Walking_addict wrote:And it won't stop the people that abuse the system by not paying hut fees, and of course these are the people that will more likely be the ones that don't respect the bush too !! There is one way to fix DOCS funding problems, there is a need to police these illegal stays more, introduce fines (big ones) for people breaking the rules, not penalise the ones that are doing the right thing, and respect the huts and NZ wilderness.
Well, one of the biggest problems with hut fees is that they're generally unenforceable in most places. Unless there's an authority present
in a hut at the time people are staying there (overnight), it's impossible to prove that the person who hasn't produced a hut ticket was using the hut illegally. Anyone with an intent to break the rules can just buy a few spare hut tickets to carry around, on the occasional chance that there might be a warden at the hut they choose to spend the night at, but without otherwise spending them.
The latest alternative to hut fees is to require people to carry access passes instead. So instead of having specific hut fees you'd be required to have a pass for entering the area. Wardens can then demand to see it at any time, instead of having to catch people in the act.
It definitely has its down-sides, and as it amounts to an entry fee for the park. It's also against the law right now under both the National Parks Act and the Conservation Act (depending on the land in question), both of which explicitly state that entry to the respective type of conservation land is free. That guarantee of free entry was put in law for careful reasons at the time, and it's not a small thing to be changed on a whim without considering really carefully all of the consequences it might have.