He said Mr. Lauer had allowed 100 people access to his property and had only denied three, though others had used the land without asking.

Mr. Lauer told Radio New Zealand that the groups trying to get access were taking advantage of the “difficult times” he went through in losing his job, and were targeting him because he was an “easy mark.”

Mr. Pyle of the Walking Access Commission said that public access to Mr. Lauer’s ranch “would not be unfettered.” He noted that similar access had been allowed through other nearby properties, including two leased by the record producer Mutt Lange, who was previously married to Shania Twain.

“One of the things we’d be very happy with would be if Mutt Lange and Matt Lauer could meet, and Matt could learn from that; learn the value that could be obtained from being a great member of the community,” Mr. Pyle said, adding that Mr. Lauer would be “held in very high regard in New Zealand” if he allowed more access.

Mr. Lauer’s lease on the property was put in jeopardy after his firing from the “Today” show, when New Zealand’s government conducted a six-month investigation into whether he met the “good character” test that foreigners must pass to lease land in New Zealand.

The inquiry concluded that since Mr. Lauer had not been charged with a crime, primarily lived in the United States and was not involved in the New Zealand ranch’s day-to-day operations, he would be allowed to keep the property. But officials who conducted the investigation said they “did not condone the inappropriate way” Mr. Lauer had behaved while at NBC, and that it would “continue to monitor the matter.”