Read our stories from Nelson Lakes about nature, recreation and community engagement. No Images? Click here BirdsongYou are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for updates from us in the past or have indicated you are interested in hearing from us. If this is no longer the case you can click unsubscribe at the bottom of this email. Welcome to the third edition of the new Nelson Lakes Newsletter. This quarterly publication aims to provide readers with an insight into the work undertaken by Department of Conservation staff and volunteers at the Nelson Lakes Office. Project updates, facilities developments research results, community engagement and plans for the future will feature in regular updates bringing you closer to the daily work of the dedicated local staff and illustrating how our work contributes to wider national outcomes and objectives of the Department. Biodiversity & RecreationClosures in the backcountryLake Rotoroa route has been closed since August this year. The route has historically seen little use and has continually suffered from storm and windthrow damage which has made the track often difficult to navigate and traverse. The decision was made to stop maintenance on the route and close it permanently. Access to the Sabine Hut will remain as what has become the norm over the last six years or so i.e. water taxi and Sabine/Speargrass track or Cedric Route.
Bull Paddock Creek Hut in the Upper Wairau area has been assessed by an engineer and was deemed unsafe. The hut is closed until further notice. Check all Nelson/Tasman alerts on the DOC website here. Spring CleanSomeof our serviced huts had a spring clean recently. The team has given a thorough clean to all Nelson Lakes Huts on the Te Araroa trail. Small teams were distributed to each hut and they worked tirelessly for a day wiping walls, surfaces, mattresses and the ceiling, sweeping chimneys and cleaning gutters. Trainee ranger L Pierson cleaning John Tait Hut John Tait Hut after spring clean Wood supply to hutsThe Nelson Lakes Office has experienced significant increases in the cost of supplying firewood to the huts on the Travers-Sabine Circuit in recent years. The increase in visitor numbers has seen the usage of firewood rise dramatically resulting in the need to resupply more frequently. In an attempt to deal with these rising costs, changes have been made to the supply of firewood to the huts on the Travers-Sabine Circuit. Rather than traditional split firewood we have moved to supplying lengths of slab wood, which is a by-product of the milling industry. This is supplied along with a saw horse, handsaws and safety information on how to safely cut the slab wood to appropriate lengths. The wood itself is significantly cheaper to purchase but more significantly, trials have shown that the use of firewood by the public falls dramatically when supplied in this form. Associated with this, the wood burning stoves on the circuit have been modified to prevent visitors using them for cooking, which was increasingly being seen in the huts and again increased the amount of firewood consumed. We will closely monitor any feedback from visitors as well as the levels of firewood consumption to fully assess the expected cost savings. Slab wood ready to be taken into the backcountry M Gillies demonstrating safe cutting technique West Sabine improvementsDOC’s Visitor Assets staff spent a very busy week at West Sabine hut getting it ready for the large numbers of summer visitors. Maintenance on the hut included: The tree felling techniques used were advanced, and involved winching and jacking the trees. Staff take every opportunity to develop their practical and technical skills by training, and then practice the skills by undertaking these advanced tasks.
Update on Blue LakeThe first two weeks in December will see significant work at Blue Lake hut with the installation of a two bunk bivvy to provide wardens accommodation, the addition of a second toilet and formation of formalised camping areas for tenters. The generous offer of the use of a NH90 helicopter by the NZ Defence Force has been instrumental in getting the bivvy in place. The area has seen a large growth in visitors numbers, partly due to the lake being found to have the “clearest freshwater in the world” but also due to the volume of Te Araroa walkers on the track and the Nelson Lakes section being something of a meeting point for both northbound and southbound walkers in the summertime. Increased visitor pressure has raised concerns regarding potential environmental damage and the possible degradation of the lake's pure waters as people have been reportedly camping close to the lakeshore and washing dishes and bathing in the crystal clear waters. It is hoped that having a warden on site will mitigate any potential harmful effects as they will direct visitors to the appropriate camping spots, monitor visitor behaviours by the lake as well as provide information on the spiritual significance of the site to local iwi. The new year will see further developments with the installation of a cooking shelter for campers which will provide a covered communal cooking and social area. Radio NZ interviewed Phil Crawford, Senior Ranger Recreation & Historic on 4 September 2017 about protecting Blue Lake and the cooperation between DOC and the NZ Defence Force. Listen to the