19 August 2008
Dianne Brown
Chief Executive Office
New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association
PO Box 6514
WELLINGTON
Dear Dianne
I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to speak to your annual conference on Friday 18 July, and to discuss some of the issues around deer and conservation with your members. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. A number of questions were raised at the meeting and I undertook to respond to three of them in writing, namely, on Recreational Hunting Areas, walking access and access to Molesworth Station.
It was put to me that a mandatory and legal requirement to review RHAs every five years has not been done, and I was asked for an explanation on how I, as the responsible Minister, could "abdicate (sic) this statutory responsibility:.
You will be untested to know that I have already written to the NZDA this year on this very subject, and I reproduce below the relevant content from that letter to Alec McIver:
"I have asked for advice from the Department on Recreational Hunting Areas. What you say about statutory breaches in the exercise of its responsibilities may be correct in a narrow sense, however, there is a context that is very relevant, and I want to explore this with you. Much has happened in the conservation scene in New Zealand since the RHAs were set up in the 1970s and 1980s to provide areas free of commercial hunting for recreational hunting.
"The Department of Conservation was established under the Conservation Act 1987 to manage primarily for the protection and preservation of natural and historic resources, as well as providing for recreation and tourism. This was a new development at the time, and replaced the era of the New Zealand Forest Service, which entailed a very different approach to conservation, as you will know.
"General Policies were developed in 2005 to interpret conservation legislation, and to provide an interface with the Department's statutory planning documents, namely, the conservation management strategies and conservation management plans that were introduced from 1990.
"You mentioned the General Policies, and drew my attention to section 4.2 (f) which states: 'Recreational hunting of wild animals and animal pests should be encouraged where this does not diminish the effectiveness of operations to control them and is consistent with the planned outcomes at places.'
"The general intent of the General Policies is to provide for place-based, integrated management, that is, to manage natural heritage, historic heritage and recreational opportunities on a priority basis, site by site, and the above phrase illustrates the principle.
"In the case of an RHA, the management priority may be recreational hunting. That would be reflected in the relevant conservation management strategies, which are [statutory] planning documents subject to regular review and open to public participation, including recreational hunters.
"Section 17 D (1) of the Conservation Act provides for conservation management strategies 'to implement general policies and establish objectives for the integrated management of natural and historic resources, including any species managed by the Department under the ... Wild Animal Control Act ...' Furthermore, the WAC Act is included in the coverage of the Conservation General Policy.
"In light of the above, your criticism of a 'statutory breach' is more than a little unfair. The approach to conservation management today is one of integrated management, site by site, under the conservation management strategies, consistent with General Policies, which are consistent with the relevant legislation. The Department's obligations under the WAC Act need to be seen in that context.
"When making legal interpretations, the entire legislative framework needs to be considered, and I have provided an approach to that. My suggestion then is that your concerns about RHAs be channeled into the relevant conservation management strategy processes around the country."
The Walking Access Bill is being led by the Minister of Rural Affairs and it is currently before Select Committee. I and the department have both fully supported the bill and are not aware of any unscheduled delays in its passage.
As to public access on Molesworth Station, I can assure you that this is still public walking access along the margins of the rivers and major streams there. Marginal strips were created on Molesworth when the Land Act lease was granted to Landcorp Farming. To provide legal surety to Landcorp Farming for ongoing grazing, as has historically occurred and which was vital for a viable farming operation, the marginal strips were 'reserved' as Recreation Reserve and Landcorp Farming were granted a grazing licence for them. A continuation of public access along the former marginal strips was specifically provided for in the grazing licence.
The department's public information on Molesworth clearly states that there is walking access on the margin of rivers and major streams on the Station. In addition to these access provisions, there are a range of other recreation access opportunities, which are explained on the department's website and in the Molesworth pamphlet.
Yours sincerely,
Hon. Steve Chadwick
Minister of Conservation
© 2011 New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association