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[Campin Time]

I have been camping down the East Coast near St Helens and surrounds forever ! That is 40 + years.
My favourite spots are gardens road areas and the Dora Point area.

I am getting a tad worried now that most of my favourite spots have barriers in ground, shrinking the actual areas.
I know this is said to be for re-generation and prevention from damage to the area's but I have yet to see any real damage cause by conservative campers, usually its the younger crowd who simply arrive to rage over Xmas / New year period.

Plus the so called re-generation spots closed off ten years ago never get re-opened hence the allowable areas have shrunk quite considerably.
Once on the N.W you cpould camp all around Sisters Beach, Boat Harbour etc etc but that is all now closed off.
The more sheltered spots on the East Coast are the best places in Tas. Sure you have West Coast areas to camp but not like the East.
Down West one trip in three yeilds stable weather !, thats the difference.

What I wanted to ask is what vision does the Parks / Wildlife have for camping in Tas for the next 20 years ?

I fear its a closure mentality and forget it.

Your views ??

[Mystic]

Hi campin Time. Love those areas around St Helens myself, and often spend a few hours chatting with the head ranger in the area when I go there. They do a fantastic job in maintaining the roads and camping areas there. Last time I was at Dora's it looked like they were actually increasing the number of spots.

On the other hand, I have not seen one single area around the state that had not been damaged by idiots. Most of the damage results from broken beer bottles scattered about (Butlers Gorge is the worst for this) and trees that look to have been cut in an attempt to gather firewood. (Perhaps they don't realise green wood does not burn). One of my favourite spots at Trial Harbour was severely vandalised by unknowns when a complete grove of trees (that formed an excellent windbreak) had been removed.

While much damage is done by the younger crowd, as you say, they are not solely responsible for it. I have seen many groups of older men gather for a weekend who seem to think the camping ground is also a huge rubbish dump. One of my most vivid memories of this kind of behaviour was at Chain of Lagoons, where a group of men arrived in about 4 utes, discovered the spot they had selected was not big enough, so, instead of choosing one of the many larger sites available, started clearing trees to make their chosen site bigger. When they left at the end of the weekend there was a pile of rubbish about 6 feet high, neatly stacked in one corner. Meanwhile, the utes were driven out virtually empty.

Unfortunately when we see more and more of this kind of attitude prevalent throughout the campgrounds it is no surprise the spots are being reduced. Many of us are responsible and look after the areas, but the numbers of those who don't are increasing, and this is killing it for the rest of us.

One of my pet hates is people who take dogs into reserves and then allow them to run free. I have seen the results of dogs all too often, with the mangled bodies of pademelons and other wildlife strewn about. Many times I have suggested to people that their dogs should be leashed at all times, and had a lot of abuse as a result.

Parks & Wildlife is being closed down through the stupidity of our current government, and this can only result in even less work being done to maintain camping areas and our national parks.

Ultimately though, it is the responsibility of the people who use the areas to at least respect them, and also to help maintain them. If we are the ones who want them kept open and in good condition why should we demand that some other person keep them in good order?