Casting a fly in the ointment

DANIEL HACKETT says the term wilderness fails to recognise Tassie’s cultural history and he prefers the phrase “wild places”

Lake Malbena, looking towards Halls Island. Picture: LYNDSEY EVANS

REG Hall was the Weindorfer of The Walls, a key character in the founding of the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

More than 20 placenames have been attributed to Reg, along with the first widely used walking maps of The Walls of Jerusalem.

Reg’s hut at Halls Island, Lake Malbena, was the first to be custom designed for recreation on the plateau, and the story of its construction with the aid of air drops around 1954 is legendary.

For up to four weeks at a time, from Boxing Day and again closer to Easter, Reg and friends would head to Halls Island, and live their second lives. Access would be by foot, horseback, and even amphibious plane.

So with a bit of context, I should probably get to the subject: Bob Brown’s Talking Point article, “It’s an assault on the wilderness” (Mercury, April 19).

Dr Brown says our Halls Island development proposal is for a “noisy private installation” later labelled a “resort”, in “the remotest region of the national park”, and “boardwalks” to a nearby mountain and beyond.

All are great and emotive narratives, but all are untruths.

TALKING POINT: IT’S AN ASSAULT ON THE WILDERNESS

As a professional guide, sharing Tasmanian stories is one of the things that fuels my passion for wild places.

It is by sharing these remarkable stories and wild places that we are able to protect them, recruit new advocates, and celebrate what makes us Tasmanian.

The area around Halls Island is known as wilderness, indicating it is free of human stories, human use, or even human love for the bush. Free from Tasmanian cultural stories. The facts could not be further from the truth.

For this reason, I don’t like the use of the term wilderness. The term “wild places” seems more apt for areas such as Halls Island where the naturalness has been altered by use, and in which built-history and human stories exist.

Use of Halls Island extends beyond Reg to bushwalkers who have contacted Reg’s daughter Liz Mcquilkin, and myself, with no reasonable person being denied the opportunity to use our hut.

Key founders and influential members of The Wilderness Society were regular users during the 1980s and 1990s — an inconvenient truth for those in the organisation now opposing further sharing of the island, and a clear conflict of interest.

Back to the future, and my family is now responsible for repairing and conserving the old hut, and collating and collecting the oral history of those still around who knew Reg.

As caretaker-owners, it is our responsibility to bring this Tasmanian cultural story to light, share it, to celebrate it and protect its legacy.

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Our tourism proposal is for a small family-owned, eco-standing camp on the 8ha island, with activities including kayaking, hiking, bushwalking and the sharing of cultural stories.

Discrete, removable accommodation will be comfortable, highlighting the best Tasmanian craftsmanship and materials where suitable, but will ultimately be places to sleep in and avoid the worst of the highland squalls.

Sustainability is at the core of the operation. The role of the standing camp is to facilitate the experience of guests in the same way Reg’s old hut had facilitated the experience of visitors.

Income from the project will generate sustainable jobs, assist in the upkeep of Reg’s historic hut, and provide funds to promote the unique history of the national park.

Our project does not stop at the island. In 2016 we partnered with the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston, to create a new wilderness exhibition based around the history of The Walls.

The donation of Reg’s early backpacks, portable kayak, photo collection and selected hut contents will form a new permanent collection, making the history accessible to all Tasmanians. Much of this work has been carried out with the grateful assistance of friends and philanthropists.

Arrivals and departures for the maximum of 25 guided bookings per peak-season will be via helicopter.

We did not arrive at the use of a helicopter lightly, but it proved to be the most sustainable way to get visitors to and from the island, with no trace left behind.

With a short 11-minute flight path that avoids bushwalking routes, prominent fishing waters or sensitive areas. Following the very eastern boundary of the World Heritage Area and flying at high altitude, we can offer appropriate access to all walks of life, rather than just the very fittest.

Not everyone is blessed with the ability to hike for eight hours with a pack, or the skills to bushwalk. Why shouldn’t they be allowed an experience in one of Tasmania’s wild places?

Myself and my family are conservationists at heart, as those we have worked with testify. Our small business RiverFly 1864 has industry-leading partnerships with conservation groups, and we are proud to generate tens of thousands of dollars of support for conservation and charity each year.

Our brand of conservation is about sensitively engaging visitors with wild places, sharing cultural stories, and making lifelong advocates to protect our wonderful home.

Daniel Hackett runs RiverFly 1864, which offers guided fly fishing on Tasmania’s northern rivers and World Heritage lakes.