C—6.

1936. NEW ZEALAND.

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND SURVEY. SCENERY PRESERVATION. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1936, TOGETHER WITH STATEMENT OF EXPENDITURE AND SCHEDULE OF LANDS ACQUIRED AND RESERVED DURING THE YEAR UNDER THE SCENERY PRESERVATION ACT.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly pursuant to Section 17 of the Scenery Preservation Act, 1908.

Department of Lands and Survey, Wellington, 21st August, 1936. Sik, — I have the honour to submit herewith a report on scenery preservation for the year ended 31st March, 1936. I have, &c, W. Robertson, Under-Secretary for Lands. The Hon. Prank Langstone, Minister in Charge of Scenery Preservation, Wellington.

REPORT.

Proclamations issued during the year setting apart land as scenic or historic reserves under the Scenery Preservation Act covered a total area of 34,045 acres. In the Auckland Land District a small bush-clad gully in the Otorohanga district was made a scenic reserve during the year. Very little bush has been left in the locality, and the reservation of this area should be appreciated by the people of the district. Another reservation comprised some 36 acres on the Pokeno-Waitakaruru Highway, being practically the only piece of bush to be seen along the road. A. local settler has been appointed to generally supervise the new reserve and to ensure its protection from timber poaching. An area of 177 acres on the Mangaotaki River near Pio Pio was also brought under the Act, following representations in that behalf by the Waitomo County Council. This land was formerly a State forest, but the forest reservation was cancelled in order that the area might be made a scenic reserve. Satisfactory arrangements have been made for its protection, two local settlers having agreed to act as honorary inspectors for the new reserve. Arrangements were also completed during the year for the purchase and reservation of an area of 100 acres on the slopes of the Ngongotaha Mountain as an addition to the existing reserves on the mountain. The acquisition of this area was rendered possible chiefly through the generosity of the Bruce Trustees, to whom the thanks of the Department are gratefully tendered. Near Okahukura in the Taranaki District an area of 50 acres of good mixed hush was set apart. This area is regarded as one of the beauty spots in a locality which possesses several magnificent reserves. Further reservations in Taranaki were those of some 30 acres of steep and broken bush country on the Ohura Road near Whangamomona, and 196 acres on the Kururau Road, at a spot known locally as Port Arthur. Several reservations were made in the Nelson Land District during the year, the areas so dealt with including some 70 acres of heavy bush adjoining the Mount Courtney Reserve in the Buller Valley, 109 acres on a prominent headland on the western coast-line of Tasman Bay, two small sections at Bulwer in Pelorus Sound, a small area in the St. Arnaud Township, Lake Rotoiti, and some 32,000 acres in the Travers Valley. The last-mentioned area comprises! practically the whole of the valley running down from Mount Travers to Lake Rotoiti. The valley and the hillsides are clothed with attractive bush, while further above rise the rocky peaks of the St. Arnaud Range on the one side and of the Mount Robert Ridge on the other'. The ranges culminate in Mount Travers (7,666 ft.) at the head of the valley. The combination of river, bush, and mountain scenery is exceedingly fine, and as the valley is comparatively easy of access the reservation now made should become a very popular and valuable one.