Foresters call for independent inquiry into general ‘mass failures’ in East Coast storms

Forestry slash and storm erosion at Uawa Forest. Photo / Gisborne District Council

The Forest Owners’ Association says East Coast people have “every right to be aggrieved” about the forestry debris assault on their lands, but what is needed is an independent inquiry into the region’s resilience involving the whole community.

President of the forest owners’ advocate, Grant Dodson, said the storm-smashing of beaches, rivers, private property and infrastructure by forestry operation waste is the result of history and climate change.

But he said there was also a “huge” local resilience issue generally, with failures not just of forestry, but farmland, public roading and infrastructure each time there’s a storm.

The latest forestry waste hit came on January 10 with severe flooding and winds during ex-tropical cyclone Hale. The Gisborne District Council said 22 roads were still closed this week, with more than 300 known issues including slips, dropouts, fallen trees and damaged bridge abutments.

Dodson said there was “ill-feeling” towards forestry but the real community backlash was probably directed at climate change.

“The root cause is the underlying soil structure and climate change causing more cyclones.

“I can understand people who’ve been impacted feeling aggrieved,” said Dunedin-based Dodson.

“It comes down to building more resilient roads so any slash can be moved to an area where it can’t get into water courses. But that only gets you so far if the landing (debris collection site) goes down the hill. Whole hillsides come down.”

The Environmental Defence Society has called on the Government to commission an inquiry into the East Coast forestry situation, while local groups are demanding a major community-led inquiry.

Dodson said a government inquiry wasn’t the right tool.

“It’d be very expensive, Wellington-driven and probably take two years. We see the benefit of an independent “resilience” review. It needs to look at the public infrastructure as well. All the failures need to be looked at. Forest owners would be very interested in contributing to that.”

Such an inquiry could be conducted by an independent Kings Counsel.

Dodson said the region “desperately” needed to establish a market for use of its forest debris, for example chipping and bioenergy production plants.

Some other regions, such as neighbouring Bay of Plenty, had such facilities but there was nothing on the East Coast.

That said, the debris had to be moved on a road and roading was an issue.

Dodson said to understand the “mass failures” required a look back at the 1940s, 50s and 60s, when native forest was cleared for sheep farming with government incentives.

“Then came Cyclone Bernie and Bola (in the 80s) and those farms were wiped off the landscape. There was an (official) inquiry then which said we needed to plant trees to stabilise the land.”

The result, government-incentivised planting and Forestry Service plantations, were later sold to commercial forestry operations.

“By and large those plantations have held the land together for 30 years and now they’re being harvested because they are commercial crops and were sold as commercial crops. But now we have more and more frequent cyclones, with not just soil and grass coming down, its forestry debris as well.”

As to who is responsible for the debris blight which in recent years has cost millions in private and public property damage and clean up, Dodson told the Herald the RMA consent law puts the responsibility for discharges from an operation on the landowner.

“So very clearly the forest owner has to put in place measures to stop this happening.

“But that should also apply to infrastructure. Not only to forestry.”

Slash and forestry debris scattered around East Cape / Tairwahiti following tropical cyclone Hale. Photo / Eastland Wood Council

Asked if the district council, which functions as a regional local authority and grants resource consents bears any responsibility, Dodson said the council was the RMA enforcer.

“The council is allowed to impose higher rules on ‘red zone’ soils, and has put higher standards on East Coast forestry operations. The council is the regulator but the onus is on the forest operator to do the job.”

Dodson noted East Coast foresters had been prosecuted in recent years for breaches of their resource consents in weather events, “and will be again”.

Angry farmers and residents have suggested forestry operators, in a hurry to harvest and move on to the next job when export log prices are strong, have not been building log and waste landing sites or “skids” properly or handling waste debris appropriately. This, they claim, has left sites vulnerable to the next flood.

“It’s easy to make assertions people are not doing things properly but you need to understand how the RMA works,” Dodson responded.

“If you have a discharge from a forest which is illegal, and clearly there have been discharges, you are automatically guilty. All the judge has to decide is the extent of that guilt.”

To claims by locals that it’s been cheaper for culprits to pay the court penalty than invest in proper waste handling, Dodson said: “None of these companies wants to be impacting their neighbours.

“None of these companies want to be in court and embarrassed and paying a fine. Cleaning up is mandated under the National Policy Statement on Plantation Forests so they have to do it anyway.

“I don’t think anyone is saying ‘we’ll just pay the fine’. That would be highly unethical and we certainly wouldn’t condone any forester doing that, and I don’t think they are.

“But it is very difficult to solve these issues on the East Coast with no residue (waste) market, weak soils, steep slopes and distance from markets. Even finding places to put the slash can be difficult. And it’s all very costly.”

Some of the East Coast’s biggest forest operators are members of the association, Dodson said.

Forestry was the largest GDP contributor to the East Coast economy at $253m in FY19. Forestry export revenues through the local port were $438m in FY20.

Dodson said while new, higher operating standards had been introduced after forestry debris devastated the region, particularly in Tolaga Bay, in a 2018 storm, it had to be remembered that it could take 30 years to fully implement them for one forest.

He cited a case of a resident whose property had been smashed by debris twice but it had been eight years since there had been any nearby forestry operations.

Some companies had been using helicopters “at huge expense” to try to get slash out to avoid further events.