Meeting community expectations for a new national park was one of the many challenges faced by an equally new Parks and Conservation Service, recalls Paul Davies
The announcement by Minister Tom Uren on World Environment Day 1984 that Namadgi National Park would be established was the culmination of a lot of hard work and lobbying by the NPA and was recognition of the park’s significant conservation and cultural values
The announcement coincided with the formation of the ACT Parks and Conservation Service incorporating management of natural areas, urban parks and sports grounds, agriculture, forestry and the botanic gardens as a single land management agency. These events provided a significant challenge and many opportunities for staff in the new service and for many it was a memorable time.
There were many challenges including community expectation of new opportunities to explore Namadgi. People who were familiar with Gudgenby and Cotter catchment before Namadgi were keen to find out what the new national park would offer in improved access and facilities. Some were concerned about too much development. Whereas many people who were not familiar with the area wanted to know what it was and how could they access Namadgi.
The key activity for the parks service was to develop a management plan and get community input on a full range of issues. Work commenced almost straight away and key stakeholders were asked for input prior to the development of the draft plan. The draft plan was released for public comment in 1985 and included a broad range of issues and a long list of management priorities. The final plan was completed in June 1986.
Some of the more significant issues included continuing to manage the Cotter catchment as a source of up to 95% of Canberra’s water supply and how to allow limited recreation opportunities so that water quality was not compromised. A permit for limited camping in the Corin dam sub-catchment was proposed which would limit numbers and camping location away from stream banks.
Improving visitor facilities was another important issue including new or upgraded walking tracks, picnic areas, car camping areas, interpretation of the natural and cultural values of Namadgi and access to Aboriginal art sites and sites of early European settlement. The NPA was active and assisted in many of these proposals, for instance I recall walking the proposed Yerrabi track and identifying future lookout points along the Boboyan road with Reg Alder. There was also significant work done by the NPA on restoring the Orroral homestead, other huts such as Brayshaws were also restored and the Canberra Alpine Club volunteered at Mt Franklin Chalet. Conservation work was undertaken to protect the Yankee Hat art site and better manage public access and appreciation of the site.

Many people were interested in increasing access and opportunities for a broader range of recreation activities including 4-wheel driving and horse riding. The management plan proposed that the Naas fire trail could be used for 4-wheel driving on selected open days. Horse riding would be allowed along the Naas fire trail and old Boboyan road. The Naas fire trail became part of the Bicentennial national trail.
The ranger station at Glendale was considered to be too small and didn’t allow visitors to access information about the park at the entrance. So work commenced on early planning for a new Visitor Centre closer to Tharwa and working around a proposal at the time for a new water supply dam for Canberra on the Gudgenby river near Mt Tennent. The proposed dam would flood a large area around the Naas homestead and would be a major impediment to access to Honeysuckle creek, Orroral valley and Gudgenby areas of Namadgi. The dam did not proceed, and the new state of the art Visitor Centre opened on world environment day 1990.
Managing introduced species, especially ones which had significant impact on natural and cultural values, was a priority including continuing with rabbit and fox control. Feral pigs were a significant threat to natural values and also carried the possibility of spreading exotic disease. A coordinated program was undertaken in cooperation with the Bureau of Rural Sciences Exotic Disease Preparedness Program in collaboration with the CSIRO, the University of Canberra and neighbours to control pigs using Warfarin.
The Gudgenby fire in January 1983 burnt approximately 36,000 hectares was fresh in our memories and so a lot of work was done to identify and protect assets and high value biodiversity sites with rare or endangered species such as alpine bogs and fens, the corroboree frog and broad-toothed rat from wildfire. Areas for hazard reduction were identified and fire trails were maintained and some allowed to regenerate. Following the fire the Boboyan pine plantation needed to be rehabilitated, which would require significant amount of work and huge input from volunteers.

With the addition of the Cotter catchment Namadgi was now adjacent to Kosciuszko National Park and Bimberi Nature Reserve in NSW with access along the Mt Franklin road to Mt Ginini. This became an important access point for snow in winter and to the Mt Franklin Chalet. Cooperative management between the ACT and NSW was important to manage road access and provide car parking and walking tracks and manage Pryor’s hut. It also opened the opportunity to declare the proposed Bimberi wilderness across two jurisdictions.
In 1986 the Australian Alps National Parks Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Environment Ministers from the Commonwealth, NSW, Victoria and the ACT. This was a significant and highly successful initiative which greatly improved cross border management of the alpine national parks and was an important forum for exchange of ideas, experiences and knowledge between the park management agencies
The Parks Service was very keen to get community feedback and expert opinions, so established the Namadgi Consultative Committee, which quickly became the Parks and Conservation Service Consultative Committee. It was chaired by Prof Peter Cullen and had representatives from a broad cross section of community and specialist expertise including the NPA, conservation groups, rural landholders, 4-wheel drive club, ACT Heritage Committee, alpine ecology, fire ecology and the Ngunnawal community. The committee was heavily involved in the draft and final management plan and provided significant feedback and advice. Namadgi managers and staff also established working relationships with community groups, and we would often have meetings and field trips with the NPA, Canberra Bushwalking Club, Kosciuszko Huts Association, Canberra Alpine Club and many others. Relationships were also developed with the ANU, UCAN, CSIRO, the CRC for Freshwater Ecology and adjoining landholders in the ACT and NSW.
In 1986 the administrative arrangements for Namadgi were reviewed by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Environment and Conservation. The key issue was, would Namadgi be best placed under the control of the (former) Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service or the soon to be self-governing ACT? In the end the Committee’s recommendation was not implemented and the ACT Nature Conservation Act was amended and strengthened to cover the Committee’s concerns.
Namadgi was extended in 1991 to include the lower Cotter catchment and Mount Tennent. Both areas included significant areas of native vegetation and additional opportunities for recreation.
Then, in May 1995, the ACT Government announced it was considering whether Namadgi should be managed by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service as a cost saving exercise, but the community response was very swift and decisive in having the idea quickly defeated.
Despite some challenging times, especially fires in 2003 and 2020, Namadgi is a well- established and significant national park enjoyed by locals and interstate visitors. It was both an honour and an enjoyable time to be involved in the early days of Namadgi.
Paul Davies was Biologist for Namadgi from December 1984 and then acting Director of Conservation and Wildlife Section until 1992. Peter Hann former Manager, Namadgi, assisted in writing this article.
Top photo: left to right, Peter Hann and Brian Terrill, joint managers of NNP for the first few years; Rob Watchorn, senior ranger; Paul Davies, Area Manager for NNP and TNR; David Shorthouse, planner; and Andy Turner, section head of the policy and planning unit in the Division.