New Zealand was just a "big playground" for George Williamson when he was growing up.
The New Zealand Walking Access Commission operations advisor was speaking at a celebration of the new legal status of Wanganui's Westmere Walkway yesterday.
When he was growing up, "landowners would happily let us wander and forage", he recalled.
Today many landowners don't let the public on their properties. He said that change amounted to a partial loss of culture and heritage.
A lot of research in the 1990s and 2000s led to the creation of the commission, and a system of enduring track access and mapping.