New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association Incorporated
Website: http://www.deerstalkers.org.nz

Media Release: 4 July 2005

NZDA Joins High Country Public Recreation Parks Campaign

The New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) has joined two other major outdoor national associations in promoting six new back country parks in the South Island High Country.

Announcing the decision at NZDA’s annual conference in Timaru, President Trevor Dyke said “These proposed parks are outstanding areas for hunting and other public recreation. Some of them already have iconic status, that needs permanent protection as public parkland. These areas are emerging from the slow process of pastoral lease tenure review. We join with the Federated Mountain Clubs and the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society in calling for these parks to become priorities for formation and protection”.

The “Six-pack” of proposed public conservation parks includes:
- the Inland and Seaward Kaikoura Ranges in southern Marlborough
- the Spenser Mountains and St James area in North Canterbury
- the upper Rangitata, Lake Heron, Arrowsmiths area in Mid Canterbury
- the Hawkdun Range in Central Otago
- the Pisa Range in west Otago
- and the Remarkable and Hector Mountains near Queenstown.

“ Many of these areas are important for big game hunting, especially the Kaikouras, Spensers - St James, and the iconic Rangitata-Arrowsmiths area that includes tahr” Mr Dyke said. Conservation park status gives preference to outdoor recreational activities, including recreational hunting. It is a more flexible and recreation friendly status than national park. Increasingly these areas, where there are publicly owned but privately leased pastoral lease, run the risk of having the public excluded and their public hunting and other recreational resources locked up for private gain” Mr Dyke said.

“ We join our colleagues Federated Mountain Clubs and Forest and Forest and Bird to stress to all political parties the outstanding value of these areas, and the importance to all New Zealanders of forming these parks for outdoor recreation” Mr Dyke said. “To achieve this it is essential to continue the High Country tenure review process of surrendering these outstanding areas from pastoral leases”.

ENDS

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