MOUNTAIN BUSH

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 97, 6 December 1939, Page 8

MOUNTAIN BUSH

THE RUIN OF HIGH COUNTRY FOREST '& motorist who crossed from Taupo to Napief by the mountain road recently told of the evidence of forest-felling on the ranges that met Ills eye and of the choking dust storm he and his companions encountered as they descended into the ruined valley of Eskdale. In the middle of the pumice ranges where there Ave re still some lone remnants of the original bush left there Avas a roadside notice Avarning motorists to look out for timber lorries coming in by a side road, and there Avas a sign indicating that a timber mill Avas located some short distance from the road. This is in the heart of the mountains somcAvherc about 2,500 feet above sea level. The few fragments of bush up there arc apparently doomed. Privately oAvned bush cannot be protected unless the Government buys it from the oAvncrs: and this pumice mountain bush is stated to be and operated on bv Hawke's Bay millers. The Old Story. It is the old story. The advocates of forest conservation liaA r e repeatedly urged the State to acquire and protect these tracts of bush, already pitifully small, that exist on the high hill country, but nothing is done to save them. The sawmiller quietly goes ahead and gets his mill up and his trees down and presently leaves the place a scene of timber Avrcckage. That is AA-liat has happened even on Tongariro Mountain, a range Avhich of all places should have been saA T cd from the axe and saw.. It is happening to-day on other highlands, from North Auckland to the King Country. Fortunately, a ' considerable area of forest on the ' Knimai Range has been sa\*ed as a water-supply reseiA'e. but the Avhole 1 of these steep ranges should have been preserved. ? Natural Tendency. ' There is a natural- tendency to fight for survival on the part of many of our plants generally. An example of this passion for getI ting the upper hand of foreign rivals is the persistence of scA*eral plants, particularly pittosporums, t in the Rotorua country. A Maori on? day pointed out the A r igour AA'ith , which the karamu, a glossy-leaved ' shrub or small tree, Avas reasserting itself on Maungakakaramea (otherwise RainboAV Mountain) and other ] hills in the large State Forest re-sen-es. It was fighting the GoA*ernment trees, he said: Avait a Avhile, i f was a Avise tree, and would rtjpai" , all the Avastage caused by fires. It I would grow up under the shelter o f> the larch and ot'%" foreign trees, nnd so would other Maori trees: wni f •' whHw some of I he. foreigners would ~ ( ha\*e to give p'ace to the Maori. ll> j (Continued at foot of next colu.TU'P

was taking a longrange view: but it seems reasonable to suppose that in the long run the quick-growing and least valuable trees such as the exotic pines will give place to t.he good native timbers, the best crop that ever the New Zeaalnd hills and valleys grew. The karamu is mentioned as an example noticed; it is a shrub of no particular value, except for the use the Maoris made of it for dye purposes. But it is one of the ancient small trees of the district: and in spite of fires and all. it returns.