On July 31 we will celebrate World Ranger Day, which honours the dedication of rangers around the world who help to conserve the planet's natural environments and wildlife. This week we’re sharing stories from some of the people that call Tasmania’s parks and reserves their office.
Meet Ranger Matt. He has worked for Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service for seven years across a variety of locations and now calls Cradle Mountain his office.
“As a kid growing up on the North-West Coast, I frequently visited Cradle Mountain. It has been a special place to me ever since,” Matt said.
“My great-great-great uncle was Lionel Connell. He was the first ranger at Cradle Mountain and was instrumental in building much of the infrastructure through the 1930s and 1940s, including the boat sheds at Dove Lake and Crater Lake in the early 1940s.”
In 2021, Matt was part of the team who undertook major repairs to the boat shed at Dove Lake. The work was done using King Billy Pine and the same traditional methods his great-great-great uncle would have used to build the posts, rails and shingles of the boat shed.
“It was very special to be involved in the project, particularly with the family connection,” Matt said.
Thanks for sharing your story, Matt. Who knows, maybe your great-great-great nephew might work on the boat shed too one day!
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Photo credit “Broadfield collection" - Ross Glover & Ida Arnott (Glover) are Matt's great grandparents.
A boat-trip on Dove Lake with Uncle Lionel Connell. Left to right: Ross Henry Glover, Dinah (Jean) Arnott (Shadbolt), Uncle Lionel Connell (Ranger), Faye Glover (Snare), Claude Oswald Glover, Ida May Arnott (Glover).
The punt shown in the photo was built by Thomas Horsham, Matt's great-great-grandfather in 1925 and was used by Gustav Weindorfer (and later Lionel Connell) for giving tours and ferrying visitors around Dove Lake.