Forest included in national park

Press, 21 November 1979, Page 7

Forest included in national park

Inclusion of the Waikukupa State Forest is among boundary proposals outlined in a management plan for the Westland National Park that will be released this week. The addition of the State forest area would be in line with the park board’s concept of a park stretching from the mountains to the sea. Other boundary proposals are the inclusion of Crown land in the Karangarua Valley, and portions of the Waiho loop and Crown land in upper Landsborough Valley. Some ridge line and skyline boundary adjustments are also proposed. The management plan details of the Westland National Park Board’s policy and aims for the preservation and use of the park. The secretary for the Westland National Park Board (Mr D. M. Martin) said this was the first management plan for the area since it was proclaimed a national park in December. 1960. Only in recent years had the National Parks

Authority put pressure on the park boards to produce such plans, he said. The closing date for public comments and submissions on the plan is March 28, 1980. Present boundaries of the Westland National Park encircle 88,680 hectares. In the east the main divide of the Southern Alps forms a common boundary with the Mount Cook National Park. The northern voundary is at Lake Wahapo and the southern skyline ridge, as viewed from the Karangarua River, forms the southern boundary. A narrow strip straddling Gillespies Beach Road extends westwards, almost to the Tasman Sea, The park reserves a variety of land forms and vegetation associated with the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. These provide a record of glacial fluctuations from the last ice age to the present day that is unparalled in New Zealand. Other proposals for the park include possible future wilderness areas, use

of land adjacent to Gillespies Beach, control of the road reserve surplus between State Highway 6 and the shorelines of Lakes Mapourika and Wahapo, and the employment of a park naturalist. The management plan states park policy on prospecting and mining which opposed the issue of prospecting and mining licences within its boundaries. Where such an activity will not detract from the park, the board may issue a licence subject to stringent conditions. The use of helicopters in wild-animal control will be strictly controlled by the park board and flying in any wilderness area and within the Franz Josef Glacier valley is forbidden. Recreational activities in the park are encouraged including walking, tramping, climbing, skitouring and hunting. Tracks, bridges and huts are provided throughout the park for use by the public, except in the wilderness areas.