Dozens of huts to be removed from Te Urewera

I don’t see the point of removing a public resource ? They are functional, could well do with upgrades, but that could take place on a case by case basis Is this just like a dog marking it’s territory on a tree ? To make what point exactly ? What about the great walk huts ? Makes no sense. I expect we’ll get some sanitised comment from the minister, but no real insights Call me cynical

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr/476295/te-urewera-backcountry-huts-will-be-gone-by-christmas-critic-says "A former Department of Conservation ranger says plans to remove 55 backcountry huts in Te Urewera is "a shocking abuse of departmental power". "What we're witnessing is the biggest case of backcountry vandalism ever committed in New Zealand being promulgated by the government department charged with the role of preserving those same structures, without consultation," conservationist Pete Shaw told the Beacon." i doubt they will replace most of the huts the iwi claim they arent being used much, which isnt entirely correct the place is humming with people during the roar and on summer holidays.. if they believe they arent being used much then why spend money replacing them they may just not want to have to maintain them at all

Does anyone Know where we can find a timeline for this, or a list of huts to be removed? I cant believe Rogers Hut will be taken out! Surely thats quite significantly historic?

It is unclear how many new structures will be built and what they will look like. Sources told Stuff the estimated total replacement cost of the 50 or so huts in Te Urewera would be about $10m. Sounds fair. Tell me again how much Totora Flats cost to rebuild 10 years ago. I think it was 2mil for one hut. Ok a big nice hut but still

a photo gallery of all the huts are here https://www.facebook.com/groups/1678617252359271/posts/3275880005966313/

Join our voices to save Te Urewera huts constructed by volunteers and paid for by all of us. Save our taonga, our mahi, our huts! https://chng.it/6pG4yLgML9 In this video you can see one of the Te Urewera huts I tramped to just a few weeks ago. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mTeKBnx3hCKkrgmqJBMKS1SadC9uwut2/view?usp=sharing The visitor book in that hut was full of kind words from trampers and hunters who enjoyed staying in that hut over the last few years. It also included a record of a recent hut inspection by DOC officers stating that this hut is in a good condition.

This is devastating, Ive wanted to visit many of these huts. Even a great deal of maori are unhappy about this too. I think the best way to save these huts is to get a group of us to all occupy them. Sadly they have already removed 15 of the huts, they had been already doing it behind our back!

Does anyone have a sense of whether it is possible to tramp and camp and or kayak and camp on/by the lake and the rest of the Urewera? Can you drive and park at a road end and do a trip in the Urewera or are roads/road end carparks closed, is there a sense of hostility towards outsiders doing such things or not? I live at the other end of the country now, so not so likely to do much up there, but I have happy memories as a kid of camping at Aniwaniwa and pottering around Lake Waikareiti in the rowboat that was sitting on the shore and available for anyone to use.

the parks is still open, its just The huts that arent. some roadends are bad for vandalism and theft.... there are places that will look after your car for a small fee. the TUT managing authority didnt want anyone in the park while there were various stages of covid lockdown going on... they put a rahui on the pack back then