NATIVE BUSH

Evening Star, Issue 23376, 20 September 1939, Page 14

NATIVE BUSH

• TOTH* EDITOR. Sir,—lll view of the controversy in regard' to the alleged destruction of native'bush. in. the vicinity of the Bullock Track, the enclosed copy of letter •which has' been forwarded to the president of the Forest and Bird Protection Society..of. New. Zealand, Wellington, by tha honorary secretary of the Dunedin Amenities Society may perhaps serve to .further elaborate the Dunedin Amenities Society’s attitude in regard to the clearance. Citizens will recall that whenever a clearance .'of muhlenbeokia takes place the immediate effect suggests the complete’ despoliation of the particular area i of bush_ affected. However, if citizens will visit . sections of, the Town Belt which were cleared two year's jago they'will, we 'think, realise the value of the-work dona. ,lt, might be pointed out that- the Dunedin Amenities Society holds no brief for careless workmanship, and in this-connection it knows full well that many good trees have suffered at the hands of some of the inexperienced workmen employed by the reserves department. This, unfortunately,_ is inevitable where'cleaning-up work is done by-unemployed-labour. The following is the letter. referred to— l am, etc., i ; , A. C. Cameron, Hon. Secretary. i September 19. j [Enclosure.] -. ; •, . P.O. 80x'693, Dunedin, ; ’ September 19. jjC&ptain E. V. Sanderson, _ , 1 President Forest and Bird i , ' Protection Society of N".Z. • (Inc.).' ' , • Dear-Sir,—l have, to thank you for your favour of the loth irist. enclosing copy of a letter addressed to His Worship the Mayor of Dunedin. Twfithopt attempting to debate tho statements made )n your letter regard ihg the alleged damage to the bush in the'vicinity of Duke street, I would like tO'ifientipn that'the co-operation of this sdchrty ,was sought after by the Dunedin; North' and , Leith Amenities Society, i which h.ody was anxious that some thing should be done to perman-

cntly improve what will shortly be the main entrance to Dunedin. The Dunedin North society was aware that the Public Works Department intended to widen the road, and it was anxious that a wall should be erected and the muhlenbeckia, etc., on the bank cleared. The Dunedin Amenities Society appointed a committee to investigate our sister society’s proposals, and these were eventually approved of. Since then three active native bush lovers in this city, Messrs George Simpson, J. Scott Thomson, and Rupert Fountain, have acted on a committee which has •been in close touch with the work. .We are prepared to admit that there might have been a certain amount of carelessness in the clearance of the bank, but the above committee advises us that, apart from the muhlenbeckia, only such trees as sycamore, elderberry, and dead panax have been removed. Here and there a few fuchsias have been trimmed up. No ferns or kowhais have been touched, and the work of replanting with better types of native trees is going on apace. Naturally where the road has been widened the whole of the bush has had to be removed, j and in places this has meant a certain amount of trimming of. the bank beyond. This work, however, has been done under the supervision of the Public Works Department, and has nothing to do with the reserves department. May I mention in passing that, had it not been for the operations of this society during the past 51 years, there would have been very few areas of native bush left in and around Dunedin F The members of the committee are extremely anxious to preserve tho natural nesting places for birds, and many areas of dense bush have been retained for this purpose. ■ At the same time, I think you will realise that from the amenity point of view it is necessary to have certain areas of bush, .particularly those adjacent to main highways, where the boles of the trees can be seen and their full beauty appreciated. It is also necessary to check the depredations of sycamore, blackberry, broom, etc., and to replace with something more typical of New Zealand. Whenever clearance of this kind is undertaken we receive complaints from some members of the community who imagine that the bush is being cut away. However, we do appreciate your interest in this matter. We take this opportunity of complimenting you upon tho good work you are doing, and we assure you that we will watch very carefully any indiscriminate clearance of bush upon our city reserves.—Yours truly, A. C. Cameron, hon. secretary. TO TUB EDITOR. Sir, —I think it is time that tho people of Dunedin who wish to preserve the remnant of our.'native hush in the ireserves within and around our city should take steps to unite themselves into a society to see what combined action can do to put a stop to this unnecessary destruction of our native trees. The Bullock Track is a scene of desolation, and the work of destruction is now extended to the Town Belt and other places. Mr Tannock says no trees have been out down on the Bullock Track area. Does he think that the people who use the Bullock Track and Duke street two to four times daily and those who live in the vicinity are all both, blind and deaf? One of my favourite trees is gone, and it was growing well up the hillside, and 1 know that the kowhai “ Knzeddor ” refers to was not the only tree that had a fire lighted at its base. I, for om>. shall he glad to got into touch with “Enzedder” at the earliest opportunity.—l am, etc., Rally Rounjj. September

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —“ Enzedder ” asks people who are interested in the preservation of our native bush to back him up before it is too late. A great many people are ready and only too willing to back him in ins efforts to save our heritage, but no one knows how to deal with the dictatorial methods employed. There have been dozens of letters appearing in the Press pleading for a stay of this devastation, but what good has it done? We all know by bitter experience that as soon as the creepers are killed and the sun let into the bush the «rns die, and very soon their place is fallen by gorse and other weeds. We have witnessed this only too often. One wonders whether, since' the native bush was left to Dunedin citizens as a heritage, anyone has any right to tamper with it at all, m>.h less to go through it so ruthlessly, trampling down the ferns and burning the undergrowth. If left in its native state it needs no looking after, but once tampered with, as it has been, it requires a great deal of attention, and at preseruf, and perhaps for many, years, the needed supervision will not be able to be given. Why does not “ Enzedder ” call a meeting and invite all those who feel so bitter, not only about the destruction of the beautiful native bush, but also about the loss of bird life as well, to put their heads together and see what can be done? Many people who live near the Bullock Track can speak about the destruction that has gone on, but now that the same methods are started on the Town Belt “ Enzedder ” will need to hurry up. We have to thank the papers for allowing us the privilege of airing our views, but it will take something more than letters to stop this process.—l am, etc., A Supporter. September 19-