C.—6.

bush. The area is practically inaccessible and will prove a valuable reserve for the preservation of native bird life. The final Wellington District reservation during the year was the sett.ing-apart of a small area on the Kouturoa Road near Kaitieke, comprising 7i acres of bush land, containing a very fine stand of white-pine. This area had always been regarded as a reserve, although never actually gazetted. During recent years the Department has endeavoured to reserve all available bush areas along the route of the Greymouth-Westport Main Highway, Nelson District, and in pursuance of this object four further areas totalling in all some 752 acres were set aside during the year. Other Nelson reservations included an area of 200 acres on the coast in the vicinity of Torrent Bay, some small portions of Adele and Fisherman's Islands in the Astrolabe Roadstead, and a considerable area in the Inangahua Valley. In the Marlborough Land District the reserves placed under the control of the Hundalee Scenic Board were augmented by the addition of a strip of 92 acres lying along the coast between the Kowhai and Kahutara Rivers. The new reservation is a favourite picnic and camping spot. A further reserve possessing scenic and camping value, and comprising one of a series of islands in the Puhi Puhi River bed, was set apart under the Scenery Preservation Act, and steps are being taken to place the area under the control of the Hundalee Scenic Board. A most picturesque piece of bush land, situated in Queen Charlotte Sound, comprising an area of 270 acres, was the third reservation in Marlborough during the year. This reserve is situated on a headland just within the entrance to the Sound, and is the first point observed, by tourists on entering from Tory Channel. The only other reservation in this district was an area of 27| acres adjoining Puroa Point Scenic Reserve, Queen Charlotte Sound. This reservation was made possible by the action of a Crown mortgagor in making a gift of the area for scenic purposes. The only reservation in the Westland Land District during the year consisted of an area of 12 acres of bush land on the Marsden Road near Greymouth. This area, which was acquired by way of exchange some time ago, is covered with attractive bush, and adjoins an existing reserve. Reservations in the Canterbury Land District included a small area of closed road adjoining Reserve 3990, a particularly fine piece of native bush in the Kinloch Settlement much visited by the public. The area now added was an unformed road fenced in with the main reserve. The second reservation in this district was that of an area of 98J acres of steep bush-clad slopes in a gorge on the Waiau River. This bush is the only native forest left in the locality, and contains a variety of forest trees. It was formerly reserved as a State forest; but the State Forest Service facilitated arrangements being made to have it set aside under the Scenery Preservation Act. A third Canterbury reservation was that of some 30 acres, of which approximately one-half is in dense native bush, situated in Raules Gully, South Canterbury. This land was set aside some time ago for the purposes of scenery preservation, but its actual proclamation was overlooked. This omission has accordingly now been rectified. In the Southland Land District a small area at Kingston, fronting Lake Wakatipu, was set apart with a view to preserving the beautiful kowhai trees growing thereon. A further reservation in this district consisted of an area of 8f acres situated on the eastern shore of Lake Manapouri. A little over half the area carries beech forest, which shows a tendency to spread over the remaining portion, and the reservation under the Scenery Preservation Act will permit of adequate measures being taken to protect the bush. The third reservation in Southland, an area of 43 acres in the Forest Hill Hundred, includes a bush-clad hill, and should prove a useful addition to the scenic reserves of the district. It is used extensively as a. picnic-ground by the local populace. The only other reservation in this land district was an area of 315 acres of steep rough country on the Haldane-Tokanui Road. The land was originally provisional State forest, but contained little timber of commercial value, and the State Forest Service agreed to the purpose of the reserve being changed. Special legislation was provided in section 10 of the Reserves and other Lands Disposal Act, 1932, cancelling the provisional State forest reservation and setting the land apart for scenery purposes. The reservation over an area of some 929 acres of a large scenic reserve on the west side of the Waikato, opposite Taupiri, was revoked during the year. The area dealt with comprised open fern and tea-tree country of no scenic value, but largely ploughable and suitable for settlement purposes. It has been subdivided into four sections and disposed of to suitable applicants. The remainder of the reserve comprises mostly bush-clad mountain country, and will be retained under reservation. A Proclamation was also issued revoking the reservation over a small reserve of some 5 acres on the Alfredton-Weber Road, as the bush on the area had been aceidently destroyed. The number of scenic reservations in the Dominion is now 934, covering a total area of 658,292 acres. Scenery Preservation Board. Meetings of the Scenery Preservation Board were held in the office of the Surveyor-General, Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, on the 15tli April, 1932 (North Auckland Land District) ; on the 20th October, 1932 (North Auckland, Auckland, Gisborne, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago and Southland Districts) ; and on the 31st March, 1933 (North Auckland, Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson, Westland, Otago and Southland Districts). Twenty-eight recommendations were submitted by the Board to His Excellency the GovernorGeneral for the acquisition and reservation of areas of scenic and historic interest throughout the Dominion under the provisions of the Scenery Preservation Act. Supervision of Reserves. During the year special scenic Boards were appointed or reappointed as follows : Whangarei Borough Council, to control the Coronation Scenic Reserve ; Waipuknrau Borough Council, to control the Tukituki River Scenic Reserve ; Ohakune Borough Council, to control the Ohakune Scenic Reserve ; Levin Borough Council, to control the Waiopehu Scenic Reserve ; Wanganui City Council, to control the Gordon Park Scenic Reserve ; Rangataua Town Board, to control the Mangaeheuhu

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