4,000,000 Acres of Freedom

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 930, 7 June 1957, Page 6

4,000,000 Acres

of

Freedom

OUR score and seven years agomore precisely, on the evening of September 19, 1870-a group of men from Helena, Montana, sat around a campfire in that region of the U.S. North-West known to the Indians as The Land of the Yellow Rocks.As the woodsmoke drifted upward they talked of the country they had travelled through in several weeks of exploration and speculated about its future. One suggested that they should contrive to gain control of the land and exploit it as a tourist attraction, but anotherhe was Judge Cornelius Hedges, and his name is worth remembering-dis-agreed. No one, he said, should own privately any part of the region; it should be a national park. History does not number Jucge Hedges among the orators, -and the occasion, unlike Gettysburg, produced no deathless dedication-but, after its fashion, it too represented a new birth of ‘freedom. Fired by the idealism of Judge Hedges, the party so marshalled public opinion that the U.S. Government was moved to adopt the scheme, and on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Bill that set Yellowstone apart "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people," as the first National Park of the United States. It is in large measure due to the example of the United States that New Zealanders today enjoy the three million acres of freedom which lie behind

the vast portal of Milford Sound-pic-tured at the top of this page-and nearly a million more in seven other national parks throughout the country: in all, about one-seventeenth of the total area of the two main islands. And it is fitting, therefore, that the pioneering work of Judge Hedges and other Americans should be remembered in a small handbook* soon to be published by the National Parks Authority of New Zealand. Though the United States pioneered in the establishment of national parks the idea spread far and swiftly. -It crossed the Pacific to New Zealand when the young colony was still in the throes of the pioneering phase, and the first of our national parks-still known simply as National Park to anyone who listens to the weather forecasts — had its genesis in 1887 when the tract of land comprising the summits of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu was presented to the Government by Te Heuheu Tukino, paramount chief of the Ngati Tuwharetoa. Tongariro National Park was consti» tuted by an Act of 1894, and from then until the turn of the century various other areas were preserved under various Acts. Though these were not specifically designated national parks the aim of the legislation tended to whole or partial conservation of what had come to be regarded as national assets. In the South Island, such places as the Tasman Glacier ; (continued on next page)

;¥887), Aorangi ParkHooker and Mueller Glaciers (1890), and Otira (1901) came into this category. And in 1900 the second of New Zealand’s national parks was established — that centring on Mt. Egmont. "In some countries," says the National Parks Authority’s handbook, "the idea was that national parks should conserve scenery, vegetation, and natural wild life most ‘strictly, allowing nature complete freedom without interference of any kind by man, Elsewhere, including North America and New Zealand, national parks became. reserved natural regions which the public is permitted and encouraged to visit and which are developed with services and facilities that stimulate visitor traffic + ++ in some ways the. evolution of / national parks in New Zealand has paralleled the American concept; in other ways it goes somewhat farther; in some, again, not so far." By 1952 the Dominion five national parks -Tongariro, Egmont,

Abel Tasman and Arthurs Pass were administered by separate park boards, while Fiordland was technically a public reserve administered by the Lands and Survey Department. Over the same period, it became obvious that some kind of uniform control and administration. on a national basis was needed, and the outcome was the National Parks Act, 1952, and the establishment of a National Parks Authority which would control in the national interest all such parks in New Zealand. Since the 1952 Act the five parks have grown to eight; Urewera, Mt. Cook, and Nelson Lakes being the three new. ones; and there has been in recent years progressive development of the jareas so that the public may-in the words of the 1952 Act-"receive in full measure the inspiration, enjoyment, recreation and other benefits that may be derived from mountains, forests, sounds, lakes, and rivers."

In the National Parks Authority’s handbook there are. small scale maps of each park, photographs to show their differing character, and some information on the amenities available, There are also sections devoted to brief surveys of the geology and vegetation of the areas, and a description of the bird life which ig one of their greatest assets. The parks vary in size and character and the scope of things to do is as varied as the terrain. The fringes of all the areas in summer attract the caravans and tents of campers, and the regiments of hikers who annually make the parks their destination as a matter of course. Further back, another kind. of visitor is found. Here the amateur birdwatcher makes his hide, the artist sets up his easel, and the weekend and holiday botanists and geologists carry on their specimen hunts. The centre of the parks, however, attract a different type . of néer: aguin. "As mne Jaf. she

‘ee eee ae ear 7 Ae & = parks are hilly or mountainous or heavily bushed, these central areas attract mainly the young and active, those who tramp (rather than hike), climb, ski, or otherwise indulge in sports for the fit and experienced. One area only of the parks is barred to the amateur explorer — the area of Fiordland between the Middle and South Fiord of Lake Te Anau, including the Murchison Mountains, that is, the known refuge of the Notornis. Apart from this one area, New: Zealanders have. almost one-seven-teenth of their land as a playground for nearly unrestricted use -in terms of population, one of the largest playgrounds in the world.