On this day 30 July 1907 Arthur Trail protested to government over a proposal to turn the whole of Stewart Island into a bird and game sanctuary.

The letter is a good example of the uneasy relationship between tourism and acclimitisation, two organisations with much in common in the nineteenth century which later fell out over conservation issues. Traill was himself a naturalist but as a resident of Stewart Island and chair of its tourist bureau he was not happy about such an extreme conservation proposal which would bar local people from shooting game for their own use in favour of sport hunters from acclimitisation societies who did not live there. Traill also took the opportunity to point out the damage being caused to Stewart Island’s flora by opossums introduced by acclimitisation societies.

The proponent of the whole-of-island reserve was one W P Haines a naturalist and bird lover of Queenstown who claimed in his letter to government that “I have heard a man boast that he could make fifteen pounds in one month with a dog getting Kiwi’s eggs and Katipos (sic) eggs”.

Shown here is Traill’s letter to New Zealand Premier Joseph Ward explaining the reasons such a proposal should be declined. He was successful as it was turned down.

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