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| Post Number: 1
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4 matai 
Group: Members
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul. 2012
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,17:13 |
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Hi all. Are you aware of DOCs intention to grant a concession to Riverstone Holdings Ltd to run a monorail through the Snowden Forest Management Area? Its part of a catamaran/4WD ATV/Monorail/ Bus tourist excursion from Queenstown to Milford Sound and back. The monorail section travels through 29.5 km of the Snowden Forest, a great little fishing, tramping and hunting area pretty close to Te Anau. The monorail involves a track at least 6 m wide, cleared to a height of 7 m, and supported by a construction track at least 3 m wide, with spur track linkages every 200 m. It will involve 3 rivers, the Mararoa, Whitestone and Upukeroa with bridges over them all and 13 others in their catchments. The developers are proposing to bulldoze about 67 ha of pristine lowland red beech forest to drive the tracks through. They plan to compact most of the fell on site, and do not appear to have recognised, nor indeed mitigated, the effects that this, and run-off and sedimentation from this vandalism will impact upon the fisheries in the rivers involved. The Mararoa and the Whitestone are rivers of "exceptional water clarity and quality". There's an organistaion set up to help stop this madness http://www.savefiordland.org.nz/[/URL] and another site that covers most of the details [URL=http://fiordlandmonorail.info/]. Add all this to the potential loss of more back-country fishing areas, as well as the loss of remoteness and you can see why I'm a bit less than happy. Read on, Cheers 
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| Post Number: 2
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greg
Group: Members
Posts: 242
Joined: Oct. 2005
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,17:25 |
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I'm looking at fishing the Whitestone through the Kiwiburn area for the first time this October. Would be a real shame to see this area destroyed.
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| Post Number: 3
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4 matai
Group: Members
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul. 2012
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,17:58 |
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Well you'd better get in quick Greg. The Kiwiburn Hut is going to be shifted and the track re-routed also. Hey, and just in case you do go, the upper Whitestone does't open till November 1st...lots of spawning trout up there until then, Good luck. Did you sign the Save Fiordland petition?
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| Post Number: 4
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powergel
Group: Members
Posts: 191
Joined: May 2011
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,18:26 |
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Thanks 4matai
....informative site....petitions signed....
regards
Ross
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| Post Number: 5
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robertsan21
Group: Members
Posts: 444
Joined: Aug. 2009
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,20:37 |
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Signed since a few weeks back, we need to stop this madness.
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| Post Number: 6
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Alex
Group: Members
Posts: 51
Joined: Dec. 2011
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,21:42 |
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Petition signed, shared on facebook and will continue to spread the word...
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| Post Number: 7
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Dave
Group: Members
Posts: 125
Joined: Aug. 2005
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,23:13 |
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Greg = Fishing the Whitestone from the Kiwiburn on the 1st of October would not be a good idea as the Whitestone above the Prospect Bridge does not open until 1st November. By the way the Whitestone is quite small where the track from the Kiwiburn meets the river.
This concern on the monorail is a bit late. There was a period for submissions some time ago and the hearings have been held. I did put in and presented against the monorail.
I am a little concerned about the Save Fiordland group as I suspect that their motives are commerial not environmental. Saving the area from the developers is the right thing to do but for environmental reasons not commercial.
Dave
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| Post Number: 8
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4 matai
Group: Members
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul. 2012
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,23:19 |
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Cheers guys, keep passing the word. It could happen to a river or National Park near you. There are serious issues of due process here that have not been followed. The whole country is organised with Regional Management Strategies...supposedly set in law, involving hundreds, if not thousands of recreational users up and doen the country. And DOC chooses to ignore what we, the "stakeholders" (hate that word) pay them to protect. This is asset sales by stealth.
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| Post Number: 9
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4 matai
Group: Members
Posts: 9
Joined: Jul. 2012
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Posted on: Aug. 12 2012,23:40 |
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Cheers Dave, I wouldn't be too concerned about the motives of the Save Fiordland group. You'll see that keeping the World Heritage Park status tops their manifesto. Most in fact seem to be environmentally concerned rather than commercial. Either way, stopping the commercial exploitation of more of our areas of remoteness is the aim. Private gain, public property as I see it.
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| Post Number: 10
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