The 'lock it up and leave it' approach to state land management exemplified by the current state government is set to continue, following the rejection of a petition calling for a trial of conservation hunting in state forests.

Hinchinbrook MP Nick Dametto said it was an approach that had allowed feral animal populations to explode and wreak havoc on the environment and native wildlife, that licenced hunting would have solved.



The petition he sponsored on behalf of Brisbane's Daniel Boniface, to allow a trial of conservation hunting in Queensland's state forests, had gathered over 13,500 signatures by the time it was tabled in parliament in February.

Responding to the petition at the end of March, Environment Minister Leeanne Enoch said the government "does not support recreational hunting in state forests and has no plans to open these areas for hunting as it is inconsistent with long-standing management arrangements for state forests in Queensland".

"The Department of Environment and Science, through the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships, has a duty of care to protect state forests and to ensure the safety of tourists and visitors to these lands," Ms Enoch wrote.

Describing the response as arrogant, Mr Dametto said Ms Enoch's response ignored the overwhelming success of similar hunting schemes in New South Wales and Victoria.

Read more: Politicians lukewarm on hunting push



He warned writing off more than 13,500 signatories without even engaging in a consultation process would be short-sighted.



"Recreational hunters are quite a strong voice in Queensland and it is politically dangerous of her to have dismissed them," he said.

"To reject this proposal under the guise of safety is the easy option. The minister is not acknowledging that there is a significant issue when it comes to pest management in these areas."

Deer are one of the feral animals making use of state forest habitat that the petitioners wanted to target.

He said any landowner with property neighbouring a state forest would say the government was their worst neighbour with a 'lock it up and leave it' approach, whether it was overgrown vegetation posing a fire risk or the spread of feral animals that ruin crops.

In her response, Ms Enoch also mentioned Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service and Partnerships collaboration with the Sport Shooters' Association of Australia's Conservation and Wildlife Management Queensland division, which conducts pest animal management activities on properties owned by governments, private landowners and conservation groups.

But Mr Dametto said the petition was not trying to take away from the SSAA's existing pest management program, which he said had achieved so much for sport shooters.

"My support for the proposal in this petition has come out of a genuine calling from sport shooters from all walks of life," he said.

"What we could be looking at is an opportunity for the SSAA to build on their existing program."

He said the economic and tourism benefits of hunting in state forests represented a "golden economic opportunity" for small towns throughout Queensland that the government was ignoring.