NEW SCENIC RESERVE.

Northern Advocate, 20 August 1919, Page 3

NEW SCENIC RESERVE.

•MAORI GENEROSITY

NORTH OF LAKE ROTOITI

The Ngatipiki tribe, a branch of the Ara-was, living round Lake Rotoiti, has given all the beauty spots around the. lake to the Government, without compensation. The guft approximates ">t'o acres. The donors stipulate that they retain the right to use the old burial places. The tribe has appointed a board, including Captain Vercoe, D.S.O. , to control the burial places. Legislation will be necessary to give'effeet to the arrangement, and .will be applied for at the next session. VANDALISM OF TRIPPERS. Mr F. Earl, -K.C., of Auckland, who knows the locality intimately, gives the following details of the area affected and the transactions preliminary to the making of the gift: — The gift .made by the Ngatipikiao tribe, whose lands are on the borders of Lake Rotoiti and the vicinity, is the outcome of negotiations entered into by Sir Francis Bell with them about, six .mionths ago. Sir Francis being Minister in Charge of Scenery Preservation was impressed with the necessity for saving from destruction by fire and the vandalism of trippers the many beautiful bays and wooded promontories of this lake. Moreover it had been ascertained that gome of these beauty spots were likely to be included in alienations by way of lease or sale to Europeans, who would have no compunction concerning the destruction of the bush, if by that means the area available for grass could be extended. The ordinary tourist" launch trips frequently resulted in damaging fires, and almost always in additions to a rapidly increasing accumulation of jam tins, bottles, and other signs of progress on the picturesque little beaches which have been so much admired These are principally on the northern shores of the lake. NATIVE CEMETERY DIFFICULTY. It was suggested at a conference held 7jy the Minister with the natives at their principal settlement that a selected number of these areas should be roughly surveyed and shown on a plan; that they should be then treated as a scenic reserve; that they should be vested in the Government,, and that they should b_ controlled and managed by a board of which a Government official should be chairman and the other members nominated bj-* the native donors. Some little difficulty arose regarding the urapas, or cemeteries, the owners being averse to parting with any control over these, even to the proposed board. This difficulty seems to have been settled, and the Government may now be congratulated on having carried into effect the verypraiseworthy purpose of Sir Francis Bell. '•• It is only fair to state that* throughout the natives recognised the wisdom of the proposal, and have never .at. any time suggested they should receive -payment. Their attitude has been that, these delectable areas should be protected for all time and for the benefit of all the people, pakeha and Maori. They have, indeed, behaved handsomely in the matter. MORE LAND OPENED UP. Mr Earl explains further that the gift includes a number of picturesque headlands and bays, including a quantity of native bush. The back areas to the north of the lake are being thrown open for settlement, and this was what made a definite settlement of the proposal a matter of urgency.