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The retreat of the glaciers after the ice age left behind U-shaped valleys with sheer cliffs and as a result Fiordland's coast is steep and crenellated, with some of the 15 fiords reaching as far as 40 kilometres (25 mi) inland. Other notable fiords include Doubtful Sound / Patea and Tamatea / Dusky Sound. Lake Marian in the Darran Mountains Geographical features ĭuring the cooler past, glaciers carved many deep fiords, the most famous (and most visited) of which is Milford Sound / Piopiotahi. Possible future additions are Big Bay, parts of the Livingston/Eglinton Ranges, and the Dean/Rowallan catchment area. The most recent expansion of Fiordland National Park was the 1999 addition of the 482 square kilometres (186 sq mi) Waitutu Forest. Although the park's seaward-boundary is at the mean high water mark, a total of ten adjoining marine reserves protect large areas of water in several of the fiords. The park's protected area includes all of the islands along its coast, as well as the remote Solander Islands. In 1986, Fiordland National Park was individually recognised as a World Heritage Site, and in 1990, together with three other national parks to the north, as part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area. The ensuing battle resulted in government ultimately bowing to the weight of petitions and passing a bill in the 1970s that gave the lake statutory protection. The only main road into the park, State Highway 94 (SH 94), reached the Homer Tunnel area in 1935, but it was only with the tunnel's completion in 1953 that Milford Sound was accessible by road - to date the only fiord in the national park with road access.įiordland became the scene of one of New Zealand's most significant conservation debates when in the 1960s it was proposed to raise the level of Lake Manapouri to assist hydro-electricity production at West Arm. Consolidation of the management of these parks led to the National Parks Act of 1952, which brought Fiordland National Park into the fold, formally making it the third National Park in New Zealand. The only two officially named "national parks" in New Zealand at the time, Tongariro National Park and Egmont National Park, were administered by park boards. The Fiordland "public reserve" was created as a park administered by the Department of Lands and Survey - in practical terms similar to a National Park.