IN DIFFICULT COUNTRY

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

IN DIFFICULT COUNTRY

♦ INSPECTION OF DEER DESTRUCTION ACCOUNT OF MINISTER'S TOUR \n account of the visit of the Minister for Internal Affairs (the lion. J. A. Young) to the deer-m----festrd areas of the Ilaast Pass in South Westland was given yesterday by Captain G. F. Yerex. who is in charge of the deer destruction operations for the Goxeinmcnt. The Minister was accompanied on his tour by Captain Yerex and the Under-Secretary for Internal Afiairs (Mr Malcolm Fraser).

The trip started from Christchurch on Sunday. March 11. Ihe members of the party drove down to Pembroke that day, and the next went o:i by launch to Makarora at the head of Lake Wanaka. That evening Mr Young inspected the depot which torms the base of the (Iter destruction organisation, and rifles were selected and tried out. Then the first of the wilder stages of the trip began Leaving Makarora early, and accompanied by packhorses. the members of the party set out on the 25 mile ride over the rough bush to the Burke hut. There they were joined by one of the shooting parties of three men. at whose cam].) in the valley of the Wills river it was proposed to stay. After riding on lor throe miles the next morning the horses had to be left, and the rest ot the journey done on foot with packs up. Distance by Hours A deer track led to the Wills Valley, and the going was particularly difficult, a rope being necessary to negotiate the bluffs in three places. The normal time for the distance —only three miles—was three hours, and the party did it m three hours 20 minutes. The next three days were spent in the valley, where Mr Young and Captain Yerex made a thorough examination of the bush. Photographs were taken and notes were made of the damage done by the deer. At the same time Mr Fraser went, with the men on their normal work out on the mountain tops above the timber. He was successful in shooting a number of deer. The region, said Captain Yerex, was remote, and was typical of the whole of the heavily wooded high mountain country, of South Westland. It was selected because it was representative of the country affected by deer, because of the nature of its fore.-t, and because it gave access to the Bealev range, from which a comprehensive view of the deer-infested area of South Westland could be seen. On the way out the first night was spent at the Burke hut, and then on horseback the members of the party went down the Ilaast Valley past the junction with the Lansboi ough river to the Clarke hut. Here photographs were taken of a small area of forest which, because it was inaccessible to the deer, was interesting as showing the trees and imdergruwth in their natural state. Alter another night at tile Burke hut the return to Makarora war under'aken. On this part, of the journey Mr Young shot two deer In the whole of the trip he had only one other shot, and that was at long range. Captain Yerex said that the men engaged in deer destruction in the Wills Valley had been very appreciative of the Minister's visit, and of his personal interest in the work.

lut'al decay. In its fall it lias admitted light, and hundreds of small seedlings from an inch to three inehes high have sprung up. showing nature's attempt to regenerate. Apart from the seedlings there was no fresh growth among the trees up to a height of six feet or so. because the deer had taken everything. But this winter the deer will come down from the open snowgrass land into the forest again, and all these seedlings will be eaten off. So you see what I mean by a community of old men.

"The principal mountain ferns, j growing in clumps, have been either; destroyed, so that only the dead j clumps remain, or nipped back. Within a season or two they will die I out. With the death of "the ferns j and the trampling of the moss there j is no holding place for water, which ' must go straight down the mountain J sides. ; Death of Trees

"The major trees of our mountain i bush are now menaced by the deer, | for the smaller growth has almost! disappeared. What the deer do not j destroy by eating the foliage the ; stags damage by rubbing their horns ' against the bark, stripping the trunks bare. In addition, they eat' the bark of some trees, and some of the most beautiful—the coprosiaa j family, the broad leaf, and the five-! finger—have a special attraction for : deer as food. The trees die and , some of them are now to be found ; only in inaccessible places.'" j Mr Young added that he had been i glad to find that the run-holders ; now appreciated the policy of the j Government in relation to deer-de- j struction. Quite recently the Wai- j makariri River Trust had shown its j appreciation and co-operation in a! practical way by subsidising the of-1 forts of the department to deal with the menace in the watershed of the | Waimakariri. lie also paid a tribute to the interest in the work of Pro- j R. Speight, curator of the) Canterbury Museum, and of Captain ' Cf. I''. Yere.v who is in charge of the deer-destruction organisation, and ot tiie men employed, win.) loyally cooperated with him. "I trust that the result of my visit may be a stronger, wider, and na- : tional interest in the problem," said ' Mr Young in conclusion. "I hope it j may bring' a realisation that what; the Government is doing is on the | right lines, not only for the assurance of the safety of those who live j on the plains and of the run-holders who need the alpine valley pastures, I but also for the perpetuation of the I beauty of our native forest."