Grasslands Work Praised

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32266, 8 April 1970, Page 9

Grasslands Work Praised

In the fields of tussock grasslands management and forestry, New Zealand could teach something to visitors from almost any country in the world, an American expert on range-lands, Mr H. Reid, said in Christchurch on Monday evening.

Mr Reid, who worked with the United States Forest Service for 35 years and is now editor of the “Journal of Range Management,” Colorado, flew to Australia on Monday evening with his wife and four other Americans and their wives.

They will attend the 10-day international grasslands conference at Surfers’ Paradise, along with about 700 other delegates from all over the world. With Mr Reid were Mr R. Harris, the assistant director of the forest and range-lands experimental station of the United States Forest Service at Portland, Oregon; Mr G. Burnett, assistant regional forester for range and wildlife development, United States Forest Service, Denver, Colorado; Mr W. Anderson, a soil conservation expert from Oregon; and Mr J. Houston, formerly of the United States Forest Service and now retired. Mr Reid, the leader of the party, said the level of knowledge and practice in New Zealand in the forestry and tussock grasslands fields was as good as anywhere in the world. The party had been particularly interested in the very high productivity of the land in New Zealand, particularly where forests were concerned. The radiata pine, for in-

stance, which had such high productivity in New Zealand, never grew to more than a worthless scrub tree in most parts of the United States.

The visitors had been very impressed by the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone they met, Mr Reid said, and they had also remarked on the beautiful landscape and the fact that people seemed very interested in preserving

Just the same, he did not think the interest in preserving the environment had reached the same level in New Zealand as it had in the United States possibly largely because the problems in the United States had also reached a much higher leveL During its time in New Zealand the party visited Auckland, Rotorua, Mount Cook, Hanmer, the Southern Lakes areas and Dunedin. The grasslands conference in Australia is a conference which is held every four years: the last was held in Finland.

The American group will study grasslands and forestry projects in Australia as well as attending the conference.