Marsh, 51, initially faced two charges of illegally erecting an apparatus but pleaded guilty to the amended charge under the National Parks Act this week.
He told Judge Garry Barkle he thought he was within a legally defined claim area but ultimately accepted he was in a prohibited area after DOC pointed out he was about 50 metres outside it.
He was fined $5250 and ordered to pay $6697 for the costs incurred by DOC in responding to the matter.
The 400,000ha Kahurangi National Park in northwest Nelson features internationally significant forests, mountains, lakes and rivers.
Much of the park is remote wilderness and contains vital habitat for many endangered species, such as blue duck, kiwi, falcon and kea.
The park, through which the renowned Heaphy Track Great Walk crosses, is also popular for a range of recreational pursuits, including tramping, hunting, fishing and white-water rafting.
On May 24 last year, DOC rangers acted on information they’d received and went by helicopter to the remote Slate River valley, within a section of the park in Golden Bay.
They found a large assortment of gold mining equipment, including a pontoon, petrol-driven pumps, chainsaws, power tools and various pipes, cables and winches.
The rangers also found several campsites, including a solar panel, furniture, a fridge, bedding, food, clothing and considerable rubbish. The rangers seized all the mining equipment and chainsaws and removed them from the site.
A few days later Marsh complained to Tākaka police that some of his mining equipment had been stolen from the Slate River area. He was told that the property was not stolen but had been seized by DOC.
When he was spoken to by a DOC compliance officer, Marsh acknowledged the seized equipment belonged to him, except for two chainsaws.
He claimed that the partners of a local registered mining claim, which was adjacent to, but not within the park, were going to consent to him working part of their claim and that was what he had intended to do.
Marsh explained that in preparation for that consent, he had carried all the equipment and other gear to the site on foot by himself over about a year.
Subsequent inquiries were made with the mining claim holder who Marsh said were going to allow him to use their claim.
The claim holder said they had been approached twice by the defendant about using their claim, but they had declined permission.
Marsh appeared apologetic in court and indicated he would have no trouble paying the fine.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
