HUKA FALLS

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29746, 13 February 1962, Page 9

HUKA FALLS

Restoration Praised The work being done by the Lands Department to restore scenic reserves round the Huka falls and the Aratiatia rapids on the Waikato river was praised by Mr L. W. McCaskill, a member of the National Parks Authority, who recently visited the area Mr McCaskill said the natural beauty of the Huka falls area had been impaired by the ingress of weeds, such as blackberry and pine trees, and at Aratiatia rapids much of the native vegetation had been destroyed as a result of the hydro-electric station construction. However, the Lands Department was implementing a scheme, devised by Mr C. M. Smith, formerly director of the botany division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, for clearing the weeds round the Huka falls and replacing them with species native to the area. A large nursery using geothermal steam for soil sterilisation had been established near the Taupo township to produce at least two million trees and shrubs. Already 43 000 plants were available for planting this winter and these would be increased considerably in subsequent years. Mr McCaskill said a new native vegetation was being created around the Aratiatia rapids. The cliffs formed by excavations for the powerhouse would have holes bored in them by the Ministry of Works so horticulturalists could drop plants in cardboard pots into the holes.