FRANKLIN RIVER

:''For the Franklin River in British Columbia, Canada, see Franklin River (Vancouver Island).''
Peter Dombrovskis, ''Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend (Franklin River)'', National Library of Australia, Canberra

The 'Franklin River' lies in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its source is situated at the western edge of the Central Highlands and it continues west towards the West Coast of Tasmania. It was named after an earlier Governor of that state, Sir John Franklin, who later died searching for the Northwest Passage.
Although the Lyell Highway passes through - the catchment area of the river has never had any significant european settlement. There are some archaeological sites that have identified pre-european activity.

Contents
Early access
The Franklin Dam
Named Places on the Franklin
See also
Further reading
External link

Early access


The upper reaches of the Franklin River was traversed by explorers in the nineteenth century in their attempts to access Frenchmans Cap.
The main twentieth century access was by piners in earlier decades of the century in the lower reachers. It was in the mid twentieth century that adventurous canoers sought to conquer the formidable challenges. Dean's book about attempts - identifies three tirps in the 1950's.

The Franklin Dam


The Franklin River become synonymous with Australia's largest conservation battle of the 1980's - the battle to save the Franklin from the Hydro Tasmania proposed hydro-electric power scheme, the Franklin Dam.
This saw Robin Gray's Liberal Government in conflict with a considerable percentage of the Tasmanian population, and the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, led by its director Bob Brown and a variety of other groups, in a battle that lasted four years. The Franklin Dam project was eventually stopped after a ruling of the High Court of Australia, preventing the flooding of the Franklin River.
The focus on the dam and the issues of wilderness experience led to the development of people utilising the river at levels never previously experienced. A fictional account by a writer with an academic and historical understanding of the area - was the book by Richard Flanagan -''Death of a River Guide''. The result of a drowning in real life on the river led to stricter guidelines for users of the river.

Named Places on the Franklin


During his initial journeys, Bob Brown submitted names for some features - before and since, rafters and canoers have added names for many of the bends and rapids on the river:
Livingstone Cut
The Forceit
Sidewinder
Thunderrush
The Sanctum
The Cauldron
Mousehole
Deliverance Reach
The Biscuit
Rafters Basin
Confluence of Andrew River
Propsting Gorge
Glen Calder
Gaylard Rapids
Pig Trough
'Rock Island Bend'
Shower Cliff
Newland Cascades
Confluence of Jane River
Flat Island
Blackmans Bend
Double Fall
Big Fall
Galleon Bluff
Verandah Cliffs
Shingle Island
Pyramid Island
Confluence into Gordon River

See also



Gordon River

King River, Tasmania

Further reading



★ Binks, C.J. (1989) ''Explorers of western Tasmania'' Devonport, Tas. C.J. Binks ISBN 073167300X

★ Dean, Johnson (2002) ''Shooting the Franklin - Early Canoeing on Tasmania's Wild Rivers'' ISBN 0-9581744-0-7

★ Gee, H and Fenton, J. (Eds) (1978) ''The South West Book - A Tasmanian Wilderness'' Melbourne, Australian Conservation Foundation. ISBN 0-85802-054-8

★ Griffiths, Peter, and Baxter, Bruce (1997) ''The ever varying flood : a guide to the Franklin River'' Richmond, Vic.Prowling Tiger Press ISBN 0958664714

★ Lines, William J. (2006) ''Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage'' St. Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. ISBN 0-70223-554-7

External link



★ http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wha/wherein/detail.html location within the World Heritage Area

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