Release of a draft management plan for Wilsons Promontory National Park (Victoria, Australia) in 1996 provoked an unprecedented public protest in opposition to the development of sophisticated accommodation services within the park. This study analyzes the values expressed in the written public submissions in response to the proposals. The article argues that the responses show that, in acting as proponents of the plan, its political and bureaucratic creators threatened the tacitly held consensus about "the public interest" in this national park. In the ensuing public debate, many people more clearly defined, asserted, and extended the value they currently place on parks. In doing so they confirmed an already powerful image of the public interest in park protection. Such images and meanings must be recognized and considered in consultation and policymaking processes, if park management agencies are to satisfy community aspirations for the parks.