Beeper wrote:..... I suppose it depends on what your thresholds of actual / perceived impacts are. ......
Good point Beeper - for me as a PWS staff member its also about being able to give good advice to mangers and the public. Tassie is quite well known for the research work it has done on quantifying impacts in various environments by walkers (and to a lesser extent horses and bikes).
Search here
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03014797 for author "whinam"
The other thing the research helps with is ensuring that managers know what the effects of increased visitation might be - vegatation loss that may lead to erosion (on slopes) or track widening (on the flats in some environments) to name just a couple. It sort of alerts them to the fact that they may get complaints from walkers (or forum users
) when thresholds are exceeded, maybe even ministerial complaints. For the asset manager it will alert them to pending costs for track infrastructure (if appropriate), increased budget needs for maintenance ( or if no funds ... when the rate of impact might exceed set thresholds).
Sensitivity is also something tough to deal with. Things are sensitive to different impacts- fire, trampling etc so what might be a problem for one plant might be a bonus for another...some orchids for instance often love fire whilst other plants don't. IIRC horses appear to have more impact on grasslands whilst walkers have more impact on woody shrubs and slopes etc. Walking in buttongrass on the flats is more likely to lead to widening (ie Loddons) whilst the same vegetation on slopes is more likely to lead to defined single tracks and possibly channels leading to easier erosion.
So back to the topic ... if the area in a forum discussion doesn't have tracks showing on the maps then I would say there is a fair chance PWS would prefer low key publicity (albeit that we know some old tracks still appear on maps). For me something like the following would be acceptable.....
After leaving the main tracks its a relative easy ridge walk with a few band of scrub on the southern slopes. Also note the tough gorges in a couple of locations. Limited camping is available near some of the lakes.
versus
Head off the main track at 123456E 3456789N and proceed to Mt Blob, then turn SW down the ridge until you hit the junction of creek x and y just above Phils Gorge, I would then camp at 112233E 2233445N beside Lake Blogg ...... you get the picture? You MIGHT give someone that information in a private PM once you have sussed out that they share the same philosophies as you in regard to the area. Having said that, I seldom give that much detail...why shouldn't they suffer the same fate as me when I ventured into that area