I would like to bring to your attention and the need for all of us to Act Now to protect what we love.

Parks Victoria has been in the process and in consultation with other user groups (excluding hunters) for the past 10 days formulating a plan to lock hunters out of a very large and significantly valuable hunting areas of the Alpine National Park.

There is no policy for these actions and the areas included are:
  • Wonnagatta Valley catchment
  • Howqua Historic Area
  • Walhalla
  • Mitta Mitta river
  • Wellington river

The rational they are using is that these areas are of high use by other user groups such as, 4WD's, Fisher men, Bush walkers and Horse riders etc. They have the perception hunters place unacceptable risk on these other user groups.

I personally have not seen or heard of this, but have borne witness to hunters assisting or organising rescue of other bush users on many occasions.

What does Parks Victoria hope to achieve by this?
They have a extremely poor record of management, for example:
  1. wild dogs are largely out of control,
  2. horrific wildfires due to poor management principles.

If hunters do not manage these areas by hunting (again, the oldest form of conservation), deer numbers of Sambar Cervis will go unchecked—doubling every three years. Now, that is destruction of biodiversity in any language. This action alone would promote eradication programs.

What about the local communities?
Hunters spend huge amounts in local areas this is a very well known fact and Victoria is still suffering and rebuilding from the bush fires.

Hunters if we do not act? Loss of our traditional hunting grounds, our hunting culture and eventually loss of the the deer we so love.

We need to contact the people below and ask: "Why we, the hunting community, were not invited to the consultation process?":
  1. James Hackel, Project officer for Park Victoria—tel:03 8680 2143.
  2. Gavin Jennings MLC Minister for Environment and Climate Change and Innovation.
  3. Jacinta Allan MP Minister for Regional and Rural Development, Skills and Workforce Participation.
Please point out that we can be an integral part of the management process of deer and the greater environment without risking others in the park, and, that we and our activities can be of significant economic value to Victoria and the Commonwealth.

Please send this on to all hunters that you know.