interview here. Nelson 4WD club Beebys working partiesThe Nelson 4WD club had a busy weekend at Beebys in early November, contributing their time and skills to both the visitor assets and the biodiversity sides of DOC’s core business. Three diggers and numerous shovels spent a day reforming parts of the road. The following day, a party of 14 travelled up the road, and pulled wilding conifers from the alpine trig area at the northern end of the ridge. It was a weekend of unpredictable weather that lead to an adventuresome walk in the park; and the club was able to live up to their motto “rain hail or snow we go”. The Nelson 4WD Club has committed their roading skills and diggers to on the ongoing maintenance of the Beebys 4WD access road, to help this road remain open to public use. We really appreciate the commitment they have made to the Beebys area. The Beebys Road is open to vehicles as far as Beebys Hut on a key booking system during the summer, upon payment of a key bond. The road climbs quite steeply, offers fantastic views, and is suitable for higher-clearance 4WD vehicles. (It can be walked or biked at any time of the year without a booking). Contact the Visitor Centre for all the details. Nelson 4WD Club working party on of Beebys Knob Protecting Kea The Department of Conservation is working together with the Kea Conservation Trust to protect our nationally endangered Kea. You may have already seen some posters around St Arnaud and the backcountry asking for kea sightings. To report sightings visit the www.keadatabase.nz website or scan the QR code on the poster. For more information visit the Department of Conservation or the Kea Conservation Trust website. Revive RotoitiFriends of Rotoiti assist wasp operationFriends of Rotoiti volunteers sometimes work alongside DOC staff on projects. Wasp control is important for our native fauna and for human safety and enjoyment of Nelson Lakes National Park. Four keen volunteers joined DOC staff for a boat ride up Lake Rotoiti. They spent the day checking possum traps and setting out wasp bait stations. The wasp bait grid extends from Coldwater Hut to the Travers River Bridge. Bait will be deployed later – when the monitoring results show that it is indicated and most likely to be effective. If you would like to know more please visit our website friendsofrotoiti.co.nz More on wasps NZ Geographic recently published a comprehensive story about wasp control (Issue 147). "The Coming swarm" was written by Dave Hansford and it delves into Vespex, gene drive and trojan female technologies while explaining why wasps are such a problem. Read the full article here: The Coming Swarm Community & EducationNelson Lakes volunteer camp host opportunities still availableSummer is approaching fast and people are finalising their holiday plans. We still have spaces available to volunteer in Kerr Bay, West Bay and Teetotal campgrounds. Always wanted to volunteer as camp host but don't have a caravan? No problem - this summer we provide a portable cabin for camp hosts in the West Bay Campground. Travelling with your dog? Don't let that stop you becoming a camp host! The new, dog accessible Teetotal Campsite is the gateway to our popular mountain bike trail system and offers a great location for camp hosts traveling with dogs or mountain bikes. Online applications are open for all camp host positions. To apply, simply click the Apply now button below and fill out the online application form. For more information please contact the Nelson Lakes Volunteer Coordinator at nelsonlakesvolunteers@doc.govt.nz. Snippets from the ManagerAs I write this, the weather is hot and sunny and has been like this for three weeks now, punctuated with the occasional afternoon thunderstorm. There are plenty of people already swimming in Lake Rotoiti. If this is what summer looks like we are in for a ‘cracker’. The tourist season is getting underway as is the larger field trips into the back country. In our visitor assets work there are all sorts of competing demands. A balance needs to be struck between keeping on top of the maintenance work such as clearing and resurfacing tracks, hut cleaning and fire wood stocking and much needed improvements often to cope with increasing visitation. Also as the weather comes right for the backcountry the visitors to our camps, carparks and toilets increase and the grass starts growing. We are however pleased to get an extra summer amenity ranger and some extra staffing for the visitor centre from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund which will certainly help. The biodiversity programme also steps up through the warmer months as our target pests – rats, stoats, possums, feral cats etc get more active and many weeds look to flower and spread. This requires an increased intensity of trapping across the mainland island and careful timing of weed work to take out flowering weeds while they are most obvious but before they get to seed. The likes of kea are breeding and the staff are focussed on finding the active nests and trapping around them. You will have learnt more details though the articles within this, our third edition. So busy times for my fantastic team of hard working rangers, but all good. I trust you all have a great Christmas and relaxed summer with family and friends and get to enjoy New Zealand’s conservation lands. John Wotherspoon |