Landscape and recreational use of the Kosciusko National Park, N.S.W.

Abstract

This is a thesis in applied geography; as such it attempts to synthesise those elements of the landscape which have had, (and which at present are having) a profound influence on the land management and land use of an area in the south—east corner of N.S.W. — the Kosciusko area. As more land is brought under the control of departments such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service and Department of Lands, (State Recreation Areas) it seems there is a basic need for this type of research; the more so as bodies such as the National Parks and Wildlife Service now consciously zone areas for particular levels of intensity use. In Australia there is an absolute void in knowledge pertaining to major user-groups and their behavioural habits in recreational areas. Studies of this type aim to help fill the gap thus between what land management agencies see as desirable for any given area and what recreational users actually do, (and want to do ) in the same area. The Kosciusko National Park was probably the first area in Australia to be zoned officially according to intensity use. Dedicated in 1944, the Park had over twenty years of part-time land management with no official zoning of land uses; consequently the results of former, (and often continuing and conflicting) uses such as the Snowy Mountains Hydro—Electric Scheme and the ski resort development impinge upon the present landscape. Providing a Plan of Management for the Park was a necessary adjunct to the takeover of the former part-time management, (the Kosciusko State Park Trust) by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967. Their plan for Kosciusko in 1974 essentially zoned the Park inra similar way to a plan presented in 1968 by an independent scientific-based Committee. Both of these major documents were formulated by those concerned with land management and were quite independent to what use was actually made of the Park, (by recreationists for example). .' The survey done for this thesis has in fact shown that summer visitors have zoned the Park very differently to management, — particularly in the highest alpine section and that management now has a severe problem in trying to meet present user needs. The work offers no new methodological skills, however when the survey was formulated in 1971 the ability to programme such complex material was not documented widely , - in Australia or overseas, although more recent studies have now been attempted along somewhat similar lines. It is hoped that this thesis points to the future planning of the area within the framework of the plan provided.