by FatCanyoner » Mon 08 Feb, 2021 1:22 pm
I think the key piece of advice here is to start the process early. Parks services around the country are understaffed. If there's fires (or hazard reductions, or pest management, or lot of other things) then the rangers may be out of the office for long periods of time. Be patient.
I actually get real joy out of the process of tracking down the right people. It's the same for private landowners when trying to arrange access across their property.
My advice is start with the main numbers. You'll probably get to a junior person who doesn't know much. Ask them if you can send through an email with a detailed enquiry. Take the time to write a detailed email about what information you need, what approaches you've made (i.e. the plan of management for the park isn't clear about X, or the website closure list isn't clear about your chosen area, etc). I feel like if you look like you've made a genuine effort, people are keener to assist.
If there's still no luck, you could try calling local community members as mentioned by others. I have had success with local pubs, RFS brigades, community associations, historical groups, bushwalking clubs, and even real estate agents. The kind of people who are active in their community and know who's who.
It's also good to try and build a good relationship if it's an area you plan to return to. I did a trip in 2019 where we located a recently deceased quoll in an area where quolls are considered extinct (last confirmed sighting was 100 years earlier). By feeding back that information to the ranger, along with coordinates, photos, etc, it really helped them out. That same ranger wants to come out and meet us when we are next in the area. It took some effort to track him down originally, but now we have the relationship I am able to get some very useful information -- such as which trails are currently passable by vehicles and where they have conducted recent hazard reduction burns -- which really help with planning these more remote adventures.