Um? Err?
1. Personal opinion on censorship of maps is this a bad thing, full stop, no point arguing with me as my mind is made up. The role of Tasmap is to ensure that the best geographical information is available and not to be a censorship arm of some pressure group. I am rather confused when people demanding tracks be remove then criticise people for not knowing where they are thus requiring rescue. A good example is the removal of the Truganini track at Cradle from the maps. In very bad weather it probably was the best escape route down but now this information has been censored so if anyone falls off Hansons Peak in high winds and ice conditions then Parks better go looking for cover, especially given their inability to get the chain put back.
2. I really struggle with "I know therefore I am an expert therefore I will be a gatekeeper" approach. When I started bushwalking over twenty-five years ago information was freely shared and it is quite remarkable with huts that the people building them encourage other people to enjoy them, very against user pay so beloved nowadays. This egalitarian approach is very Tasmanian and my nature rebels against the gatekeepers and brings the question to my mind if many are bringing non Tasmania (read non rural values) to the debate by holding tightly on to information as information is power. Sounds very big end of town logic to me. Greed is good, information is power, etc.
3. Does it really matter is my final point. Example the LWC went to Western Bluff this weekend but as track information was delightfully vague so the approach was head up the hill until you reach the top. Result eleven people effectively making a new path. Given that the area is forestry means it is not exactly highly sensitive but still made for harder going for the walkers and plants under the feet. I am sure people are using Google Earth to spot features of interest and then targeting them so what is the great secret? Also hunt around and you will find the information in various books and leaflets so why not consolidate it? In a thread recently locked it was amazing how much information was in the public sphere of knowledge to what would be considered a remote area. Also buried away in the Hydro are extensive surveyor maps and notes as in the sixties the area was well covered by surveyors. I personally met at Christmas time a person that held the stick for the surveyor and it was amazing where he got to thus making a mockery of "never ever done before" statements so beloved by "remote area" expeditoners. Um? Hogwash! Bushwalkers lost a lot of information when the Conservationist movement declare war on the Hydro. Are we going to see censorship of Google Earth as photo resolutions are getting better and better similar to the demise of the 1:10,000 maps.
As for this site, its rules are its own so users are bound to follow them or incur the wrath of the moderators. It is just very strange that secret societies operate by PM with selective sharing of information so there is a dichotomy between the public stance and the practical stance of this site. Weird thing to me is I went to Western Bluff via an off track route and came back via a tracked route but because the track does not appear on any formal Tasmap should I not post the route even though most of the track follows log haulage routes that will become active again when the area is next harvested?
It gets all too hard for me to understand the semantics of the debate and one day a site will start with GPS routes posted and short of a Stainlistic display of Chinese scale censorship by the mandarins in Hobart it will become an overnight success. The crazy thing that Parks face is they have the power to lock people out of a sensitive area but do not have any resources to police this plus in order to lock an area they need to make the co-ordinates public which brings the rubber neckers flooding to the area. Parks is in an impossible position so have come up with the US miltary approach type of logic "if you do not tell they will not ask" or in this case, "do not say exactly and hope people will not figure it out". As the printing press broke the power of the Papal censorship so will, and has already, the internet to withholding geographical information. This site rule might be blowing against the wind despite good intentions. Come to think of it is not another track to a remote place paved by good intentions
Surely the best approach is educating bushwalkers into the fragile nature of the environment that they venture rather than this hodgepodge of minimal or misinformation? I am with the starter of the this thread on that matter.
Cheers Brett