CAPE RANGE NATIONAL PARK Analysis of Public Submissions to the Draft Management Plan Department of Environment and Conservation for the Conservation Commission of Western Australia August 2008 CONTENTS BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................................................... 1 METHOD OF ANALYSIS................................................................................................................................... 1 ANALYSIS TABLES............................................................................................................................................ 2 GENERAL COMMENTS...................................................................................................................................... 2 ADDITIONS TO THE CONSERVATION RESERVE SYSTEM .................................................................... 7 NATURE CONSERVATION.......................................................................................................................... 16 Nature Conservation (General) ................................................................................................................... 16 Climate Change............................................................................................................................................ 16 Ecological Water Requirements................................................................................................................... 16 Environmental Weeds................................................................................................................................... 16 Fire Management......................................................................................................................................... 17 Geology and Karst ....................................................................................................................................... 17 Introduced Animals ...................................................................................................................................... 18 Native Animals ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Native Plants ................................................................................................................................................ 23 Ramsar Nomination ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Rehabilitation............................................................................................................................................... 24 CULTURAL HERITAGE................................................................................................................................ 24 RECREATION................................................................................................................................................. 27 Recreation (General).................................................................................................................................... 27 Recreation (Activities).................................................................................................................................. 29 Abseiling and Rock Climbing.................................................................................................................................... 29 Camping .................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Caving........................................................................................................................................................................ 35 Cycling ...................................................................................................................................................................... 36 Day Use ..................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Walking ..................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Water Based Activities .............................................................................................................................................. 40 Wildlife Viewing ....................................................................................................................................................... 43 Other Recreation Issues ............................................................................................................................... 43 Access (Roads) .......................................................................................................................................................... 43 Access (Boats) ........................................................................................................................................................... 45 Booking System......................................................................................................................................................... 47 Ecolodge/Safari Camp............................................................................................................................................... 47 Commercial Operations ............................................................................................................................................. 50 Development Setback ................................................................................................................................................ 52 Disabled Access......................................................................................................................................................... 53 Inland Recreation Opportunities................................................................................................................................ 53 Landscape Management ............................................................................................................................................ 53 Management Settings (Including Wilderness)........................................................................................................... 53 Shade ......................................................................................................................................................................... 57 Special Events............................................................................................................................................................ 57 Jurabi/Bundegi........................................................................................................................................................... 57 Rubbish Management ................................................................................................................................................ 58 Water Extraction/Contamination (Recreation Impacts)............................................................................................. 58 RESOURCE USE............................................................................................................................................. 59 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT ................................................................................................................... 62 RESEARCH ..................................................................................................................................................... 66 APPENDIX 1 SUBMITTERS TO THE DRAFT PLAN................................................................................. 67 BACKGROUND This document is an analysis of public submissions to the Cape Range National Park Draft Management Plan 2005. The plan was released for public comment on 14 February 2006 for a period of 3 months. A total of 51 submissions were received. All submissions have been summarised and changes have been made to the plan where appropriate. Following the release of the plan, advertisements were placed in two issues of a local newspaper and two issues of The West Australian, advising that the plan was available for comment. The plan was distributed to State Government departments, tertiary institutions, recreation and conservation groups, local authorities, libraries and other community groups and individuals who expressed interest during the preparation of the draft. The plan was available for viewing and/or downloading from the Department of Environment and Conservation’s (the Department’s) NatureBase website. Electronic submissions could also be made via this website. Printed copies of the plan were made available at Departmental offices in Kensington, Exmouth and Karratha and could be inspected at the Departmental library at Woodvale, and the Exmouth Shire public library. METHOD OF ANALYSIS The public submissions to the plan were analysed according to the process depicted in the flow chart overleaf. More specifically: 1. The Draft Management Plan was amended if a submission: a) provided additional resource information of direct relevance to management; b) provided additional information on affected user