Ban on grazing is 'killing' The Man from Snowy River

They are the inheritors of a 170-year-old tradition that has been celebrated in poetry and film, but the cattlemen of the Snowy Mountains fear their distinctive way of life is heading for extinction.

Renowned for their horsemanship, the cattlemen have grazed their herds in the rugged hills and valleys of Victoria's high country since it was settled by British convicts and colonists in the 1830s.

A century ago they inspired Australia's unofficial poet laureate, Andrew "Banjo" Paterson, to write The Man From Snowy River, the epic tale of riders pursuing a herd of wild horses through "gorges deep and black".

But the farmers' traditional summer pastures are within the 660,000ha Alpine National Park and the Government of Victoria has announced a ban on grazing within the park.

The cattle are accused of trampling delicate vegetation, eating rare flowers, causing erosion and muddying streams.

The Government cited a report released this year, which found that one section of the park was covered in no less than 1.7 million cow pats, each of which can take five years to decompose in the chilly alpine climate.

The decision has caused uproar among the cattlemen, who have condemned Victorian Premier Steve Bracks for "killing the man from Snowy River".

Fifth-generation cattleman Bruce McCormack said the ban on grazing was the equivalent of hearing that a family member had died.

"We've spent our whole life living and breathing the high country and now it's been taken away from us," he told the Age newspaper. "There's a man from Snowy River in every one of us and now it's gone."

Paul Weller, president of the Victorian Farmers Federation, said: "The farmers have been taking their cattle up into the high country each summer for 170 years. No one cares more for the alpine areas than the farmers, and they have managed the grazing in a sustainable way."

In 1982 The Man From Snowy River was adapted into a film, starring Kirk Douglas, followed by a television series in the 1990s. The legend featured in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when a horseman galloped into the stadium.

The stockmen and drovers are up against a united front of scientists and conservationists who say that grazing is doing irreparable damage to the park.

The Australian Academy of Science called for an end to grazing in the 1950s, and cattle were banned from the high country of neighbouring New South Wales more than 30 years ago.

Victorian Environment Minister John Thwaites said the cattlemen's way of life would live on because cattle would still be permitted in other upland areas.

"All the things that people associate with The Man From Snowy River, like horses leaping over creeks and blokes mustering cattle with lassoes, will continue," a spokesman said.

The cattlemen have appealed to the federal Environment Minister, Ian Campbell, to overturn the ban. He is due to announce a decision next week.

The legend

* A verse from The Man From Snowy River

He sent the flint stones flying, but the pony kept his feet,
He cleared the fallen timber in his stride,
And the man from Snowy River never shifted in his seat,
It was grand to see that mountain horseman ride.
Through the stringy barks and saplings, on the rough and broken ground,
Down the hillside at a racing pace he went;
And he never drew the bridle till he landed safe and sound,
At the bottom of that terrible descent.