Minister of Hunting and Fishing James Meager released draft management plans for herds of special interest (hosi) for wapiti deer in parts of Fiordland National Park and sika deer in the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Forest Parks.
Mr Meager said the changes would allow hunter-led conservation groups to sustainably manage herd numbers and create opportunities to drive economic growth.
Conservation values remained protected, he said.
Herd management plans aimed to keep deer numbers at a level which enhanced the recreational hunting experience while maintaining and improving natural biodiversity and forest health.
Fiordland Wapiti Foundation general manager Roy Sloan said the plan more or less mirrored what the foundation was doing. If anything it increased the monitoring of the management of deer, he said.
"The major changes for us and what we're actually doing in Fiordland is that it overlays more, I guess, monitoring," he said.
Opponents had been vocal in criticising the hosi, and letting an exotic species run loose in a national park.
"There are actually more layers of legislation, more layers of monitoring, and more innovative ways to ensure that they're meeting the outcomes that are set."
He said the opposition groups to the hosi did not seem to realise that.
"People are missing that. The hosi is getting clouded by the anti-deer sector, and they're not focusing on the real cool outcomes that could happen on a hosi."
Groups had said allowing wapiti loose in a national park was like letting them treat the national park like a glorified vege patch.
"They don't stack up. You look at what we're doing in the field. This is the best deer management that has ever happened in the history of this country."
Monitoring would include seedling ratios, sample plots, alpine deer browse and faecal pellet counts. Other monitoring methods would be recording hunter harvest, age of animals and hunter satisfaction,
Wapiti are open to a ballot for six weeks’ hunting in March and April, known as the Roar, which is popular as hunters come from all round the world.
Wapiti were released into Fiordland National Park at the head of George Sound in 1905. Ten of these animals were given to New Zealand by United States President Theodore Roosevelt and the remainder were bought by the Tourism Department
They have since grown to significant numbers though the exact number is not known.
Hunter fees to shoot the wapiti were used for conservation.
Mr Sloan said conservation of the wapiti area was a high priority and hunters knew it.
"All our conservation is paid for by hunters. We don't take one cent from the taxpayer. Never have. It's a self-funding project that is very unique to the country."
The foundation had instigated the hosi proposal as it was being opposed by many different groups and Mr Sloan said the foundation was forced to go to Parliament.
"So now we’ve got a bit of legislation that potentially can protect what we're doing. But a hosi's a nuclear bomb.
"It just went off and upset the whole of New Zealand. At the end of it, we're just doing what we've always done, and nothing changes. It's ... layers of legislation and layers of administration, and we're doing what we've always done."
Submissions on the plan close on December 8.
Forest & Bird could not be contacted yesterday.
