DAMAGE BY DEER

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21120, 22 March 1934, Page 8

DAMAGE BY DEER

♦ EFFECT ON MOUNTAIN FORESTS MINISTER TAKES SERIOUS MEW PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS OF DEPREDATIONS A serious view nt the possible consequences oi the damage done by deer in the mountain forest legions of the South Island is taken by" the Minister for Internal Affairs (the Hon. J. A. Young), who returned to Christchurch yesterday after a visit to the Ilaast Pass and Wills valley region in South V eslland. Mi" Young's trip, which took him over very difficult country, was made ui order that he might learn at first hand the extent of the damage done by deer and the effect of tile culling, operations.

•i am convinced that any siacken-ing-up in the destruction of deer, especially in the South Island, may become a national danger." said Mr Young when interviewed yesterday. "A programme of deer destruction has been mapped out for several veal's ahead to keep up the pressure in the districts where the damage is serious. He added that when 111 i s season's work ended in about five weeks time it estimated that about iH.HIO deer would have been lulled since the beginning of the summer. Of these 5(11)0 were in the South Westland region. :ii)i)o m the Waunakariri watershed, and Imm in the contiguous areas up to hake Sumner. Nature of Country The deer m mountain country were active m three main areas. First oi all there were the large tracts of valley pastures covered by natural grasses on which the runholders dt pended for the grazing of cattle. These formed large areas extending from the bottom of the bush out to the watercourses in the centre of the valley. Then there was the bush itself—the sub-alpine forest, which at a definite point high up broke oil and was iollowed bv the third region -the snow grass area extending to the rocky tops. In summer the snow-grass area was the main grazing ground of the deer. Here they had to be attacked if the work of diminishing their numbers was to be at nil effective. lor win n they were on tin: valley pastures they came out ot t'ne bush only at dusk, and stalker.-' activities were limited to this tune and to the lirst light of dawn. In the bush the protection was good, anil all that could be had there was a chance shot. In the area above the bush, however, during tile late summer and the early autumn the deer were m large uumoers. the herds varying in size I rom six head to (ill, according to the nature of the mountain top. .Main Damage in Winter The damage done l>v the deer happened m the winter, when they wen- driven h\ the snow away irom the opiu high country into the in l -::. By their tramping through tiie bush the oeei destroved the heavy moss winch acted like sponges holding tin.- water and pre\enting its too rapid descent down the slope.-. In addition they ate i very green thuy from the forest floor to a height of six or seven feet, with the exception of a few of the lower forms of forest growth.

The ground m the bush was made muddy like a stockyard, only the ti links ot the trees remained, and with the removal of all undergrowth a view could lie had through lanes of trunks. The effect was that when the rams came, with the moiling of the snow, the waters, instead oi being lield by the floor of the forest (the mosses ami undergiowthi. came m a rush, washing away toe sui fare soil, leaving only tin.- rocks and roots. At this time slips were o 1 ten caused, and their effects were senous, for they rakid the lorest, taking all before them. So also shmgie slides were caused. ;nd these could h'.: seen through tile bu.-h. with great fan-shaped lieposits out on to the valley pasture lands. One seen by Mr Young was very recent, and it had buried the valley to a depth oi three or four fi et.

I-'ur-reacliiiiß 1C fleet Yr.e more lar-reachmg effect of this denudation could be seen in its application to Canterbury, with its rivers taking their source in the mountain watershed, said Mr Young. In the lainy and snowmelting seasons then- might be a serious menace, in that the waters, instead of being impeded on the bush-clad slopes, came down in a lush, causing flooded rivers, which might break their banks far out on the plains. H required only a little imagination ti> see exactly how these things were linked t<>1,11 her.

"Therefore it becomes a national duty oil the part of the Government to prevent the development of what, to all who kimw anything at all about these things, is an obvious consequence of denudation,' 1 said Mr Young. "The purpose of my visit was not to go on a deer-hunt-ing expedition but to confer with experienced technical ollicers of my department in the country concerned. I wished to see the evidence of the effect of the presence of deer on tlie forest and to see how far the destruction of deer was valuable in arresting damage. I was shown definite evidence of the practical disappearance from the forest of important trees which are now only to be found in places where the door cannot get at them.

"Ihis is not a case oi prevention being better than cure: the alternatives are prevention or ruin. Once the valley pastures and the plains are ruined no effort of man can effect a cure. 1 have seen places where the foix'St has gone. and where the open valley land, once covered with grass, is now only a scrap heap of boulders.

Vigorous Attack Needed "The only hope is to reduce the number of deer by vigorous attack, so that their presence may be no hindrance to the regeneration of the forest. And this matter oi regeneration is important, for when; ti; •

deer are the forest is becoming a community of old men—a dying community with no new generation coming on to take its place. "I saw many places where a large tree has fallen in the process of na-