Silviculture in New Zealand got a boost with a support subsidy package announced last week from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) which will assist this sector to secure a workforce to meet the 2020 planting season labour requirements. Border closures as part of the NZ COVID-19 elimination strategy have meant the sector couldn’t rely on seasonal workers from the …
First woodchip shipment for Eden after the bushfires
Allied Natural Wood Exports (ANWE) has started loading the first woodchip vessel to dock since the bushfires forced the Eden facility to shut down in early January. The MV Cattleya arrived in Eden on 12 May and loading commenced on 13 May, making it the first of many vessels to return to Twofold Bay as the mill’s operation is temporarily …
Tasmanian authorities investigating spikes in logs
Tree spiking involves nails, bolts or other metal spikes or objects being hammered or drilled into trees to disrupt logging and milling. Two sawmills in Tasmania’s south have reported finding bolts in logs delivered to them by Sustainable Timber Tasmania from the Wentworth Hills area this week, and Tasmania Police and Workplace Standards are now both investigating. Wayne Booth from …
Timber industry’s race against the clock
Thirty thousand hectares of Forestry Corporation land burnt. Thirty-nine crews currently harvesting timber (up from 23 before the fires). Twelve to 18 months before the fire damage makes the logs unusable. The numbers surrounding Forestry Corp after the 2020 bushfire season are slightly grim, but Regional Manager Dean Anderson insisted he’s optimistic; “fairly,” he clarified. The fires last summer claimed …
A 5G roading solution for forestry roading
In New Zealand, there are many forests with thousands of km’s of roading spread widely across both islands, with many different types of soils and clays. Some are great for building roads on and others, not so great. Some of these roads require cut to waste and backfilling or thick pavement depths to bridge the poor sub-grades including the use …
Jack Kuru – the legend road builder
“Jack Kuru – the legend road builder”. These words are scribed on the wall of the Wairangi Whare as a reminder of Jacks time in Wairangi Forest road building in the early 2000s. I remember vividly the day Jack’s D8 bulldozer was on the transporter heading to Wairangi forest to embark on a new road line harvesting and road construction …
Forest Safety Conference to proceed – online
Forest Safety Conference confirmed for June; goes international The Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) announced this week that its annual forest safety conference will be going ahead in June – in digital form. The new programme can be viewed on the event website. “While lockdown conditions have forced enormous restrictions on all of us, we have a large loyal following …
TracPlus announces NZ$5m investment
TracPlus has successfully closed a significant funding round with New Zealand’s most experienced technology investment firm, Movac, investing NZ$5m. TracPlus offers real-time tracking, communication and integrated solutions for those in the critical services sectors, including First Responders, Firefighting, Utilities, Military and Aviation sectors. Founded in 2007 and based in Dunedin, TracPlus’ global client base includes the likes of CalFire, San …