the folks over at Scoop (www.scoop.co.nz) have posted this press release. Some people are raising concerns the films will have on the wildlife and nature in and around NZ. With all those hundreds of people running around, they have a point.

Hobbits Not Welcome in Kahurangi National Park
Friday, 12 November 1999, 9:12 pm
Press Release:

12.11.99
Press Release

"Lord of the Rings Not Welcome in Kahurangi National Park, or Kepler Mire"

The Forest and Bird Protection Society is concerned that Frodo and his hairy hobbit friends with their attendant large film crews may severely damage sensitive landscapes in the Kahurangi National Park and Kepler Mire, an ancient string bog in Fiordland.

Forest and Bird's Southern Conservation Officer, Sue Maturin, said the Society opposed the Lord of the Rings being filmed in the internationally significant Kepler Mire and the glaciated karst country at Mt Owen in Kahurangi National Park.

For the rest of this article, visit the Scoop site here: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9911/S00103.htm