ARTHUR-PIEMAN CONSERVATION AREA Tracks 501, 601, 503 Review of Aboriginal Heritage DPIPWE 1 Acknowledgements: Fiona Hamilton, Aboriginal Heritage Consultant and Project Manager Dr Johan Kamminga, Archaeologist Reg Burgess, Aboriginal Heritage Officer Dr Keith Deverell – GIS, Mapping and Imagery Greg Jackman – Archaeologist © State of Tasmania 2021 Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment Contents Map of Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area ..................................................................................... 3 Executive summary ....................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 11 Project background .................................................................................................................. 11 Study process .......................................................................................................................... 12 Constraints and limitations ....................................................................................................... 13 Environmental setting .................................................................................................................. 14 Palaeoenvironment ................................................................................................................. 14 Geology ................................................................................................................................... 15 Physiography and land systems .............................................................................................. 16 Climate and rainfall .................................................................................................................. 18 Vegetation ............................................................................................................................... 19 Aboriginal food resources ........................................................................................................ 19 Aboriginal history ........................................................................................................................ 21 Ethnohistorical outline .............................................................................................................. 21 Historical descriptions of local country and culture ................................................................... 22 European land-use .................................................................................................................. 27 Aboriginal heritage desktop review .............................................................................................. 33 Previous heritage studies ........................................................................................................ 33 Aboriginal heritage field survey .................................................................................................... 39 Survey method ........................................................................................................................ 39 Survey results.......................................................................................................................... 39 Cultural significance assessment ................................................................................................ 45 Assessment frameworks.......................................................................................................... 45 Previous assessments ............................................................................................................. 46 Current assessment ................................................................................................................ 47 Impact assessment ..................................................................................................................... 53 Proposed activity ..................................................................................................................... 53 Forms of potential impact ........................................................................................................ 57 Assessment of potential impacts on identified values ............................................................... 58 Legal requirements ...................................................................................................................... 61 Tracks 501, 601 and 503 Aboriginal cultural heritage report, APCA Page 1 Statutory context...................................................................................................................... 61 Summary of key findings ............................................................................................................ 67 Survey results.......................................................................................................................... 67 Potential impacts ..................................................................................................................... 67 Further investigations .............................................................................................................. 68 Management planning ............................................................................................................. 69 Aboriginal community engagement .......................................................................................... 70 Public Environment Report Advice ............................................................................................... 71 2.1 Feasible alternatives ...................................................................................................... 71 2.2 Description of the environment ...................................................................................... 73 2.3 Relevant impacts ........................................................................................................... 74 2.4 Proposed avoidance and mitigation measures ............................................................... 78 2.5 Residual impacts/proposed offsets ................................................................................ 81 2.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 82 References ................................................................................................................................. 83 Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 88 Appendix A - Glossary ............................................................................................................. 88 Tracks 501, 601 and 503 Aboriginal cultural heritage report, APCA Page 2 Map of Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area Tracks 501, 601 and 503 Aboriginal cultural heritage report, APCA Page 3 Executive summary The Tasmanian Government is investigating options for re-instigating access by off- road vehicles (ORVs) to three currently closed tracks (501, 503 and 601) between Sandy Cape and Pieman Heads within the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area (APCA). The southern portion of Track 601 extends into the adjoining Pieman River State Reserve. Tracks 501, 601 and the western 2km of 503 are situated within the boundary of the Western Tasmania Aboriginal Cultural Landscape (WTACL), which was entered on the Commonwealth Government’s National Heritage List (NHL) in 2013 on account of its high Aboriginal heritage values. A referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBCA) regarding the proposed action to re-open the affected tracks and undertake allied mitigation works was submitted in 2017. A response was received that the proposed activity was a controlled action requiring assessment and approval through the preparation of a Public Environment Report (PER), the content of which was set out in guidelines issued by the (then) Commonwealth Department of Environment and Energy (DOEE). The Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) commissioned an Aboriginal Heritage Assessment of the proposal to re-open and undertake selected mitigation works on Tracks 501, 503 and 601. Aboriginal community consultation was not part of the study brief, but is proposed to be undertaken separately if the proposal proceeds. DPIPWE Statement of Intent Due to the significance and complexity of the cultural values, their spatial extent and the dynamic landforms of the area, determining how to allow for ORV access while ensuring protection of the values of the WTACL is challenging and complex. To assist in understanding how best to address the PER guidelines, the Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) commissioned an independent cultural heritage assessment of the immediate area traversed by Tracks 501, 503 and 601. That work was described in a background report provided to the PWS that contains the results of a desktop analysis and on-ground field survey of the Aboriginal cultural heritage values of Tracks 501, 503 and 601, an assessment of the potential impacts to those values of the proposed activity, and findings with respect to the proposed mitigation measures and the PER guidelines. This report is derived from the background report. The findings contained