SCENERY PRESERVATION.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13674, 17 August 1908, Page 4

SCENERY PRESERVATION.

The report, by the Under-Secretary of Lands, which was laid before Parliamentl some days ago, shows, tjiaji the, jnust year, has been a quiet one, the extensive- bush and grass fires in the North Island having checked action and necessitated extreme. > caution so far as the purchase and aequisi-, tion of land for, scenic .purposes were..concerned. However, 8130 acn>f».weir© added to the total, wi)icli;how stands at 33,931';.. acres acquiredl under the Scenery Preservation Act, exclusive* of iaboirb. 100,000 aeres' of Crown land which had been reserved under the Land Act. The bulk of the land required during the year was in the North Island, close to Eotorua and on- the banks of the Wariganui River. 'ln. the South'lsland' chief attention was devoted to Lake. Mahinapiia, a few miles south,of Hokitika, the, border of native forest being set apart for,preservation; and Kennedy's .'./ Bush, near Christchurch, , which cost \ £954, and to which the people of I Canterbury: contributed! £415, "an 'ex- ' ample," says- the './ Under-Secretary lor ~ Lands, "of what'can be, by. energetic and public spirited.residents who.de- | sir© to.- secure a scenic reserve, in itheir I neighbourhood,', and an "object, lesson'to the rest of 1 , the Dominion." Apart from the important.fact that the reserves dealt with, Act are sources of • to r all who visit them, their great botanical value is specially dwelt upon. ■■' This-year Dr; Cockayne has given a special account of tpo of,,fh<p 'Vyel)ingt6h\ ref»rves,,'niHl;.iu, is tile jnt^htio t n,-..during the current yea? to publish'-a more/general^.ivnd■eletora I l>e t'report.,\ Ifc is; confidently ' froni'^this from Dr Cockayne'*: ,b<AaniCaT GUi ; y«y. ; .of. Tongariro.. .National ,, an indiipaltjoh, ifWill bet giyenV 'of ■ the; advantages ioybai gained! by iSt,itdy of New-ZealknU's' florae It is- l'ecogtiiged -that nowhere in the- world are such, .be& ; U : tiful; and, rare, plants and.trees to,be found New Zealand,, and; TstH the fr ork being.; done by• t •; .the ';*,- Scenery fh'e time-is- riot; fair distant ifrtich; .-this 1 will-be-. ; ijvidely.: ■rtcognisedi.; " The, moftey spent, there renlainis' £7s,l96',Joh.jthg operations--of.; the 'current ;an&-iu : Uyre.\ years.-';; ,They opening of ..the. North; Island Main ■ Trunk; railway ; has exposed! magnificent,. forest s v aitd the best feature^ "M ■■.'■ these; wiU; ; ,be preserved. ' Further, attention will also be;' . ,given to' thfe bea[uty .spots oft the ■■' Wauganui river, and'to scenic,-, historic ■; Midi thermal-attractions on lakes, i inlets, -lind districts in other parts' of J the colony. S'o far the Scenery' Preservation-; Boards ;which came ' into teisteneei in Tara- , nakijWiellingtoh,: Nelson, Canterbury, and, ■ Otago in. 1004- have done fxcelleiifc' work,' iand the; moneyi spent- by ytuem is bufldihtf up an"assetr of:great value to the peopla of the Dominion.', /' ■,