In the short term, a major confrontation will be avoided between the groups and associations representing thousands of ground-based recreational hunters and 16 heli-hunting, mainly southern-based, operators, who host foreign hunters on conservation land shooting prized tahr and deer.
However, if due process and consideration for the 16 applicants under the law is not followed, legal counsel for the operators have threatened to seek a judicial review under the Bill of Rights.
The wider issue of heli-hunting in its present form is yet to be played out publicly.
Both parties - ground hunters and heli-hunting operators - claim millions of southern tourism dollars will be lost if their respective hunting methods are threatened in any way.
An internal Doc report has been completed on the applications of 16 heli-hunting operators for the 10-year concessions, including 12 operators who make up the South Island Wild Animal Recovery Operators Association, and a final Doc decision may be released this year.
The 16 operators get two-year temporary concessions from Doc, but critics claim they hunt because of a legislative "loophole" in the Wild Animal Control Act allowing a "wild animal recovery operators" permit, which some argue is for deer culling and recovery operations and not specifically for trophy hunting.
United Future's Peter Dunne campaigned to seek an outright heli-hunting ban; and he is now Associate Minister for Conservation.
Sources in Wellington said yesterday the proposal for 10-year heli-hunting will not go ahead, given Mr Dunne's agreement with National and his new conservation position.
"It [10-year concessions] will be `on hold' because of the agreement; it will not be a goer for Doc to pursue," the source said.
Mr Dunne was unavailable for comment yesterday and a senior Doc manager was unaware if the 10-year proposal had been formally shelved.
Counsel for the South Island Wild Animal Recovery Operators Association, Dunedin-based Colin Withnall QC, said he was not aware of any "shelving" of the 10-year concession proposal.
"They [16 operators] are entitled to apply and have their applications considered under the law that is in force." Mr Withnall said he had already cited precedent-setting cases, based on the Bill Of Rights, 1688, to Doc, and if applications were "shelved" he may consider seeking a judicial review.
Despite rumours circulating the ground-hunting fraternity that the heli-hunting section of the National and United Future supply and confidence agreement had been overturned, a spokesman for United denied the fortnight-old, three-year agreement had been overturned.
Consideration for the 10-year concession comes under Doc's Canterbury Conservancy, which has become the lead conservancy for processing heli-hunting concessions for the South Island, conservator Mike Cuddihy said yesterday.
He "couldn't verify" that the concession proposal had been shelved, saying a report on the applications by the 16 operators had been completed and was about to be sent to one of Doc's deputy director-generals.
"It [heli-hunting] is a very complex issue and there is a lot to be considered," he said.
Mr Cuddihy was aware of the report's findings but could not disclose any information, and it was possible the deputy director-general may publicly release his report before the end of the year.
