| 3 FORESTRY » HWH Logging Doing the right thing Many of the sites HWH Logging work on around Otago and Southland have waterways or water races dotted around. Rachel Graham For HWH Logging making sure they take good care of the forests they are working in has long been important to them. That ongoing environmental focus was recognised in the Southern Wood Council 2022 Forestry Awards with HWH Logging given the Forest Environmental Management Excellence Award. The company also won the same award in 2017. Michael Wallace is the managing director of HWH Logging, which has been operating in Otago and Southland for around 15 years. HWH Logging works under contract for US company Rayonier, which owns over 70 forests in New Zealand. Rayonier is New Zealand’s third largest forestry company, with around 120, 000 planted hectares. HWH Logging work in Rayonier forests in the Catlins, Gore and Lawrence. HWH Logging’s harvesting crew process the pine and Douglas-fir logs, and grade them ready to be sold overseas or used in local markets. HWH Logging were nominated for the Forest Environmental Management Excellence Award by Rayonier. Michael Wallace says that environmental focus is very important to Rayonier, and to HWH Logging. “We take a lot of pride in it,” says Michael. “It is Rayonier’s forest and we take a lot of pride in looking after their forest. It’s actually quite a nice feeling, seeing that the forest is looked after.” He says one of the aspects of their work which would have helped them stand out is their attitude to rehabilitation of the forest. “We don’t leave big tracks everywhere. We rehabilitate our tracks. So, after you’ve seen us go through and take the trees out, and you look back, it doesn’t really look like we’ve been there apart from the trees gone.” He says leaving large open tracks would create gullies for water to run down, sending sediment into creeks and waterways. Michael Wallace says they carefully manage where they put their tracks in, and use of a new winch assist machine means they now need less tracks. He says the key is thinking about how you want to operate and planning out the whole set up in advance, rather than leaping in and realising too late things could have been done better. Many of the sites HWH Logging work on around Otago and Southland have waterways or water races dotted around. Michael says another key aim with their tracking is keeping unwanted material out of the waterways. “If we have to cross a waterway we make sure that we bridge it correctly pipe it correctly so that we don’t end up with stuff getting dragged into the creeks. And we look after our tracks so that if we do have a big downpour we don’t end up with a whole lot of runoff. We also have big sediment traps to catch any runoff and things like that. There is quite a lot of work in it.” Earthmoving and Farm Maintenance Done Right 30 years of local knowledge and experience makes us the right people to talk to when it comes to earthmoving and farm maintenance. We explore every angle of a project upfront to ensure it runs smoothly and efficiently. For us, being the best isn’t about getting a job done fastest, or cheapest, it’s about getting it Done Right. Find out how we will get your project Done Right at tarbotton.co.nz Michael says Rayonier have offered excellent support with the work, helping with the planning and suggestions on how to improve their environmental impact and safety. He says his team of seven workers are also very keen and motivated to do their bit to protect the environment they work in each day, and the Southern Wood Council award was great acknowledgement of that commitment. “There's more to the story than three generations of legal knowledge and experience, it's also about understanding the importance of connecting to people and community in the region.” - Albert Alloo, Partner albert@all-legal.co.nz 03 477 3940 www.all-legal.co.nz 67 Princes St, Dunedin, 9016
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