The treasury want DoC to reduce its stock so any obstacle to replacing or building new huts by making them expensive would be an attractive proposition. There have been exceptions such as the wonderful West Coast conservancy's attitude to renovating huts but the purse strings will now be severely tightened unless as we all know the budget is for a hut that tourists patronise big time.
I envisage if we want to save our huts we're going to have to try to get Doc to accept an offer for the community to take the hut over. Even then, a solid genuine offer backed up by expertise and money has been rejected in the past. Anyone remember the Greenlaw Hut debacle?
There is a strong indication that DOC will attempt to convince tramping clubs,NZDA and other groups to take over maintenance of huts .The Dorset Ridge Hut in Tararua FP is one hut that has "Community Maintenance Agreement" with Amalgamated Helicopters . Sayers Hut ,Neill Forks and Cattle Ridge Huts were on the list to be maintained by NZDA ,Wellington and Wairarapa Branches.Fortunately for the tramping,hunting fraternity that use the Tararua,Aorangi and Rimutaka FP there is a "watchdog committee" called the Tararua/Aorangi Huts Committee who monitor/consider/propose work and improvements to all huts in the area of DOC Wairarapa ,Waikanae and Poneke Area offices.This committee has reps from all tramping clubs and NZDA ,they meet regularly,and DOC has reps to each meeting to update work in progress etc.The big problem at this time for DOC is that they are losing vastly experienced staff who can see the writing on the wall(Wayne Boness of Waikanae Area ,gone to WRC)and there will be no one to replace him or his knowledge in the near future.
The mandate being the 60% of all DOC work is to be carried out by volunteer groups, funded by sponsorship or carried out 'in partnership' with business. Examples of the latter being mining companies paying for conservation work to compensate for devastation caused elsewhere, concessioneers paying for maintenance in return for access, ...
Welcome to the brave new world.
Volunteer labour could be an tricky criteria, if you consider that it's probably unclear just how much is already being done voluntarily in ways that are hard to measure, but which might otherwise result in extra work for DoC to manage.
I think FMC has a reasonable argument that by international comparisons and compared with GDP, DoC is being publicly funded about half as much as what it "should" really be getting. Of course, that value combined with the word 'public' probably also depends on one's point of view, because I expect not everyone thinks NZ needs such a big public conservation wilderness, especially people who rarely see or use or experience it.
Way back in the good old days (you can always get an idea of how ancient the person is who says this)huts were built,mainly, by tramping clubs and NZDA.(Tararua,Aorangi and Rimutaka FP and Ruahine FP.) When the wild animal control thing got going ,NZFS stared putting in the standard 6 bunk open fireplace huts(perfect even in this day and age)in remote areas of the parks.Repairs and maintenance were only basic,but adequate.We just did the job.
Now the problem facing DOC is not only a financial one,there is also the dreaded Occupational Safety and Health monster.DOC managers arent keen on accidents to staff or volunteers as they get out of their comfort zone when questions are asked about cause of same.I personally have been in the firing zone , when a Hut Warden nearly died in a diabetic attack(he was in a coma when found ) while walking into Totara Flats Hut.Luckily for him , me and the HutWarden "co ordinator" we didnt have to appear in the coroners court.Keeping staff and volunteers safe in the field is a huge responsibility for managers and this is an area where DOC will almost surely struggle to administer effectively with volunteers.
I just came back from a weekend at Roaring Stag and Cattle Ridge Huts.I hope someone can come up with some money for maintenance as Cattle Ridge is(to me anyways)one of the iconic style forest service huts and could badly do with some maintenance.I know moneys tight but id rather stay at a hut like Cattle Ridge than some horrible place like Powell anyday!
Yes, anyone who volunteers for an organisation which has paid employees comes under the OSH regulations. This is why Frank and I just go and 'do it' without DoC's knowledge. As long as we're using handtools and operate on the 'don't ask, don't tell' principle, it's OK with them. We ensure the tracks are safe and hazard-free e.g. no pruned ends poking out or sticking up and no cut stuff on the track to make it slippery and our marking is far better than what their staff can achieve i.e. no permolats put on rotten or dying trees, always visible from the nearest permolat in both directions (so no dog-legs), and permolats not fully nailed in - especially on smaller trees with scope to grow - otherwise the markers becomeinvaginated over time/the nails pop out and the markers pop off. Off-record they said if volunteers could cut to our standard, they'd be happy. However all this is no solution to the above dilemma!
So should recreational groups (Deerstalkers, FMC, etc) be campaigning for the government to loosen regulations in this context?
With the regulations combined with lack of funding, I can sympathise with DoC not wanting so much "stock", even if volunteers take care of most of it. Each structure is still a DoC liability regardless, which DoC has to be convinced is up-to-scratch. That means vetting the volunteers and making sure they're doing what they're meant to be doing. It also means that DoC suddenly has to deal with things if volunteers pull out.
One of the ironies to me seems to be that if you go back and read some of the histories from when so many of these huts were going in, of just remember it if you're so inclined, many back-country users were voicing concerns about the loss of wilderness.
The company i work for(Downers NZ)actually does a bit of track maintenance around the Wellington region so sometimes i find i take a pruning saw with me.On the way up to Cattle Ridge i must admit to cutting a few overhanging leatherwood branches!I certainly wont be voting National this election due to their not supporting the conservation estate(probably vote Greens).
I dont know if the following is true but if it is it is a suitably hard brick wall to hit head against.
Apparently one of the Waiarapa clubs offered to take over maintenance of a lesser used track. Im not sure if there was a commercial part to this arrangement. Doc was fine with it except that one of the requirements was that any reported treefall was cleared within 48 hours. This is slightly difficult for a tramping club to achieve.
