Active self management

Since the first settlement, the hut owners have always had a keen interest in the surrounding environment, not only of the river, but the beaches and surrounding coastal areas. Through the committee, it has helped State Government agencies and a great number other area users on many occasions, some examples of which are below:-

• Arum Lily Surveys – it was a hut owners who alerted CALM to the presence of arum lily’s in several areas in the early 1980’s. Since then many hut owners have assisted CALM with surveys, transport, and accommodation to reduce costs and improve efficiency for crews conducting this work.
• Self management - To reduce CALMs involvement with the management of the huts, the Association has:-
  • Drawn up a building code (huts and jetties) which has been endorsed by CALM and has worked well for 12 years.
  • Drawn up a code of conduct (see below) for hut owners and their guests to abide by. All hut owners had input into the code and endorsed it so that conflicts did not arise.
  • Provided CALM with up to date hut owners contact details as they change (with transfers, deaths, etc).
• Fire Management - assisted CALM with wildfire suppression (during the 1988 fires), maintained firebreaks around the settlements, prescribed burnt buffers within the breaks when possible, provided fire fighting equipment for settlement protection, and initiated hut inspections prior to the fire season to ensure breaks are maintained around huts during the summer period.

• Medical and other emergencies – hut owners have assisted many day visitors and campers with major and minor emergencies over the years. Many of those people were ill prepared and would have suffered substantially if assistance was not forthcoming (and freely given – at no cost) by hut owners.
  • Many disabled outboard motors have been repaired, or if that was not possible, boats towed back to the ramp (again at no cost) for campers or day trippers. Many (often) have also run out of fuel and this has also been provided, again saving CALM (or Police) an expensive rescue operation.
  • Firewood, shelter (during storms particularly) and fresh water has been provided for, to hundreds of people.
• Rubbish removal – several busy bees have been conducted to remove rubbish and material left by day trippers and campers, and weekly more material is taken home by hut owners when left by visitors.  A skip placed at the landing (with approval from CALM) two years ago for a hut cleanup programme was mostly used by visitors, and paid for by the Association.
• Coastwatch – the Association has worked closely with Customs to implement a coastwatch programme for that remote section of the coast.
• Hut inspections – the hut owners have initiated and assisted CALM with inspections of the huts and surrounds to ensure that conditions stipulated in the lease were being met. (This includes a thorough check of any possible damage to the river bank, vegetation, and contamination from septic systems into the river.  As all huts are set back from the edge and have septic tank drains which filter into deep sand no pollution has ever been observed or recorded, either by the committee or by CALM inspections).
• Emergency communications – lack of telephone or other permanent communications in this area is of concern. In 1985 a HF radio was installed at one of the huts to ensure that emergency contact was possible during an emergency. This was used on several occasions for that purpose. As soon as CDMA phones were available antennae to operate these were installed in several huts.
• Voluntary services -  the Association has also offered to CALM to
  •  undertake training in the laying of poison baits to reduce feral animals (cats and foxes) that take tern eggs on the local beach.
  • Undertake fauna trapping.
  • Assist with the upgrading of the car park at the boat ramp which is not large enough and poorly laid out.
  • Set up and take weather readings and forward them to CALM as required. This, and all the above offers, were declined.
• Walk trail – a grant was applied to construct a walk trail from Lake Jasper to Donnelly Beach to eliminate the damage caused by bushwalkers along that section of the coast. This application was successful and the trail completed. Maintenance has been done to ensure it remains in good condition.  
• River safety – the Association offered to share the cost of printing self adhesive stickers illustrating navigational rules to provide to day trippers and campers (who are often ignorant of boating rules on the river) and place them in their boats. This offer to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure was declined, as was our request to erect appropriate signs. To partially remedy this, the Association has produced and erected warning signs at the ramp to minimize the risk of a collision on the river. The Association also, because of the great amount of knowledge gained over more than 50 years, has also commented to CALM on factors associated with the commercial tourist boat operation.