With widespread littering continue to rear its ugly head in so many ‘pristine’ wilderness, the ominous spectre of further free camping restrictions is more real than ever.
In Tasmania’s Central Highlands, for example, calls are growing for something to be done after fishing signs were destroyed, an emergency beacon was stolen, and rubbish was littered throughout a camp site at Lake Echo.
Fly fishing guide Ken Orr says the local community is ‘dead tired’ of picking up other people’s trash, and he has joined the calls for better policing of the area.
“We don’t want to see these areas closed off, we want the free camping maintained for the anglers, the grey nomads, and the hunters,” Mr Orr told the Tasmanian Examiner. “But the few people creating issues could see it closed … it’s a real issue and it’s not an issue that will just go away.”
Having fished the lakes for more than 50 years, Mr Orr told the Examiner that it was becoming all too common for anglers to find rubbish dumped in the bush and near boat ramps.
The paper reports that the latest incident saw volunteers cleaning up ironing boards, rusty car doors and furniture left at sites near Lake Echo, Bronte Lagoon and Brady’s Lake.
The rubbish was only the beginning, with Mr Orr stumbling across interpretation signs at Lake Echo that had been damaged by gunshots, maps removed and an emergency beacon nearby had been ripped from its base.
“It’s a major safety risk, the beacon has been removed and it’s the only way to see where the boat ramp is when it’s dark,” Mr Orr told the Examiner. “Our licence money as anglers goes towards this infrastructure that is provided by Inland Fisheries which is doing a great job, and then they are being destroyed.”
The damage was discovered just days before the annual Trout Weekend at Liawenee, which saw thousands of locals and tourists head to the lakes on Saturday and Sunday.
It is also a popular spot for anglers during the brown trout season with 25,000 Tasmanians purchasing trout licenses last year alone.
· What can be done to stop the litter menace threatening the survival of so many remote campsites? Comment below.
RV`ers do not take their rubbish to free camps to dump on the ground or to destroy signs. We were camped at a free camp for the night and a mini bus of louts pulled up and threw their rubbish on the ground beside the empty rubbish bins.
The rubbish described in the above article is local rubbish, not from campers.
some should fully read the article, Mr Orr is not blaming Grey Nomads in fact stating they want them.
Ge
GE, Their must be a lot of people “not fully reading the article” All others submitting comments have express the same comments as I.
I am sorry if you have missed the point!
For once I don’t think they can blame Nomads for the type of rubbish complained about here, as we don’t carry spare lounge suites, car doors and ironing boards. I think they should look closer to home to solve the problem.
motion activated covert cameras–ask any wildlife ranger or entheusiast,only need a couple of nomads who would be more than happy to assist I know I would
Is it really the free campers depositing this rubbish? The gunshot damage to the signs and the broken beacon is more likely to be bored locals. Grey Nomads are usually very respectful of their environment, as for the lounge in the picture, well, very few grey nomads I have met travel with a lounge to leave in a campsite, once again its probably locals. Please don’t blame Grey Nomads. We have noticed most disrespect for the campsites is from younger people and backpackers in their ‘whizz bangers”
I couldn’t agree more than with the sentiments expressed above.
I’ve never seen a nomad carrying around all that litter, let alone a gun to shoot signs.
I’ve seen this more than once in my traveling career.
It would seem some localised perpetrators are at work trying to tarnish the good names of grey nomads.