Plan to amalgamate 28 State forests

Press, 11 June 1977, Page 22

Plan to amalgamate 28 State forests

PA Dunedin. The formation of tour State forest parks to take in 28 existing forests m the Otago-Sout h lan c - Stewart Island region, has been proposed be the Southland conservator of forests < Mr R. Usmar). Fie has asked the state Forest Parks Co-ordinating Committee to approve the formation of the new parks to be named Haven le Anua Naseby, and Stewart Island, and to take in more than 240.000 hectares of land. "Because of the major needs for good planned development of recieational forests and the acknowledged need to take some pressure off the more popular walking

tracks, such as the Routeburn. I envisage little opposition to these proposals," Mr Usmar said. The proposed Hawea Park, of 40.320 hectares, and Te Anau. of 157,285 hectares, will include a string of 26 protection forests from the Dobson-, west of Lake Ohau, io Biackmount, south of Te Anau. Nearly al! of these are indigenous forests, as is the 43.369 hectare Stewart Island park. But the smallest of the group of parks, tnat at Naseby. is 2428 hectares of exotic trees. .Although many of the State forests included in the new parks are remote from settlements, most are accessible by road and most nave some developed

picnic spots, tracks, and huts. Mr Usmar said that an important feature of State forest parks was their ability to accommodate a wide variety of uses, either over all or in single-use areas. For example, one area might be set aside mainly for educational use and another for hunting or tramping. "The other big advantage of these parks is that they have an advisory committee of members with local knowledge or expertise to ensure the developments are regionally acceptable and to facilitate public participation in the management planning." he said. The publication of handbooks. brochures, and maps would be one of the first steps in informing the public about the access to rhe parks and the facilities and features in them. He said that some work was already under way in anticipation of the declaration of the new parks. Art outdoor pursuits centre was being built on Stewart Island to assist in accommodating school parties and some clearing was being done at Naseby. The latter forest was particularly interesting. It grew in an- area with the highest and lowest temperatures, the least rainfall and most frost and the lowest humidity of any forest region in New Zealand. Naseby forest was one of the two oldest in New Zealand for exotic species and the black-forest portion- of it was the closest in New Zealand to a Con-tinental-type forest, with natural regeneration and a collection of trees at varying stages of maturity. The other forests to be included in the proposed parks are mainly beech and designated protection areas, rather than production forests. Mr Usmar said that if the proposal for the new parks was approved by the State Forest Parks Coordinating Committee, they could be gazetted almost immediately.