A few people have been wanting more detail on the situation with LOTR being filmed in the National Parks.
The Department of Conservation has given permission for the company to film on D.O.C. land around Te Anau, the Wakatipu basin around Queenstown, and Mt.Owen around Murchison. D.O.C. has given the company a 77-page document outlining the conditions it sets, and there is a $50,000 bond to lose if they wreck anything.(For New Line, this would be the proverbial slap on the wrist with a wet bus-ticket, as far as threats go.) The film company must employ a D.O.C. officer to monitor how they’re affecting the environment; they must only drive on existing roads, and public access can’t be restricted. I like the last condition!
