John Macris Conservation Officer
A Commission of Enquiry into the proposed expansion of Perisher Village and other resorts within Kosciuszko National Park is due to commence shortly. This expansion would see another 1000 beds added to the resorts, further entrenching the commercialisation of the park. Criticism of this proposal has most recently come from the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, who have highlighted the inadequacy of investigation of existing alternative accommodation in centres such as Jindabyne. Confederation has contributed to the costs of the National Parks Association’s initiative of sending environmental lawyer Peter Prineas to the Commission to put as strong a case as possible on their and our behalf, against this further pressure being placed on the Park.
Kosciuszko National Park has been somewhat embattled from time to time by graziers resentful of the loss of summer grazing and by the Hydro-electric Scheme established in 1949, which was to dot the mountains with dams and power stations.
Before Strzelecki and the settlers, however, the various Aboriginal tribes in the area had long regarded the mountains with awe. In summer, the tribes went into the mountains to feast on the large white Bogong moth. They believed that the Bogong moth was transformed in the cold weather into flakes of snow, thus turning the high country white for several months of the year.