The Outdoor Recreation Consortium has approved funding for a wide variety of community partners from around New Zealand to enhance and maintain our backcountry assets. Close to 50 projects have been approved, with more in the pipeline and another funding round will take place over the summer. A map and brief outline of the projects can be viewed here: http://hutsandtracks.org.nz/funded-projects/

The most northerly project is in the hills behind Thames where the local tramping club will be working with DOC to improve access to Crosbies Hut (Thames is actually a hot bed of projects with local mountain bikers and 4WDers also obtaining funding). The most southerly project is on Percy Saddle in Southland, where the local MTB club is surveying and marking a new route on this most adventurous of mountain bike rides.

Federated Mountain Clubs President Robin McNeill is impressed with the diversity of projects, “keen outdoors people from around the country are really getting behind this movement to do more to enhance and maintain our backcountry opportunities”.

The Outdoor Recreation Consortium is a joint venture of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association, Trailfund NZ and Federated Mountain Clubs. It is supported by the Department of Conservation’s Community Conservation Partnership Fund, Pūtea Tautiaki Hapori.