were all expecting that, but I'm sure the rest of the park will still be a wild paradise. After all, you can still be alone in Cradle, places like Barn Bluff for example.

[RichB]

I dont wish to sound rude here, but if their objective is to force locals out..Well this useless Govt knows what it can do, and I hope we see everyone stand up against these useless parasites..