Saving Our Backcountry Heritage /
Go behind the scenes with the Backcountry Trust
Simple iron-roofed huts, with a fireplace and a few bunks, have long provided a welcome refuge from the wilds and weather for those venturing into New Zealand’s remote areas. Many huts and basic bivvies are maintained by volunteers, funded and supported by the Backcountry Trust. We chat with Trust Manager Rob Brown about the organisation’s history and its various projects.
It is hard not to love the basic functionality and weathered charm of a standard New Zealand backcountry hut. Many date back to the 1960s and 1970s, built as New Zealand Forest Service (NZFS) shelters for crews carrying out animal control work and for recreation. There is nothing pretentious about them and yet they offer all that could be wanted after a hard day’s tramp: a roof over your head, a bunk for the night and a good warm fire.
The Department of Conservation (DOC) has responsibility for around a thousand backcountry huts, including some really basic ‘crawl-in’ bivouacs. Looking after all of these structures plus the track network, is a huge job.
As Backcountry Trust (BCT) Manager Rob Brown observes, volunteers have long played a part in New Zealand’s conservation efforts through pest control and tree planting projects and some clubs maintained huts as part of the public network, but up until the early 2000s no one had really thought about extending that volunteer role to the wider hut and track system. ‘That started to change in 2003 when a volunteers’ group called Permolat [named after a traditional type of track marking material] was founded in Hokitika by Andrew Buglass,’ says Rob. ‘The conservator on the West Coast at that time, Mike Slater, was very supportive of Permolat getting involved with track maintenance, along with huts. He saw it as a way to engage communities and as a practical vehicle for people to put something back into these places.’
The value of the approach was recognised at the national level by Lou Sanson, DOC’s Director-General, with the Hokitika model providing the catalyst for a three-year trial funding partnership between DOC and key recreational groups (the Outdoor Recreation Consortium). Out of this grew the independent Backcountry Trust, founded in 2017. Funded primarily through DOC, the trust also receives ongoing support from its founding organisations – Federated Mountain Clubs, New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association (NZDA) and Trail Fund NZ – which are represented on the board of trustees. Andrew’s ground-breaking efforts were recognised with a QSM last year, acknowledging his services to outdoor recreation and conservation.
Projects undertaken by the BCT range from track trimming and track building to repainting huts and complete rebuilds. Rob is often approached by recreational groups wanting to work on a particular hut or piece of track in their local area.
‘A big part of my job is to steer them through the process, make sure they’re getting the right quotes and being realistic about what they want to do before they submit a funding application to the board. I can take them through how to plan it out and what they need to put in place to ensure the work is done safely. When you go in, you have to take everything you
need as there’s no flying out to pick up extra gear once you’re there. People need to be really well prepared.’
Before the COVID-19 Lockdown, the BCT had been making good progress towards its five-year goal of maintaining 200 huts and some 850 km of track throughout New Zealand. Thankfully, work in the backcountry was able to resume as soon as New Zealand moved to Alert Level 2.
Much of BCT’s recent focus had been on track and hut work in Canterbury, for example, tidying up little beauties like the West Mathias Biv. A group of volunteers, led by Permolat stalwart Hugh van Noorden, spent five days at the bivvy in March. They built a woodshed, installed a toilet, painted the hut and trimmed back vegetation. ‘Hugh has been doing a good job organising groups to go into the Mathias, West Mathias and Canyon Creek bivs … Quite a lot of work has also been done recently on Pool Hut, which is an historic hut in the St James [Conservation Area], led by retired builder
Keith Dekkers. It’s on a part of the St James mountain biking trail so gets a lot of cycling use.’
Of course, tracks are also a big focus for the BCT. In Canterbury, it has provided funding for development and maintenance work associated with the Craigieburn Trails.
This is an evolving network of dual-use mountain biking and tramping tracks in the Castle Hill Basin area.
Invariably, the trust’s efforts support the wider cause of conservation. For example, maintenance of the Upper
Nina Biv in December 2018 has been a real boost for young pest control volunteers working to bring native birds back to the area. The Hurunui College Nina Valley Restoration Group has spent a decade trapping pests up the Nina River to protect remnant populations of great spotted kiwi/roroa, kaka, kea, parakeets and blue duck/whio. Extending their reach into the Upper Nina meant having to store gear at the small biv there, which wasn’t in great condition. The BCT put a team together to upgrade the biv in December 2018. ‘This school group has been doing a fantastic job. We could see that the Upper Nina Biv was getting run down and needed attention so we decided to tidy it up, build a woodshed that could also be used for storage and put in a new toilet. It is now much easier for the group to carry out their pest control work, plus the biv is in a much better state for trampers and hunters in the area.’
Volunteers on projects like this really are passionate about preserving our backcountry heritage. On the team for the Upper Nina Biv with Rob were builder Eric Saggers, his partner Ursi, renowned polar and mountain photographer Colin Monteath and BCT Vice Chair Geoff Spearpoint.
‘Eric is a total legend. You wouldn’t find many with his track record of backcountry build success. He’s led quite a number of rebuilds and restorations and has been involved in hut building for years. Colin is a great mate of Eric’s and they’ve climbed together over the years. Eric, Geoff and I have done other projects together as well.’
Materials and gear for the project were flown in by Bill Hales of Alpine Springs Helicopters. On the West Coast, Anderson Helicopters is another trusted company that helps
Volunteers on projects like this really are passionate about preserving our backcountry heritage.
out with logistics associated with hut projects in hard-toreach places.
It would be a mistake to imagine that all it takes to maintain an old hut is a new coat of paint every now and again. Sometimes these old huts are full of rot and need extensive work. Thankfully, Eric isn’t the only builder or skilled tradesperson coming to the rescue of backcountry huts. On BCT’s Board of Trustees is Dave Keen, a qualified carpenter who has used his skills on various hut restoration projects. Another is Christchurch builder Matt Annand, who led a team to the headwaters of the Clyde River in March to renovate McCoy Hut. They removed the hut’s old roof and added a new one, replaced windows, repaired the front door and entry foyer, scraped down the floor and then repainted the hut inside and out.
Similarly extensive work was required for another recent rebuild supported by BCT: a Canterbury Mountaineering Club (CMC) project to save historic Lyell Hut in the upper headwaters of the Rakaia River. ‘We did another one in Mount Aspiring National Park, the old Top Forks Hut, where the whole structure had to be taken down to the floor due to rot having got in. The floor was in excellent condition but the rest was in a very poor state so the decision was made to build a new hut.’
Mingha Bivvy in Arthur’s Pass National Park is another recent rebuild, with that project led by Mark Jones of the Malvern Branch of the NZDA under the guidance of builder Colin Morris. BCT Chair Craig Benbow has also led a lot of work to renovate rundown huts in the northern part of Arthur’s Pass National Park, and Richard Janssen from Christchurch has carried out a couple of perfect restorations of two-person bivs in North Canterbury.
For those interested in knowing more visit backcountrytrust.org.nz. You can also search for specific backcountry huts online at hutbagger.co.nz or, for West Coast huts, remotehuts.co.nz.