Wilding pines cleared
The clearing of wilding pines from 35 hectares of land around Lake O¯ hau in the wake of the wildfire that devastated the region has been completed.
After the fire ripped through the region last October, Environment Canterbury were asked to clear the burnt standing trees damaged in the fire, as well as remove live trees which presented a wildfire risk threat to property or people.
ECan biosecurity officer special projects Steve Palmer said the work has been completed.
The first lot of work involved clearing about 5.8 hectares around Lake Middleton, a mix of Waitaki District Council land and Public Consolation Land, including the popular Department of Conservation Lake Middleton campsite.
When the work started in January, DOC operations manager Karina Morrow told Stuff restoration work on the lake, including planting natives, would be ‘‘likely to begin later this year once a plan is finalised’’.
Palmer said contractors completed clearing pines from a further 29 hectares of land surrounding and within Lake O¯ hau village on Friday.
While some of that land was conservation land or council-owned, most was private land cleared at the request of the landowner.
‘‘We are also working with the Waitaki District Council to remove trees within the village where landowners have requested assistance,’’ Palmer said.
ECan chief operations officer Nadeine Dommisse told Stuff last November work to remove wilding pines is crucial to mitigating future wildfires.
‘‘Wildfires from wilding pines are more severe than those involving the vegetation they replace, because they tend to burn hotter and spread faster,’’ she said.