Conservation Minister Nick Smith has already rejected a proposed tunnel from the Routeburn Rd in Mt Aspiring National Park to the Hollyford Rd in the Fiordland National Park.
Dr Smith's press secretary Rachael Bruce said yesterday the minister hoped to make a decision on the monorail proposal by either late this year or early next year after visiting the area, possibly in November.
Riverstone Holdings Ltd has proposed to build a 43km monorail, 29km of which would be through conservation land, from Kiwi Burn, near the Mavora Lakes, through the Snowdon Forest, to Te Anau Downs.
The $150 million proposal, named the Fiordland Link Experience, would also include a catamaran trip across Lake Wakatipu and an all-terrain vehicle journey to the monorail terminus at Kiwi Burn.
In July, Dr Smith declined a similar-priced proposal from Milford Dart Ltd to construct an 11.3km commercial bus tunnel.
Riverstone Holdings Ltd director Bob Robertson has previously told the Otago Daily Times the country needed two or three ''significant tourism adventures'' to be developed, or risk ''slipping further down the OECD chain''.
