QLD park alerts - do they care about updating?

[gbagua]

It seems this people enjoy others to be locked up in the city.

I'm referring to the whole Barney area which is currently getting a good dose of rain as Brisbane is.

https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/park-alerts/17350.html

They are funded by all of us taxpayers.

Do your job properly or get out!

Last updated 23/10/19.

It should be updated DAILY.


Note: Park closed until 30/11/19

They must be joking.

[ofuros]

Ditto for the Main Range N.P...all remote camping & remote area walks. I feel your pain.

[Aardvark]

If you're dumb enough to pay any attention to that then more fool you.

[dalehikes]

I'd assume it has something to do with notification delays and giving them a space to perform any urgent duties without people in the way.

For example, many people even now wouldn't know the park was closed until they rocked up.

I know of 2 groups who had planned to do a Steamers hike despite the fire that was (at the time) blazing through the valley and had been for a week.
They had no idea about the fire there.

There are lots of people clueless on how to keep up to date with closures and fires, I'm sure that has something to do with it.

[CBee]

There was a sign of closure at Cleared Ridge entry saying "Severe fire danger, all tracks and remote camping areas closed, upper portals closed". But at lower portals there was no sign at all and people were hiking normally. So, I'm assuming if an area is dangerous, you would put a sign on each entry, especially from the most popular entry point. But anyway, I can say that Mt. Barney NP and Main Range are VERY dry at the moment and the risk of getting caught in a wild fire is real. Even after a storm, there was water trickling down isolated creek but the terrain was bone dry.

[Aardvark]

There are always multiple entry and exit points to these places and they cannot/do not cover them all. They only aim to cover the most they can for the minimum effort. Budgets in finance and time are very limited to begin with. There are always people who will evade their restrictions. It only ever becomes an issue if you are caught in the wrong place when something seriously goes wrong. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, use their common sense and hopefully whatever skills they have collected in all their experiences. Why would you want to advocate complete regulation and control? That's a road we do not want to rush down.

[CBee]

Lower Portals carpark is a main entry (alongside Yellowpinch carpark) to Mt. Barney NP. If there is a real danger of getting caught in a bushfire, signs should be at these locations first. It's not about advocating complete regulation and control. It's either you know there is a real danger and you let users of the area know about it or not. Hikers could have walked easily from LP to Cleared Ridge area not knowing there was a fire coming from west and if you get caught on the ridge, I can't see a way to escape.

[Aardvark]

I would definitely agree that if a sign was at Cleared Ridge, then there should have been one at Lower Portals Carpark and at Yellowpinch.
But regardless of how many access points you try to cover , you won't get them all and many people will ignore the signs anyway. The threat has to be very apparent or else they will just assume they will get away with it. When people have travelled a fair distance to go hiking it will take a lot to deter them.
When was the last time you saw people on the ground, turning people away from entering a park? That's what it would take to deter some people.
Myself included.
However, if caught out and a fire becomes a real threat, they will only have themselves to blame. They will have to accept responsibility. They will have to deal with the consequences. They may even get hurt or die.
We don't have the resources or the willpower in the community to wrap everyone in cotton wool, make everyone follow the rules or want to, consult websites and other forms of notification and so, people will do what they do.
Something has to be done, don't get me wrong. But it will only ever be a token effort. You can advocate all you want on a forum. It will change the thinking of some but you won't reach many.
Maybe a major catastrophe will have some significant effect. Massive body count perhaps. Sooner or later, it will quieten down and go back to where it is now.
Point is, fire is a real threat all the time when bushwalking. When on the ground you won't know how big it is and how big a threat it will be.
The real skill comes in knowing how big a risk it is before you leave home. Smart ones would seriously limit the amount of activity they undertake right now.
Dumb ones, and the occasional smart one taking a needless risk, will perhaps die. Oh well, that's life.

[Aardvark]

Even after a storm, there was water trickling down isolated creek but the terrain was bone dry.

So CBee, did you go over the saddle between Isolated Pk and North Pk? We have made a circuit a few times over from or to Barney Ck, from Lower Portals Carpk. A good challenge of a walk.

[CBee]

So CBee, did you go over the saddle between Isolated Pk and North Pk? We have made a circuit a few times over from or to Barney Ck, from Lower Portals Carpk. A good challenge of a walk.

We just did a day walk from LP carpark, up Eagles ridge, scrambled up Eagles slabs to Leaning-North saddle and came back isolated creek/rocky creek to LP carpark.

When was the last time you saw people on the ground, turning people away from entering a park? That's what it would take to deter some people.
Myself included.

I usually take decisions regarding my safety, independently. I don't wait for rangers to assess the situation on my behalf. But most people these days, venturing to the wild, need signage to tell them what to do to get back to the car alive. This is a fact. National Park Rangers have the responsibility of closing and opening parks and put up signs on marked tracks and entry points (and LP is a very popular entry point especially in warmer month). That was the meaning of my post. If they believe there is a real threat of wild fire, it's their duty to close the area and let people know of the danger. Probably it won't deter you, but they did what they are supposed to do.

[ofuros]

If you're dumb enough to pay any attention to that then more fool you.

...unless you require rescuing while in the closed park putting others at risk, get choppered out, make the evening news & we all get to pull apart what went wrong here on the forum...

It's only a couple of weeks, could be sooner if they updated their webpage because of changing conditions.
There's plenty of off track walks in other nearby NP's if you look hard enough, not all are in the guide books....or take your chances in a closed N.P, its your life.

[Aardvark]

What i'm getting at is that it is pointless expecting NPWS to have their website updated by the minute. You have to make an assessment yourself and not keep expecting other people to tell you what for.

[ofuros]

What i'm getting at is that it is pointless expecting NPWS to have their website updated by the minute. You have to make an assessment yourself and not keep expecting other people to tell you what for.

All tongue in cheek...I was just pulling your chain while taking a break from building a chook shed in the backyard, wishing I was on a ridge somewhere in the Main Range NP...ruuuff ruff.

...back to the shed.

[ofuros]

Statewide fire ban for 'All' Qld National Parks....
https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/park-alerts/

[dalehikes]

I noticed a lot of complaining on various facebook groups and forums about the extended closure of Mt Barney when it first happened.

I commend the rangers for that action, as the subsequent and continued bushfires in the park justify their decision.

The rangers and emergency crews can go about their work against the fire unimpeded by the frequent rescue of hikers on the mountain.