Farmers v foresters: Allegations of stock shooting, poor pest management in Clutha forestry blocks

There have been allegations of poor pest management in Clutha forestry blocks. Photo / Kate Newton, RNZ

By Tess Brunton of RNZ

• Tensions are flaring in a Clutha community with allegations of stock shooting, poaching and poor pest management in forestry blocks.
• Farmers near Lawrence and Tuapeka want changes made but there’s been a communication breakdown with forestry companies.
• Local police called a public meeting on Tuesday afternoon to air their concerns with forestry representatives.

Lawrence farmer Jim Crawford is tired of dealing with costly damage from wild pigs that tear through prime pasture.

The Lawrence Golf Club was packed on Tuesday afternoon with people keen to ask questions and hear directly from forestry companies.

Crawford told the meeting that he wanted better communication and collaboration with the forestry companies near his land, and for them to deal with their pests.

“We get to deal with the problems and we can’t even go back onto the place – your place [forestry blocks] – to get them because you call a trespass,” he said.

“But we carry the damage all the time and that’s got to stop.

“You have to take some responsibility.”

Rayonier Matariki Forests regional manager Hamish Fitzgerald said forestry companies were working to control pest animals.

In one of their areas, they had culled 2000 possums, more than 1000 pigs, 150 deer and 100 goats.

“We are doing quite a lot. But one of the outcomes maybe we do get out of today is better collaboration because everyone has to do their bit.”

They also had to ensure their staff were kept safe and that meant knowing who was on their land, he said.

Lawrence Senior Constable Paul Alden organised the meeting, saying he wanted to get the conversation started and hopefully turn it towards collaboration.

One landowner said she wanted a good neighbour who dealt with their pests. She has had to deal with poachers.

“Now, your trees are fine. They don’t come on, they don’t kill stock. They don’t turn up with their guns, they don’t have tracking collars, and ... they don’t dig up our paddocks.

“If there were no pests, we wouldn’t have poachers.

“We wouldn’t have poacher’s dogs killing stock, turning up at my place in the middle of the night with a damn gun.”

One farmer asked forestry representatives if they would shoot stock that wandered onto their blocks.

Wenita Forest Products chief executive David Cormack said there was a mob of sheep that was eating through a block they were replanting.

“Unfortunately, one of the contractors was instructed to shoot the sheep and it was done without first talking to Murray [the farmer],” he said.

“We’ve had a conversation with Murray.

“We admit that we should have talked to him beforehand.

“It’s not something we would do again.”

They wanted to listen and find out what they could do as they could not fix a problem they did not know about, Cormack said.

“We see ourselves as part of this community and that’s one of the messages that we really wanted to put to this meeting that we want to be good neighbours, and that’s why we’ve fronted up here to find out how we can be better neighbours.”

- RNZ