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| Taking a drink in the Alisa Mountains, along the Routeburn track, one of the areas that would have been affected by the proposed Milford-Dart tunnel |
The Journey or the Destination
Tunnel rejected, but other Fiordland projects still on the table
by Krista Langlois
Warrick Mitchell is driving 100
kilometers per hour down the Milford Road, past jagged cliffs,
hanging glaciers and pristine alpine valleys – scenery that's
causing his two passengers to audibly gasp as they crane their necks
to take it all in. Arguably the most spectacular road in New Zealand,
the 120-km long Milford Road (or SH94) is the only way to reach
Fiordland National Park by land. The park's 3 million acres of
soaring mountains and lush rainforest draw outdoor enthusiasts from
around the world, but there's still only one way in: the twisting,
turning Milford Road.
“I'll never forget the first time I
made this drive,” Mitchell says, steering around a tight bend. "I
love it. I love the spirit of this place."
Clattering behind his SUV is an
aluminum fishing boat, which Mitchell, 35, will use to take his
friends to the remote homestead off the coast where he grew up. For
three days, they'll dive, fish and surf, alone in New Zealand's last
great wilderness.
Although Mitchell's family homestead,
like most of Fiordland, remains accessible only by boat, Milford
Sound at the northern end of the park is becoming an increasingly
popular tourist destination. More than 500,000 visitors a year travel
the Milford Road to get there, and entrepreneurs, investors and
builders see the undeveloped coast as a gold mine. Warrick Mitchell,
however, just sees it as home.
On July 17, after years of heated
controversy, Conservation Minister Nick Smith rejected a $170 million
proposal to build an 11-kilometer tunnel through the Alisa mountains
to Milford Sound. The tunnel and accompanying road would have whisked
hundreds of thousands of new tourists to Fiordland by allowing them
to bypass the lengthy drive from Queenstown to Te Anau to Milford,
but it would have also cut through the heart of two national parks
and a World Heritage site. Community leaders and conservationists
waged war against the tunnel, creating petitions, signs and stickers
to try to convince the government – and the public – that the
plan was ill-conceived.
Though they succeeded, the fight is
hardly over, says Daphne Taylor of the non-profit group Save
Fiordland. "We feel now that we have the really difficult battle
ahead of us."
Two more proposals seek to improve
transportation in Fiordland: a toll road down the rugged coastline
from Haast to Milford, and a project called Fiordland Link that would
connect Queenstown to the start of the Milford Road near Te Anau.
One way or another, it seems, private
companies are intent on improving access and bringing more tourist
dollars to the region.
Whether they'll be allowed to move
forward with their plans will be up to Smith, who is expected to hand
down more decisions in the coming months. Because Smith's choice to
reject the tunnel was based on protecting the ecologic integrity of
Fiordland National Park, Mt. Aspiring National Park and the Te
Wähipounamu World Heritage Site, environmentalists hope that other
transportation projects will be rejected for similar reasons. But
Fiordland Link backer Bob Robertson says that his project avoids the
national parks, has less environmental impact and will bring 440
much-needed jobs to the area. If it's approved, the Fiordland Link
experience will take visitors to Milford by boat, train, ATV and bus.
"It's a world-class backcountry
tourist experience," Robertson wrote in an e-mail. "It is
an experience in its own right and is not just another transport
option to Milford Sound. Nor has it been designed just to shorten the
travel time to Milford Sound."
While he expects a degree of opposition
to the monorail, Robertson said it will ultimately enable more people
to see New Zealand's natural beauty, instead of "keep[ing] the
environment the preserve of a select few who have the time and the
fitness to put a pack on their back."
Additionally, Robertson said, the
electronic monorail will be largely powered by wind farms, enabling
another half a million people to travel to Milford without increasing
carbon emissions. The plan includes a 20km catamaran trip on Lake
Wakatipu, 43km monorail, 45km ATV track and, finally, a bus ride
along the Milford Road.
Though it intentionally skirts the
national parks, the proposed Fiordland Link route nonetheless cuts
through 29 km of ecologically unique tussock grasslands and beech
forest of Te Wähipounamu. Opponents like Save Fiordland claim that
the project would compromise the region's natural and cultural
beauty, creating a "Disney-esque" attraction that could
threaten its World Heritage status.
“If the proposal goes ahead our World
Heritage status will be seriously jeopardized,” Daphne Taylor said.
“One of the reasons people come to New Zealand is because of our
World Heritage sites. The government is … making noise about
economic development, [but] to lose that status would not be in our
economic benefit – and doesn't make sense on any level.”
That, said tunnel spokesman Tom
Elworthy, is “complete nonsense."
"There's been a power station,
road widening, and business development in Milford,” he added. The
proposed transportation projects are minor in comparison.
There are also fears that
transportation projects ushering tourists straight to Milford could
impact local businesses in Te Anau and other small Southland towns.
Robertson has promised that Fiordland Link would promote Te Anau
attractions, but that doesn't appease Glenorchy resident Thor Davis.
“The people who live [in these parts] like being in a place where
we've still got everything under our control. We're not on the way to
somewhere else. When you start doing busloads of people ... they
won't understand anything about our town. We'll just be another place
on the side of the road.”
Back on the Milford Road, as the
mountain pass gives way to virgin beech forest dripping with moss and
ferns, Warrick Mitchell reminisces about growing up in one of New
Zealand's most remote families, in the midst of the country's
greatest wilderness. By the time he was a teenager, he was more
comfortable in the backcountry than most adults.
Now a private yacht captain who has
sailed the world, Mitchell still comes home to enjoy one of the most
unspoiled places on earth. Perhaps more than anyone else, he
understands what's at stake in the fight to develop Fiordland.
“It's a really stunning area, an
untouched part of the world," he said. "And I think it
should be left that way.”
Krista Langlois has worked as a
journalist, teacher and wilderness guide. She currently lives in
Colorado, U.S.A.
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