HOW IT ALL BEGAN ….

Community frustration and anger was aroused in February 1988 when a hut on the Tasmanian high-country plateau – Tiger Hut – was swiftly and secretly removed by the Government of the day.                                                                                                                  

Tiger Hut was situated near Lake Bigfoot, a small lake located between Lakes Adelaide and Louisa in the wilderness of the Central Plateau Conservation Area. The Hut had originally been built in 1984 by Peter Wright to further his search for the elusive Tasmanian Tiger which he believed still existed in remote areas of the Tasmanian wilderness.  Wright, together with Ron Stephens, a Hobart publishing entrepreneur, privately financed the extremely sophisticated and technologically advanced search for the Tasmanian Tiger. He employed a workforce of qualified and experienced local men to erect a hut with a solid stone foundation, clad in aluminium color bond and sturdy enough to handle the harshest of weather conditions. It took approx. 3 months to build and the finished hut, almost 13 squares in size, complete with a large dining area and pot-bellied fire, was capable of sleeping up to 20 people.  The tiger search was abandoned after six months but the Hut ensured comfortable accommodation for recreational users, particularly the bushwalkers and fishermen who frequented the area.  It provided a safe and dependable refuge in an area known for its extremely inhospitable environment.

The furtive and seemingly covert action to secretly and swiftly remove Tiger Hut early in 1988 sparked heated debate, controversy and vexation amongst those who were familiar with the hut and the various recreational users who had come to rely on the hut’s existence. The Lands, Parks & Wildlife Minister at the time, John Bennett, cited the deteriorating condition of the building and the degradation caused to the surrounding area as reasons for the removal of the hut. These claims were at odds with the qualified builders and users of the Hut who declared that, at less than 4 years old, it was in very sound repair and that no adverse damage was being done to the surrounding environment.  Recreational groups and the public in general were disappointed and felt betrayed and aggrieved that there had been absolutely no consultation and, in fact, many of the interested parties only learned of the hut’s removal, after the event, via the press and media outlets.

That one single act of Government heavy handedness was the stimulus for the formation of an organisation that has gone from strength to strength.  Almost forty years ago a public meeting was held at the Chudleigh Hall. Scores of concerned community members attended the specially called meeting and although they came from various walks of life they were united in their cause – to save and protect Tasmania’s mountain huts so that there would be no more clandestine removal of huts without community consultation with user groups.  That very first meeting was held in April 1988 and as a result the Mountain Huts Preservation Society was formed.

THE AFTERMATH OF REMOVAL …..

Just a month after Tiger Hut was removed, The Examiner newspaper, dated March 19^th 1988, reported that the Lands, Parks and Wildlife Minister, John Bennett, cited the deteriorating condition of the hut which was “degrading the surrounding environment” as one of the main criteria to support its removal.   Thirty years on and there is definitely a degradation problem at the location where the hut once stood, but it is not the fault of user groups or individual visitors to the site.

In another Examiner report, dated March 29^th 1988, when the matter of remaining rubbish was questioned, Mr Bennett said that when the weather was suitable the rubbish would be burned.

A current member of MHPS visited the site shortly after the hut’s removal and was of the opinion that the mounds of rubbish and debris he saw had been heaped up ready to burn or for future helicopter removal.  Thirty years later, he returned to see what effect a rubbish burn would have had and if the area had regenerated.  He was shocked to see the site was unchanged.  Piles of rubbish littering the area – sheet metal, building brackets, foil, rusted containers and even a lead acid battery amongst the heaps of slowly rotting timber.

It would seem that the authorities of the day who chose to dismantle and remove the Tiger Hut failed in their bid to protect the wilderness surroundings and have in fact been the perpetrators of greater environmental pollution and degradation than would have been caused by the standing hut or the responsible people who used it.

WHERE IS IT NOW …….

In February 1988 the Tiger Hut was dismantled and transported by helicopter from Lake Adelaide to the Tas. Parks & Wildlife Service depot at Liawenee where it was eventually re-assembled by PWS staff.  It stood idle and remained unoccupied for long periods of time save for the occasional use by school groups or fishermen.

Mike Cousins joined the PWS in 1990 as a ranger at Liawenee and could see the potential the building offered and envisaged greater occupancy with just a few improvements and additions.  Over the next few years the Tiger Hut had a re-birth with expansions to the living room, renovations to other existing areas, the addition of an extra wood heater and the building of a gazebo for outdoor activities and barbecues.  It proved popular with groups for school excursions and family gatherings as well as being utilised by fishing groups and bushwalkers.

When Mike retired from the PWS to venture into his own business at Miena, the Tas PWS took over responsibility for the Tiger Hut. Today it sits empty and is currently unavailable for hire.