The Franklin River lies in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park at the mid northern area of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Its source is situated at the western edge of the Central Highlands and it continues west towards the West Coast of Tasmania. It was named after an earlier Governor of that state, Sir John Franklin, who later died searching for the Northwest Passage. Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers is a national park in Tasmania (Australia), 117 km west of Hobart. ... The Tasmanian Wilderness is a World Heritage Area in Tasmania, Australia. ... Municipality of West Coast The Municipality of West Coast is a local government area of Tasmania. ... Slogan or Nickname: Island of Inspiration; The Apple Isle; Holiday Isle Motto(s): Ubertas et Fidelitas (Fertility and Faithfulness) Other Australian states and territories Capital Hobart Government Constitutional monarchy Governor William Cox Premier Paul Lennon (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 5  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product... For other persons named John Franklin, see John Franklin (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Northwest Passage (disambiguation). ...

Although the Lyell Highway passes through - the catchment area of the river has never had any significant european settlement. There are some archaeological sites that have identified pre-european activity. Lyell Highway is signed as State Route A10. ...

Early access

The upper reaches of the Franklin River was traversed by explorers in the nineteenth century in their attempts to access Frenchmans Cap. Frenchmans Cap is a prominent mountain in the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, Western Tasmania, Australia. ...

The main twentieth century access was by piners in earlier decades of the century in the lower reachers. It was in the mid twentieth century that adventurous canoers sought to conquer the formidable challenges. Dean's book about attempts - identifies three tirps in the 1950's.

The Franklin Dam

Main article: Franklin Dam

The Franklin River become synonymous with Australia's largest conservation battle of the 1980's - the battle to save the Franklin from the Hydro Tasmania proposed hydro-electric power scheme, the Franklin Dam. The photograph Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, by Peter Dombrovskis, was used by the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in advertising. ... Hydro Tasmania, known for most of its history as The HEC, is the predominant electricity generator in the state of Tasmania, Australia. ... The photograph Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin River, by Peter Dombrovskis, was used by the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in advertising. ...

This saw Robin Gray's Liberal Government in conflict with a considerable percentage of the Tasmanian population, and the Tasmanian Wilderness Society, led by its director Bob Brown and a variety of other groups, in a battle that lasted four years. The Franklin Dam project was eventually stopped after a ruling of the High Court of Australia, preventing the flooding of the Franklin River. Robin Trevor Gray was Premier of Tasmania from 1982 to 1989. ... The Tasmanian Wilderness Society was formed initially as a protest group to fight against the looming construction of the Franklin Dam, in Southwest Tasmania. ... For other uses, see Bob Brown (disambiguation). ... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

The focus on the dam and the issues of wilderness experience led to the development of people utilising the river at levels never previously experienced. A fictional account by a writer with an academic and historical understanding of the area - was the book by Richard Flanagan -Death of a River Guide. The result of a drowning in real life on the river led to stricter guidelines for users of the river. Richard Flanagan (born 1961) is an author, historian and film director from Tasmania, Australia. ...

Named Places on the Franklin

During his initial journeys, Bob Brown submitted names for some features - before and since, rafters and canoers have added names for many of the bends and rapids on the river: For other uses, see Bob Brown (disambiguation). ...

Keyhole Markup Language (KML) is an XML-based language for describing three-dimensional geospatial data and its display in application programs. ... GeoTagging, sometimes referred to as Geocoding, is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as websites, RSS feeds, or images. ...

See also

• Gordon River
• King River, Tasmania

The Gordon River is one of the major rivers of Tasmania. ... The King River is a river on the west coast of Tasmania. ...

Further reading

• Binks, C.J. (1989) Explorers of western Tasmania Devonport, Tas. C.J. Binks ISBN 073167300X
• Dean, Johnson (2002) Shooting the Franklin - Early Canoeing on Tasmania's Wild Rivers ISBN 0-9581744-0-7
• Gee, H and Fenton, J. (Eds) (1978) The South West Book - A Tasmanian Wilderness Melbourne, Australian Conservation Foundation. ISBN 0-85802-054-8
• Griffiths, Peter, and Baxter, Bruce (1997) The ever varying flood : a guide to the Franklin River Richmond, Vic.Prowling Tiger Press ISBN 0958664714
• Lines, William J. (2006) Patriots : defending Australia's natural heritage St. Lucia, Qld. : University of Queensland Press, 2006. ISBN 0-70223-554-7

External links

• http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/wha/wherein/detail.html location within the World Heritage Area