You are here

Parks Beyond Borders: Oz Names New Limmen National Park, Accidents Claim Black Bears in Canadian Rockies, NSW Slashes Park Budgets

Share
lost cities rock formations limmen national park australia

The Lost Cities rock formations are one feature of Australia's new Limmen National Park that are expected to draw tourists to the Northern Territories. Photo by Northern Territories Tourism.

Oz Names Massive New Limmen National Park

Australia's Northern Territories Chief Minister Paul Henderson went to a remote location in the Gulf of Carpentaria last week to declare a new national park. Taken together, the million-hectares of Limmen National Park, a marine park in Limmen Bight, and Maria Island, constitute one of the country’s largest national parks.

Environmentalists and Aboriginal people applauded the move, but some skeptics said the designation taking place less than six weeks before an election called the independence of the decision into question.

An article in Tracker.org by Xavier La Canna said, “Limmen is located just below Arnhem Land ... and is home to waterways, beaches, threatened animal species and rock art sites. Majestic sandstone formations known as Lost Cities" are expected to be a tourist drawcard for the Northern Territories. The capital Darwin was named one of Lonely Planet's Top 10 cities to visit in 2012.

Marine preservation interests also supported the new park but many in the pro-park camp are cautious about the potential impact of mining. Reportedly the park’s size was reduced to exclude commercially viable mining deposits and plans to extract iron ore and other resources.

But Northern Territories Environment Minister Karl Hampton kept up the positive perspective pledging that no sacred sites would be harmed.

“It (Limmen) has been one of the sleeping giants of the Northern Territory in terms of economic and environmental issues,” Mr Hampton said. “That sleeping giant is well awake, and we have got a world class national park, a marine park as well,” he said.

The potential park been discussed for more than twenty years. A story on ABC quoted chief regional ranger Eddie Webber saying “it's been 25 years in the making, but the declaration will be well worth the effort. I've been involved for about 20 [years] in negotiations with local people and I've had nothing but support and encouragement from the communities around."

Accidents Claim Black Bears in Canada’s Rocky Mountain Parks

A least one Canadian media outlet said “speed maniacs” were responsible for the deaths of seven black bears on roads in the Rocky Mountains parks of Banff, Kootenay and Yoho national parks. One of those was killed on railroad tracks. No Grizzlies have been killed.

"’We've lost seven black bears over the last short period of time, essentially through this season,’" says Rick Kubian with Parks Canada. "And we're really asking folks to be aware of wildlife as they travel through the national parks,’" said the site Global Edmonton.

Parks Canada said, with “record-breaking snowfall in the winter but a late spring melt, there are still plenty of wolves and black bears in valley bottoms in search of food.” Some coverage has suggested that people have encouraged proximity by feeding wildlife, which Parks Canada reminds visitors is strictly against the law.

Biggest problem is no doubt speeding and officials are reiterating warnings that people slow down. “Speed is believed to have played a major role in these collisions, but all the black bear strikes have occurred along stretches of road not twinned or fenced,” said Omar McDadi, a Parks Canada spokesman.

The Calgary Herald quoted him, saying, “By following speed limits, visitors can prolong the life of animals by many years and actually even improve human safety, too, by minimizing collisions.” But conservationists say more needs to be done, including tougher enforcement and the use of photo radar. “We need strict enforcement for these speeders and yahoos, not just educate them and see what happens,” said Jim Pissot, executive director of WildCanada Conservation Alliance. “Speed enforcement is a public safety issue and a wildlife conservation issue.”

According to a Parks Canada report, 477 confirmed black bear deaths were recorded over a 20-year period from 1990 to 2009 in Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Waterton Lakes and Mount Revelstoke-Glacier national parks. Of those, 449 were human-caused, including 125 black bears killed on the railway and 238 killed on the roads.

Rick Kubian, Resource Conservation Manager in Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay. said, “We ask that visitors please slow down, observe speed limits and be extra vigilant on the roads at dawn and dusk when animals are most active.”

Parks Canada "strongly encourages the public to report wildlife sightings and suspicious behaviour – such as wildlife feeding or hazardous driving – by calling 1 888-WARDENS."

New South Wales to Slash Parks Jobs

While the Northern Territories get a new national park, in southeastern Australia, the government of New South Wales has “put a scythe through its environment office” with the elimination of 350 jobs and many expecting to come from national parks.

One media outlet quoted Environment Minister Robyn Parker saying that the "sweeping reforms" at the “Office of Environment and Heritage would save about $100 million over the next four years.” A statement issued by Parker said, “Changes will include reducing senior area managers within the National Parks and Wildlife Service from 66 to 50."

