Assessment of the NSW NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE YYeennggoo SERVICE W I L D E R N E S S Central, Conservation Programs and Planning Division NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service November 2001 ASSESSMENT OF THE YENGO WILDERNESS Central Conservation Programs & Planning Division NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service November 2001 ASSESSMENT OF THE YENGO WILDERNESS CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................... 3 List of Figures.................................................................................................. 3 Abbreviations appearing in report ................................................................. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................5 1 Introduction................................................................................................ 8 2 Definition and History of Wilderness ..................................................... 10 2.1 Concept of Wilderness.............................................................................. 10 2.2 History of Wilderness................................................................................ 12 2.3 Definitions of Wilderness .......................................................................... 14 3 Identification of Wilderness.................................................................... 16 3.1 Criteria under National Wilderness Inventory............................................ 16 3.2 Criteria under Wilderness Act ................................................................... 17 3.2.1 Naturalness ....................................................................................... 18 3.2.2 Solitude and appropriate self-reliant recreation.................................. 18 3.2.3 Size.................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Assessment Methodology......................................................................... 20 3.3.1 Capability assessment ....................................................................... 20 3.3.2 Suitability assessment ....................................................................... 21 4 Description of Assessment Area............................................................ 23 4.1 Location .................................................................................................... 23 4.2 History of Wilderness Proposals in the Region ......................................... 23 4.3 Land Included in Assessment Area........................................................... 24 4.4 Geology and Geomorphology ................................................................... 24 4.5 Climate ..................................................................................................... 25 4.6 Plants........................................................................................................ 26 4.7 Animals..................................................................................................... 28 4.8 Aboriginal History and Heritage ................................................................ 29 4.9 European History and Use of the Area...................................................... 30 5 Capability Assessment............................................................................ 35 5.1 Naturalness and Disturbance.................................................................... 38 5.1.1 Grazing and clearing.......................................................................... 38 5.1.2 Infrastructure ..................................................................................... 41 5.1.3 Logging.............................................................................................. 42 5.1.4 Fire .................................................................................................... 44 5.1.5 Mining ................................................................................................ 46 5.1.6 Introduced species............................................................................. 46 5.1.7 Roads, trails and tracks ..................................................................... 47 5.1.8 Bushrock removal .............................................................................. 49 5.1.9 Water quality...................................................................................... 50 5.1.10 Results of the naturalness / wilderness capability assessment....... 51 5.1.11 Summary of the naturalness / wilderness capability assessment ... 68 5.2 Size........................................................................................................... 69 5.3 Solitude and Self-reliant Recreation.......................................................... 69 5.4 Identified Yengo Wilderness ..................................................................... 69 ASSESSMENT OF THE YENGO WILDERNESS 6 Suitability Assessment............................................................................ 74 6.1 Suitable Boundary..................................................................................... 74 7 Management of the Declared Yengo Wilderness.................................. 78 7.1 The Declaration Process........................................................................... 78 7.2 Consultation with Landowners and Stakeholders...................................... 79 7.3 Plan of Management for Yengo National Park and Parr State Recreation Area.......................................................................................................... 80 7.4 Roads and Trails....................................................................................... 80 7.5 Recreation ................................................................................................ 80 7.6 Fire ........................................................................................................... 81 7.7 Introduced Species ................................................................................... 82 8 Recommendations for Declaration of the Yengo Wilderness.............. 83 REFERENCES................................................................................................. 84 Appendix 1 Detailed Description of Assessment Area ............................. 87 List of Tables page Table 1: Assessment of the Yengo wilderness - areas 7 Table 2: Averages of selected climate variables for two locations adjacent to assessment area 25 Table 3: Mean annual rainfall for several locations adjacent to assessment area 26 Table 4: Thresholds for determining categories of disturbance for Yengo Wilderness Assessment 36 Table 5: Disturbed sites within assessment area & disturbance categories, Yengo Wilderness Assessment Area 52 List of Figures page Figure 1: Recommended Yengo Wilderness following p. 71 Abbreviations appearing in report ANZECC Australian & New Zealand Environment & Conservation Council ASL above sea level BP before present NFPS National Forest Policy Statement NP National Park NPWS NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service NWI National Wilderness Inventory PO permissive occupancy SRA State Recreation Area ASSESSMENT OF THE YENGO WILDERNESS IDENTIFICATION OF THE YENGO WILDERNESS I, Brian Gilligan, Director-General of NSW National Parks and Wildlife, having considered the findings and recommendations contained in “Assessment of the Yengo Wilderness”, dated November 2001, identify as wilderness, in accordance with the requirements of section 6 of the Wilderness Act 1987, the area described in this report and shown by a black line in Figure 9 of this report. Brian Gilligan Director-General NSW National Parks and Wildlife 4 ASSESSMENT OF THE YENGO WILDERNESS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Wilderness is a large area of land which, together with its native plant and animal communities, and the ecosystems of which they are a part, is largely unmodified. Wilderness areas represent the most intact and undisturbed expanses of our remaining natural landscapes. An assessment of the Yengo area has been conducted in accordance with the Wilderness Act 1987 in order to determine whether there are lands which are considered capable and suitable for declaration as wilderness. Yengo is located between the Hunter Valley and the Hawkesbury and Colo Rivers, i.e. approximately 100 km north of Sydney. The assessment area of potential wilderness consists of approximately 193,000 hectares, mainly encompassing Yengo National Park, Parr State Recreation Area and small areas of vacant Crown land, leasehold land and freehold land. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is responsible for assessments under the Wilderness Act 1987. This wilderness assessment project has been undertaken as a part of the Comprehensive Regional Assessments (CRAs) of forests in New South Wales. The CRAs provide the scientific basis for regional forest agreements (RFAs) for major forest areas in New South Wales. The agreements determine the future use of forests. The wilderness assessments undertaken in 1998-99 assisted the CRA negotiations, however wilderness was not formally identified at this stage. Since the initial forest agreements the NPWS have selected a refined wilderness assessment boundary that includes potential wilderness from the National Wilderness Inventory. During the Yengo assessment, discussions with landowners and local stakeholders as well as a formal public consultation phase provided important input into the