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Grazing in the Australian Alps commenced in the early to mid 1800s, but as early as the 1890s the impact of grazing upon the alpine vegetation and soils were being reported. In the northern region of the Alps in New South Wales, grazing was gradually removed from 1954, but in the southern section in Victoria grazing continued for many years and today some grazing of high plain subalpine areas continues. Alpine grazing has been a land use of multi conflict between alpine leases, the scientific community and conservationists. While scientific evidence indicates the detrimental effects of grazing, the cultural heritage which alpine grazing holds, engenders much emotional support from the general public.

Commercial forestry was the firts major sustained industry in the Alps but since the early 1900s many changes in the industry have taken place. Large areas of commercial forest have been included in national parks. The forestry industry in the early years was based on native hardwood milling. This was undertaken by small sawmills located close to the timber resources, these eventually being relocated nearer to local towns or transport. A native hardwood timber industry still continues, mainly in Victoria, but in New South Wales the alpine forest industry is dominated by pine plnatation forestry. The alpine forest industry makes a significant contribution to the Sates economies not only through timber products bat a part of catchment management, recreation and conservation.

After the devastating bu- shfire of 1939 which destroyed much of Victoria's hardwood forests, the timber industry was restructured and moved into alpine areas where pristine stands of alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatensis) were harvested. The small town of Heyfield was nominated as a conversion centre and eight saw millers established mills there in the 1950s. Because of post-war shortages, the demand of timber was overwhelming. The easily accessible timber was rapidly harvested, which led to further construction and extension of reading into the Alps. To protect their interests, the Heyfield sawmillers formed a syndicate and accepted voluntary reductions in logging allocations. Since its peak in the mid 1950s, logging in alpine areas north of Heyfield has steadily declined, with no further timber harvesting planned before the turn of the century.

ENG : hydroelectricity! Snowy Scheme! impacts! water catchment protection! alpine roads

Skiing is a recent activity in Australia. Its growth, which was rapid for two decades, now seems to be slowing down, thereby exacerbating the struggle which, from the outset, has brought the ski lobby into conflict with the conservationists. In the present context of recession and increasing concern for the environment, is the solution now to modernise the ski « product » and stimulate demand, or, on the contrary, to adopt a « zero growth » policy ? Victoria and New South Wales, despite very different institutional structures, are both seeking compromises, for which it is all the more difficult to obtain acceptance in view of the fact that the Australian Alps are threatened, in the medium term, with a reduction in the area available for skiing.

The Australian Alps as a single biophysical area cover a very small part of the country but have very great demands placed upon the resources of the area. A conflict has existed for many years between commercial interests who see the Alps as an under-developed economic resource and conservation. Organisations who demand the sound and effective conservation of the scientifically significant alpine landscape and biota. Tourism for both recreation and education is exacerbating the debate about appropriate land-use, carrying capacities and limits of acceptable change. The paper considers some of the issues of land-use for recreation, tourism, commercial development, wilderness and nature conservation.

Wilderness as an appropriate land-use is now accepted by conservation agencies and is demanded by the non-government conservation organisations. The Alps provide an opportunity to create very large wilderness areas where the impacts of human activities have been and are minimal. The wilderness movment commenced in Australia in the 1930s with efforts to create large wilderness areas in the Alps. The paper outline the history of wilderness management in the Alps and the challenges of wilderness management in the Alps in the future.

National Parks now cover more than half the total area of the Alps, these parks being contiguous across the State borders between New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory. Until 1984 the individual parks were managed independently of adjoining park areas with the result that management programs and activities were inconscient or duplicated at different times. In 1986 a formal agreement was signed between the States, Territory and the Federal Government to co-operatively manage the alpine parks as one park area.

The vegetation landscapes of the mountains are singularly dominated by Eucalyptus forests and woodlands. They have evolved under the influence of fire and have adaptations to survive fire. The management of these forests is based on the implementation of a fire regime appropriate to each Eucalyptus species association. The unique and colourful alpine zone flora above the treeline attracts many thousands of visitors each year imposing great pressure upon the sensitive plant communities. The management of these communities is based on the control and distribution of visitors to the area.

The diversity of fauna in the Alps is not great but several alpine endemic and important species exist in the small areas of suitable habitat. These habitats are in many places in sites of development for tourism and recreation. Management of the flora and the habitats poses considerable problems to ensure preservation of the fauna. Several case studies are presented to outline the fauna management problems.

Introduced exotic animals have established populations in the Alps and are causing considerable damage to the flora and soils. This is of particular concern in the alpine national parks which encompass the highest and most sensitive plant communities. Goats, rabbits, wild dogs, pigs, deer and foxes are common but a relatively small number of wild horses exist in open sub-alpine woodland areas. These horses commonly referred to as « brumbies » have attained almost legendary status and any plans for their control or eradication have always engendered emotive debate. This management issue is outlined in the paper.

The Australian Alps are the most significant mainland catchment but the many rivers and streams in the Alps are under increasing pressure due to recreational use and as a source of water supplies for the increasing urban developments in the region. The deteriorating quality of the waters of the alpine streams has become a major management issue. A major river (Thredbo River) is discussed in the paper as an example of the problems of water quality management.

The role of fire in natural area management is an issue of much debate and in many situations, very polarised concepts. This occurs in the Alps where conflicting arguments for and against the planned use of fire in vegetation management have prevailed for many years. This situation has arisen as a result of the statutory requirement to provide some protection of life and property from wildlife impacts. Natural area land managers on the other hand accept fire as part of the natural environment and endeavour to implement fire regimes appropriate to the alpine landscapes. Fire management involves acceptable compromise between the two objectives.

Mountain cattlemen, proud of their heritage, defend in this paper their points of view, very different from the one presented by botanists and ecologists in this issue. Today, as in the past, cattlemen follow the Aborigines in their use of fire in land management to ensure good grazing. Greatly concerned for the future of the alpine area, they explain their historical sense of affinity with the high country and the need for cattle grazing.

Early conservation groups sought the reservation of large areas of the Alps as parks in the 1940s. In the late 1960s they were revitalised by a number of environmental issues. In Victoria and NSW, they tend to work independently due in part to different issues, the different political environments in NSW and Victoria and the different structures and responsibilities of the management authorities. Their opinions are supported by people of suburban districts. These paper outlines the structure and the operations of these local conservation groups and their influence in the land management in the Alps.

Brief presentation of the main arguments put forward in support of the request for registration of the Australian Alps with the World Heritage Association. Registration involves recognition of the sclero- phyllous vegetative formations in this region (hard thick-leaved), which are unique by virtue of their variety, en- demism, level of preservation and the aptitude of their habitat to withstand possible climatic changes. The procedure to obtain registration is underway.