Estate felling should finish by Christmas
Logging crews have felled nearly 40 per cent of the Mission Estate forests to the west of Napier since the first pine was felled back on July 24.
"It has all been going well," Bob Pocknall from forestry management company PF Olsen said.
"The weather has been excellent and we are on track to wrap it up in December - by Christmas time it should all be gone."
A dozen-strong logging crew from DG Glenn logging are felling the forest which will see about 22,000 tonnes of timber removed.
They are carrying the work out on a strict programme of ensuring the open land that is left behind will be as close to clean hillsides as possible.
"It is a clean forest so it will clear up very well," PanPac's Brent McNab said.
Unlike forests in isolated bush areas, the Mission spread was planted across "clean" hillsides.
The pines were planted over about 50 hectares nearly 35 years ago and had got to the stage where they had to be harvested. There had been increasing rates of attrition and damage from the wind which made felling the forest "inevitable", Mission Estate CEO Peter Holley said.
While the hills had been alive with the sound of chainsaws, the harvesting had not caused any concerns or major issues with nearby residents, Mr Pocknall said, adding that contractors and logging truck operators were doing everything they could to minimise disruption.
The last section of forest to be felled was to the north of the Mission Estate and had once been the site of a quarry.
"I'm not sure what they quarried there but the ground is a bit rocky and bony, but it shouldn't present any issues."
After the harvest is completed the area will be left for the land to lie fallow for about a year, then re-planted with not pines, but a mix of varieties like cedar, redwoods and cypress. Oaks and poplars may also be planted at the bottom of the hills.
