Pedder

[Son of a Beach]

Regret - never got to see Lake Pedder

Likewise... it's like a pain in my gut every time I see a picture of Lake Pedder, think about how close I live to it, and know that I will never see it in person. At least I've discovered for myself that Robin Gray's "leech-ridden ditch" description of the Franklin River was sooooo off the mark.

(Note that this topic has been split off from a this topic in the "Who Are You Forum".)

[tasadam]

Regret - never got to see Lake Pedder

Ditto. Before my time in Tassie.
One treasured asset I have - kindly given to us by a friend - a Pedder Penny. Hold it, close your eyes, feel time in your hands.

[Son of a Beach]

Regret - never got to see Lake Pedder

Ditto. Before my time in Tassie.
One treasured asset I have - kindly given to us by a friend - a Pedder Penny. Hold it, close your eyes, feel time in your hands.

Cool! I remember my grade 11 geology teacher showing us a few of those and explaining that the ones found at Lake Pedder were different to anywhere else in the world (he was part of the original "Lake Pedder Action Committee" which I think became the Wilderness Society, later on).

[tasadam]

A frustrating read...
http://www.lakepedder.org/resources/rep ... ouldbe.htm

[corvus]

I did visit Pedder and was entranced by its splendour however I have recovered from the "new one" and get on with life as I cannot dwell on that which happened nearly 40 year ago.
Despite condemnation of the HEC consider that many of our easier access tracks would not be available today same goes for Forestry (Arm River et al ) so lets just enjoy what we have today and be thankfull that we have our health and will to continue our exploration of Tasmania.
No need for frustration , sadness or anger just be happy to be alive and live life because when you are over 60 like me you will start to count the years left and that is bluidy scary (scots spelling beats the swear checker)

[Son of a Beach]

I did visit Pedder and was entranced by its splendour however I have recovered from the "new one" and get on with life as I cannot dwell on that which happened nearly 40 year ago.
Despite condemnation of the HEC consider that many of our easier access tracks would not be available today same goes for Forestry (Arm River et al ) so lets just enjoy what we have today and be thankfull that we have our health and will to continue our exploration of Tasmania.
No need for frustration , sadness or anger just be happy to be alive and live life because when you are over 60 like me you will start to count the years left and that is bluidy scary (scots spelling beats the swear checker)

Too true. I've found I have a tendancy towards living in the past in many areas of life, and I'm slowly learning that it is not healthy, and I often just need to move on. And with the forums ban on political content, there's not a lot more we can say about Pedder here, anyhow.

Truchanas was certainly am impressive person in both constitution and spirit. He sure had a balanced view of these things. Doing the best he could to make his opinions against the dam known in his mostly quiet way, while still working for the HEC in his day job.

[Penguin]

Standard hiking topics while we are walking:

1. Access vs conservation
2. Duck Board vs eroding tracks
3. Good roads in vs no hydro
4. What it would have been like to spend a couple of weeks walking into the old Lake Pedder or land on the beach of the lake in a light plane
5. How many tracks we can go on and hills we climb before we get too decrepit (I know what you mean Corvus)
6. What trees do you knock down.

Have we answered any of these questions? Definitely not, but we have a lot of fun arguing. And the arguing is worthwhile.

[johnw]

Truchanas was certainly am impressive person in both constitution and spirit. He sure had a balanced view of these things. Doing the best he could to make his opinions against the dam known in his mostly quiet way, while still working for the HEC in his day job.

A good documentary has been screened a number of times on pay TV (maybe also free to air in Tassie?) about the lives and photography of both Truchanas and Dombrovskis. Both very interesting and committed men.

JohnW

[tasadam]

A good documentary has been screened a number of times on pay TV (maybe also free to air in Tassie?) about the lives and photography of both Truchanas and Dombrovskis. Both very interesting and committed men.

JohnW

That documentary is called "Wildness".
I have a copy of that on DVD that someone kindly recorded for me when it was on free-to-air.
It's available on video from the state library. http://catalogue.statelibrary.tas.gov.a ... ILDNE97000

[johnw]

That documentary is called "Wildness".
I have a copy of that on DVD that someone kindly recorded for me when it was on free-to-air.

Yep, that's the one, thanks. I recorded it last time also...pretty sure it's still on the HDD of my DVD recorder. Worth watching again.

John W

[tas-man]

It will be fifty years this year in 2022 since the flooding of Lake Pedder and the drowning of Olegas Truchanas, so there will no doubt be a revisiting of these stories in the media . . . so what have we learned?

[FLICKIT]

It will be fifty years this year in 2022 since the flooding of Lake Pedder and the drowning of Olegas Truchanas, so there will no doubt be a revisiting of these stories in the media . . . so what have we learned?

I was just re-watching an old Tas Gov doco which contained a bit of footage of the old Lake Pedder and Olegas Truchanas...
Lake Pedder (1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtj_PrQcCLs

A couple of other hydro docos which are quite interesting, they have a slight propaganda feel but it is what it is:

Gordon Power (1978)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGE0Rz0hE04

Hydro - Power with Glory (1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsIC4uYCMQA

[tas-man]

Launceston Walking Club member, the late David "Akky" Atkins sent me a few items on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the "Save Lake Pedder Action Committee" in April 1967. I post them here as part of the historical record of that event.

Draft Press Release from inaugural meeting of the Save Lake Pedder Action Committee, April 1967

Final Press Release from inaugural meeting of the Save Lake Pedder Action Committee, published in the Mercury Public Notices in April 1967

An example of the publicity the committee achieved when contacting bushwalking clubs around Australia. This was printed in the Brisbane Bushwalker magazine for July 1967.

[FLICKIT]

ABC News today:
Lake Pedder was dammed 50 years ago for hydro power, but could it now be time to drain it?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-28/lake-pedder-dammed-50-years-calls-to-drain-lake/100865652