Forest supervisor

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON

Name: Dave Anscombe

Age: 34

Job title: Forest supervisor

Working hours: Eight-hour days between 7am and 5pm; on call day and night

Employer: Northland Forest Managers; forest managers or owners


Pay: $32,000 to $50,000 depending on experience

Qualifications needed: Diploma in Forest Management or other relevant tertiary qualification; practical experience in forest harvesting, iwi liaison, pest management

Career prospects: Progress up forest management ladder to senior management

Q. What do you do?

A. I got this job 18 months ago after completing my diploma. I manage the 2500ha Coroglen Forest on the Coromandel for Evergreen Forests. There are 1550ha of pines and the rest is natives. I'm busy and I live in the forest so it's a job that never leaves you. First thing in the morning I do my rounds through the forest, driving 60km to 80km a day. At the moment there are three harvesting contractors and a roading crew in the forest and I keep an eye on them to see that everything is done properly and safely. I'm there for any questions - a go-between, sorting stuff out. I do some plotting - measuring trees to see that there is the right number of trees in a stand and check their health. I do a monthly audit - water quality testing and environmental monitoring. That creates a paper trail for Evergreen, which is seeking Forest Stewardship Council certification. That looks at the way the forest is run, the environment, workers, everything.

Q. Why did you choose the job?

A. I grew up in the forest at Murupara and started off doing all the manual jobs - planting, pruning, chainsaw work, log making. I wanted to get into management so I did the diploma and when I'd finished I saw the ad for this job. It asked for everything I had. It's an important job because the forest has been growing for 30 years and it could easily be devalued. I ensure the owners get what their trees are worth. It's value recovery and it's especially important in this downturn.

Q. What's the best part of the job?

A. Being sole charge. I plan my own day. And I get a bit of land to farm. The worst part of the job is isolation and approaching pig hunters and dope growers. This is a historic area and it's interesting coming across old gold mine workings, kauri logging sites and dams and the remains of old camps. One of the more interesting things was an environmental survey that discovered an endangered frog and a fish.

Q. What are your strengths?

A. I'm a quick thinker and a problem solver. I work well on my own and I'm happy to listen to others. One of the management things I've had to learn is that when I know what I want done I still let other people have their say. I've learned to bite my tongue.

Q. What are your goals?

A. I'd like to be here for the entire eight or so years duration of this forest's harvest. Then I'd like to move into more senior management.

Q. What would you tell others?

A. Don't be afraid to learn the practical side of things like chainsawing. It's made it so much easier for me that I know the job inside out. I'd had a lot to do with iwi in Murupara and I do iwi liaison here. I'd done pest control before and that's another thing I do here. I've done most of the jobs that are being done in the forest.