Conservation tour

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32971, 18 July 1972, Page 11

Conservation tour

A full tom- of inspection, including an aerial survey, of the Nelson and Westland catchment authority areas, will be made from July 24, to July 28 by the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council.

The party, led by the chairman of the council (Mr A. L. Poole) will spend two days in Nelson seeing private and State forests, Nelson city flood damage repairs, conservation works and river schemes.

The flight path for the aerial inspection will be Nelson, Karamea, Inangahua, Reefton, Lake Brunner, Franz Josef, Haast and Hokitika. Westland inspections over the next three days will include several river control and valley drainage schemes, sites of proposed Works and a forest processing plant. The Soil Conservation and

Rivers Control Council endeavours to visit six catchment authorities each year to see on-the-ground projects that have been put forward by the local catchment authority and approved by the council. The opportunity is taken to meet catchment authorities to discuss policy issues affecting both parties, and to consider proposals for new schemes at the sites where they would be constructed. Mr Poole said that in both Nelson and Westland the council would be looking at areas of current local and national importance. “The flood damage repairs in Nelson are the most recent substantial works that the council has been concerned with,” he said. “There is an involvement of $580,000 with an anticipated additional $145,000 to be on loan as part of the local share.

“Further out, the Nelson Catchment Board has made considerable progress in river

control through the judicious extraction of shingle, and allied river training works. The use of the golden willow and Tews willow trees has created a pleasing effect environmentally in addition to aiding river stability. “The extensive beech forests of north-west Nelson where harvesting activities are planned are of special concern to the council and the Nelson Catchment Authority, for the effect on both river control and soil conservation.

“Logging in steep country will also be examined to ensure there is no interruption or damage to water courses and the Tike. Intensive planting schemes are planned for these areas later. “Westland has always been recognised as having special problems. Many large rivers run through narrow valleys with limited plains areas to support any major works. Improvements have to be made in small sections rather than one large scheme capable of containing a river in a single move.

“Technical and financial problems abound. On one major river where there are very few farms, it would be impossible to expect these

concerns to meet the local share in any improvement scheme. Distances between markets and processing points limit the expansion of local industry. The Hokitika is one river with these characteristics that we will inspect.”