Editing Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park (section)

==History==
===Pre-European history===
[[File:Ku-ring-gai Chase - petroglyph.jpg|thumb|upright|Aboriginal [[Petroglyph|rock engraving]]]]
The name [[Kuringgai|Ku-ring-gai]] (also spelled Kuringgai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) ({{IPA|mis|kuriŋɡai|}})<ref>{{cite thesis|type=M. A. thesis|title=The aboriginal language of Sydney|last=Steele|first=Jeremy Macdonald|publisher=[[Macquarie University]]|url=https://www.williamdawes.org/docs/steele_thesis.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326044949/http://www.williamdawes.org/docs/steele_thesis.pdf |archive-date=2010-03-26 |url-status=live|date=December 2005|access-date=19 October 2021}}</ref> is an [[ethnonym]] referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous Australian]] peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the [[Gamilaraay]] and the area around Sydney (b) perhaps an historical people with its own distinctive language, located in part of that territory, or (c) people of Aboriginal origin who identify themselves as descending from the original peoples denoted by (a) or (b) and who call themselves Guringai.

Little about the original inhabitants was recorded by Europeans at contact and their communities were soon destroyed through disease and conflict with European settlers.<ref name=Plan>[https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/-/media/OEH/Corporate-Site/Documents/Parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/Parks-plans-of-management/ku-ring-gai-chase-national-park-plan-of-management-140748.pdf Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park] [[Department of Planning, Industry & Environment]]</ref>

The national park contains extensive evidence of Aboriginal occupation of the area prior to European contact, across more than 800 sites in the park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkAboriginalHeritage.aspx?id=N0019|title=Aboriginal heritage|work=Office of Environment and Heritage|publisher=[[Government of New South Wales]]|access-date=7 May 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319072905/http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkAboriginalHeritage.aspx?id=N0019|archive-date=19 March 2011}}</ref> These include rock engravings, cave drawings, occupation sites, paintings and stencils, axe grinding grooves and middens providing significant evidence of the way of life of the Guringai people.

===Park history===
In 1788, the first year of English settlement of the Sydney area, [[Governor Phillip]] and a small party explored Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury River, but seeking agricultural land, they showed little interest in the steep and stony landscapes.<ref name="NPA South 313"/>

It was previously underdeveloped by early settlers due to poor accessibility and low soil fertility, except for some of the more fertile ridgetops. The area's [[Eucalyptus saligna|Sydney Blue Gum]], [[Eucalyptus pilularis|Blackbutt]], [[Syncarpia glomulifera|Turpentine]], and [[Ceratopetalum apetalum|Coachwood]] was extracted in small quantities, but [[Toona ciliata|Red Cedar]] was heavily extracted.<ref name="NPA South 313"/> Sawmills were established in the 1830s, including at the upper reaches of Cowan Creek where [[Duffys Forest, New South Wales|Duffy's Wharf]] was built to transport logs.

The [[Pacific Highway (Australia)|Pacific Highway]] and [[Main Northern railway line]] built along the ridgetop forming the park's current western border provided access to Cowan Creek along which pioneers settled. 40 hectares at Gerard Point, now [[Church Point, New South Wales|Church Point]], were granted to James Terry of [[Gordon, New South Wales|Gordon]].

Following almost 40 years of lobbying from a local citizen, Eccleston Du Faur, to establish a "National Park for North Sydney", approximately 13,500 hectares, including not only land areas but also most of Cowan Water, was set aside in 1894 as Ku-ring-gai Chase as a conservation area, and placed under the care, control and management of trustees.<ref name="discover"/> Du Faur was a surveyor and engineer by profession, and his interests included science, exploration, natural history and the arts.<ref name="NPA South 313"/> Upon the gazetting of the gazetting of the park, du Faur was appointed Managing Trustee and during his 10-year tenure, he developed walking trails and a road to Bobbin Head, which is now a fire trail.<ref name="NPA South 313"/>

Bobbin Head Inn, picnic shelters, and boat shed concessions were established to raise much needed funds for park management. Picnic areas were created with the reclamation of mud flats at Appletree Bay, Bobbin Head, Illawong Bay, and Akuna Bay between 1910 and 1940.<ref name="NPA South 313"/>

The area around West Head had been held privately until it was added to the park in 1951. In 1918, owners of a 640 hectare lot in Commodore Heights lobbied for a road to be pushed through from the south. A 1927 prospectus proposed a community of 2,500 residences with a country club, casino, golf course, and hotel, however, the plans did not eventuate due to the [[Great Depression]].<ref name="NPA South 313"/>

Ku-ring-gai Chase became a national park with the proclamation of the National Parks and Wildlife Act in 1967.<ref name=Plan/> It is the third oldest national park in Australia,<ref name="environment.gov.au"/> with the [[Royal National Park]] being the oldest. Additions to the park have made it 14,882 hectares in size.<ref name=Plan/> The park is managed by the [[NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service]] and was added to the [[Australian National Heritage List]] in December 2006.<ref name="Government of Australia"/> The term "chase" indicates it was an area of natural bush not enclosed by fences.<ref name=Plan/> Ku-ring-gai Chase is also officially classed as a [[suburb]] by the [[Geographical Names Board of New South Wales]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://proposals.gnb.nsw.gov.au/public/suburbs/search|title=NSW Place and Road Naming Proposals System}}</ref><ref>https://maps.six.nsw.gov.au/?search={%22name%22:%22Suburb%22,%22fields%22:{%22suburbname%22:%22KU-RING-GAI%20CHASE%22}} {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2022}}</ref>

The television series, ''[[Skippy the Bush Kangaroo]]'' was shot in northern Sydney at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the adjacent [[Waratah Park]]. Bushfires ravaged the park in January 1994.<ref name="discover" />

A [[seaplane]] on its way to [[Rose Bay Water Airport|Sydney Harbour]] crashed into Jerusalem Bay shortly after takeoff from on 31 December 2017, killing the pilot and five passengers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hawkesbury-river-seaplane-crash-new-years-eve-joy-flight-turns-to-tragedy-for-british-tourists-20180101-h0bvga.html|title=Hawkesbury River seaplane crash: New Year's Eve joy flight turns to tragedy for British tourists|last=Clun|first=Rachel|date=1 January 2018|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|access-date=11 December 2018}}</ref>