Topography

Beech forest mostly on west and north facing slopes at 300-400 m a.s.l. Moderate slopes ( 15-30^o) from tow main north/south ridges, the westerly low ridge with gentle terrace-like top ( 0-10^o) The land in beech forest appears stable.

Wildlife

Bird life is typical for the zone Maruia( from Station Creek), Matakitaki, Glenhope to Big Bush with relative abundance of native birds ( Appendix 2 ), including presence of falcon, kaka, and yellow-fronted parakeet. Exotic birds( eg finche and blackbirds) are also common, particularly at bush edge.

Ungulates observed in the nearby vicinity include goat, pig and red deer. Pig rooting suggests regular use of the forest on the property but mainly on the eastern ridge. Deer tracts are seen infrequently. Local hunters appear to shoot the area regularly. Possums are present as witnessed by fecal droppings and damage to exotic hardwoods in the plantation area.

Control of introduced animals numbers will be part of the active forest management of the property.

Access to and within forest

The northern and western boundary of the property is set by the public road from the Maruia saddle to Murchison. There is ready forest access from this road at three points on the northern boundary.

Within the forest, four wheel drive access exists throughout the plantation area of compartments. The spur tract between Stainart and Blackwood plantation compartments leads into the Terrace Block beech compartment ( refer appended forest topo map – Appendix 7 ). This track has been recently extended about 400m into the Terrace block at a width of 600mm with plans to extend to the southern end of the block. This track will also be expanded to at most 1200mm width without removing any trees as much as possible and partly graded and stabilized with the use of the locally available native blue mudstone to accommodate the width of an ATV. The ATV will eventually be used to bring a portable saw mill as close as possible to the logs, with final placement done by hand for any planned harvest. No heavy machinery is planned to be used and logs will be milled on site and only cut timber will be extracted.