Editing Hartz Mountains National Park (section)

==Human history==
The area of the park was once inhabited by the Mellukerdee [[Tasmanian Aborigines|aboriginal people]]. The first Europeans came to the area in the 19th century in search of [[Lagarostrobos|Huon pine]] timber.

In the 1840s early settlers including the Geeves family founded the township of [[Geeveston, Tasmania|Geeveston]], and laid the first track to the Hartz Mountains. As a result, the area became one of Tasmania's earliest popular bushwalking destinations. The increasing popularity of the area for recreation led to it being declared a scenic reserve in 1939.<ref name="highlights"/> In 1951 it was proclaimed to a national park,<ref>[http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/D3C71E9DB30DE7ACCA256C3200241897?opendocument ABS: ''1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania, 2005'']</ref> and in 1989 it was included in the [[Tasmanian Wilderness]] World Heritage Area.<ref name="Intro"/>