27th April 2022 Newsletter

PRESIDENTS COLUMN

I would like to bring to your attention this years conference which is to be held in Auckland 11-13 September with the theme of the Ngahere (forests) sustaining the people. You will find more detail on the website. I encourage you to attend the conference and register early. We will send out an email to let you know once we have registration up and running. We have saved rooms at a discount at the Hilton but the number of rooms is reduced if they are not taken up by key dates, so please don’t delay in registering.

If you or your company would like to help by sponsoring, please contact me for a copy of the sponsorship prospectus or find it on the website. As always sponsorship is required to ensure the conference is successful. This year due to the location the conference will attract non-members who are close to the sector. This will include lawyers, accountants, banks, investment funds etc.

On other matters; we submitted on ‘managing exotic afforestation incentives’ last week. We will have the submission on the website soon under members only section. This is our fourth submission for 2022 so we are currently running at one a month. Submissions take a lot of work and I would like to thank Kit in particular for his work on this last one, but also all members who provided input. We always try to submit based on the science of forestry and good practice, but also take guidance from members views. Therefore when a request for submissions is sent out from Government we always appreciate hearing from members, either directly or though this newsletter. In fact my personal preference is via the newsletter under members voice as then we hopefully can start debate and really understand all points of view. It is easy to make a members voice comment. Just email it to Raewyn at admin@nzif.org.nz and make the subject ‘members voice’.

Next week is the last meeting of the current council. We will hold a review of the last term and what has gone well and where we can improve. Many councillors will be leaving after serving members for many years. Some have served members for over 14 years. I thank all councillors for their hard work and also thank those who have put their hand up for the next term. I reiterate NZIF is a membership organisation with goals to serve members. It is run on the smell of an oily rag and I ask you all to consider what you can do to help serve members and the organisation. Maybe it is to volunteer to organise a local section meeting, or be on a conference committee or help with a submission. Any offer of help is greatly appreciated.

This week I will be attending the Nelson local section meeting; it is great to see local sections once again becoming active and holding face to face meetings. Local sections are a great way to network, but they can also feed back to council with ideas for how to improve services to members. If you are Nelson based I hope to see you at the meeting.

Finally I look forward to see many of you at the conference this year. I am excited with the theme and the agenda the conference committee has organised. Put it in your calendars and make a commitment to attend.

Thanks

James

INSTITUTE EVENTS

Wellington Local Section Field Trip

Glenis and Hamish Levack’s forest HQ on Sunday 1 May 2022.

What is planned.

10.00 am to 10.30am: Assemble and have morning tea.

10.30 am to 11.00 am Chris Gibbons, of Forest 360, will talk about setting up the harvesting of China Forest Group’s [CFG’s] cutting right on the adjacent land owned by Greater Wellington Council. A tethered machine and other impressive gear is being used.

11.00 to 11.30 am John Renshaw and Thane Walls of Greater Wellington Regional Council,[GWRC and Janice Hill of the Kapiti Coast District Council [KCDC] will explain plans to control anti-social public behaviour at the end of Maungakotukutuku Road, and the wider plans to develop track linkages for walkers, cyclists, horse-riders and responsible 4WD clubs through nearby DOC, GWRC, and KCDC native forest reserves and parks.

11.30 to 12.00 Peter Hanford, of Groundtruth, will cover the KCDC’s plans to rehabilitate the sides of the Maungakotukutuku stream.

12.00 to 12.30 pm lunch

12.30 to 1.30 pm Drive up to the top of Levack forest and walk for about quarter of an hour to see the dug-in bulldozer that spools out the steel cables to the tethered harvesting machine down below. [Note the radiata silviculture, the E. sphaerocarpa, E. muelleriana, E. eugenioides & E. Laevopinea trials, and some cypresses on the way.]

1.30 to 2.00 pm drive back down Levack forest, noting the Kauri and redwood trials on the flats, and out to the end of Maungakotukutuku road to see what John ,Thane, Janice, and Peter will have already discussed, and look where Forest 360 have been landing and stacking CFG’s logs.

3.00 + pm the new Wellington NZFFA Branch Committee [and anyone else who wants to hang around] return to Levack Forest HQ for another cup of tea and a managers’ meeting.

For further details and to register Register here Register here

CAN YOU HELP

The daughter of Brian Sinclair Sullivan is trying to find someone who worked or knew Brian before he died in a car accident so she can find out more about him.  Brian was working at Mohaka in 1981.  He had been working for Allen Pascoe who was contracted to NZFS, for just two weeks before he passed away.   Brian was from Horotiu, Waikato and while in forestry may have worked in the Taupo area and maybe somewhere out the back of Ngaruawahia.  If you remember Brian, can you please contact his daughter Sandra at hello@lakeviewstay.co.nz.

JOB VACANCY