Opposition was voiced immediately and the move was widely covered around the country.
Opposition environment spokesman Luke Foley said, “There was already a shortage of inspectors to safeguard against illegal logging activity. These cuts will have a severe and dramatic impact," he said.

In an article in the Harden-Murrumburrah Express News by Ben Cubby and Josephine Tovey, Foley also said “the cuts were particularly concerning in light of the government's recent decision to allow amateur hunters into some national parks to shoot feral animals.” This column has covered that topic in two separate articles (see the first and second).

Government documents say cuts are expected also in “harvesting programs, reducing wilderness and wild river assessments, deregulating wildlife licensing where appropriate, scaling back soil and salinity research and ‘reducing effort in our biodiversity programs.’”

Parker noted that these cuts come on top of 80 job cuts during 2011-’12.

Comments

Okay, I give up. What's the meaning of Oz in these articles? It apparently has something to do with Australia so is it a take-off on Auzzie or something.

No doubt it is something so obvious that I'll be terribly embarrassed for having asked, but what the heck . . . . .


Hi Lee. This is what Wikipedia says about the colloquial use of Oz for Australia...

The Oxford English Dictionary records a first occurrence in 1908, in the form Oss. Oz is often taken as an oblique reference to the fictional Land of Oz in the film The Wizard of Oz (1939), based on L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900).Australians' "image of Australia as a 'Land of Oz' is not new, and dedication to it runs deep".The spelling Oz is likely to have been influenced by the 1939 film, though the pronunciation was probably always with a /z/, as it is also for Aussie, sometimes spelt Ozzie. The Baz Luhrmann film Australia (2008) makes repeated reference to The Wizard of Oz, which appeared just before the wartime action of Australia. Some critics have even speculated that Baum was inspired by Australia, in naming the Land of Oz: "In Ozma of Oz (1907) Dorothy gets back to Oz as the result of a storm at sea while she and Uncle Henry are traveling by ship to Australia. So, like Australia, Oz is somewhere to the west of California. Like Australia, Oz is an island continent. Like Australia, Oz has inhabited regions bordering on a great desert. One might almost imagine that Baum intended Oz to be Australia, or perhaps a magical land in the center of the great Australian desert."


Thank you, Randy. So I guess I was sort of on the right track after all. Of all the Googling I did, I missed that one. Maybe I just need to start first with Wikipedia.


The true meaning of "The Wizard of Oz" concerns the political debates of the Progressive Era, such as the gold standard (the yellow brick road) versus the silver standard (Dorothy's shoes in the book are silver although red in the film); this being so, I've always assumed "Oz" comes from the abbreviation for "ounce." The derivation from "Australia" is new to me and, I assume, (also) correct.

Interesting (and disappointing) that the Land Down Under has the same problems as our own Emerald City when it comes to park funding.


Read enough of these Parks Beyond Borders columns (they're in the navbar drop-down menu under "Departments" if you choose to peruse) and it is amazing how many nations have the same problems with park funding/preservation issues/management policies. It is also interesting (actually, depressing) how similar the arguments are the world over when "liberals" and"conservatives" debate this stuff.


And I'm curious to know what a road not "twinned" means.. Is it perhaps another word for "fenced" -- since that follows immediately after: "...stretches of road not twinned or fenced."


The goal for these columns is to provide news about parks from around the world, BUT—I love the fact that they also showcase idiosyncratic turns of phrase from other countries. It simply means four-laned, a divided highway. As in one two-lane road gets "twinned." Get it? Check out this Parks Canada news item to get further into the phraseology but also to see how scientific the agency is about trying to reduce animal collisions.


Thank you for the explanation and link, Randy. The Wikipedia explanation that I had found didn't make sense in regards to reduction of animal collisions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinning_(roads)


Add comment

CAPTCHA

This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

The Essential RVing Guide

The Essential RVing Guide to the National Parks

The National Parks RVing Guide, aka the Essential RVing Guide To The National Parks, is the definitive guide for RVers seeking information on campgrounds in the National Park System where they can park their rigs. It's available for free for both iPhones and Android models.

This app is packed with RVing specific details on more than 250 campgrounds in more than 70 parks.

You'll also find stories about RVing in the parks, some tips if you've just recently turned into an RVer, and some planning suggestions. A bonus that wasn't in the previous eBook or PDF versions of this guide are feeds of Traveler content: you'll find our latest stories as well as our most recent podcasts just a click away.

So whether you have an iPhone or an Android, download this app and start exploring the campgrounds in the National Park System where you can park your rig.