Award Nominee

The Mount Somers Walkways Society first established an interest in the catchment of Woolshed Creek when as the Mount Somers Walkway Society (a subtle name change brought about through change) they set about the task of forming the Mount Somers Walkway in the early 1980s. The catchment vegetation cover consists of expanding beech forest, manuka scrubland, native grasses and tussocks and some exotic grasses and woody exotic weeds.

It became evident to the society members that with the destocking of the old pastoral occupation area that the level of weed risks to the asthetics of the landscape, through which the walkway passed, was a real and developing issue. To counter the risk weeds such as broom, gorse and gooseberry represented, weed control was added to the list of tasks that the weekend volunteers carried out.

One limitation to efficiency was the fact that significant parts of the walkway route were distant from road ends. To overcome this the society sought and received the co operation of the surrounding farming families and were granted provisional access using farm tracks to gain access to the old Mt Somers Station hut which was strategically placed to facilitate access to a significant central portion of the track.

Following the advent of the Department of Conservation in 1987 a new relationship has been forged between DOC and the Walkways Society members and together the staff of the Raukapuka Area Office and the Mount Somers Walkways Society have moved forward significantly the conservation interests of the Mt Somers Public Conservation Lands. In the course of this, weed control, has been a contributing undertaking and is a task which the Department recognises as significantly providing for the maintenance of the overall conservation experience on offer for which the Society should be commended and recognised.

Nominated by: Adrian Cogle, Raukapuka Area Office, Department of Conservation.