Contents:
Happy New Year to all our readers.
Sparrowhawk Bivouac – Renovation Help
Iron Gate Hut – WoW
Rodent Control Results
Ruahine User Group. October 2019 Minutes
Sparrowhawk Bivouac: Help needed for renovations Update on details below.
Sparrowhawk Biv, nestled in the bush
Rob Brown confirms that this is still on. See his reply below to our request for an update :
Just letting you know we are looking at the end of Feb for this one.
Would look to try and go in over the weather weekend of 21-24 of Feb but obviously much will be dependent on weather and it would be useful if people are flexible.
I will have through till about the 28th to get the job done.
We will need a good 4-5 days on site.
Most of the biv will get dismantled and rebuilt with a new floor in the extension and we will reclad the small biv it is attached to and line this and put a new window in, but depends on the inspection first which I will do in early Feb.
Let me know if you are still keen and want to programme in this provisional date.
Cheers, Rob
Julia Mackie will be coordinating this effort to help save the biv, so please contact her if you would like to help. Any NTC members or other interested persons can get in touch with her at julia@napiertrampingclub.org.nz
Iron Gate Hut
Kia Ora RUG,
We are pleased to announce that the New Iron Gate Hut is now open for use.
After the degradation of the previous hut, DOC worked alongside the NZDF, Community and the RUG to work through a concept for a new hut.
Members from the RUG and community got together to discuss the new hut layout, colour selection and options for the site orientation.
The Royal New Zealand Engineers unit of 25 Engineer Support Squadron from New Zealand Defence Force eagerly took on the work of constructing the Hut. The team were in there for around 8 weeks in an abundance of weather from October to December. Most of their time was spent living in tents on the site. This was a huge effort from the Engineer team and a great result. The team on the ground always had a smile on their faces and were professional to work with.
The Department Of Conservation is immensely thankful for the contribution from NZDF and the work the Engineer Squadron. This was a large factor in the success of the project.
We are also thankful to the adjacent landowners Chris Drew and Janet Wilson that offered their land to fly the materials from.
I also want to mention the efforts and thank the DOC team that were part of the project. The team worked some long hours with many early morning starts to make best use of weather windows.
The hut and site do have some finishing touches for DOC to tidy up before we call the project to an end. This is plotted for early in the new year when we return back to work.
Enjoy your Xmas and please head out and enjoy our latest addition to the Ruahine Hut network.
Regards
Shaun Ruddle
Five club members visited the new hut in Jan 2020.
Pest Control Ruahine Ranges – Results from November 2019 Operation
Hi all,
The post operational rodent monitor was completed in December, 3 weeks after the completion of the operation. Rat and mouse indices were reduced from their pre operational levels of 74% and 62% respectively to 8.1% and 11.9% post operation.
Up to date information on the status of this operation can be found at:
www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/pesticide-summaries/
Thanks
Pete Bird
Ranger Biodiversity- Operations
Department of Conservation
Palmerston North Office
Ruahine User Group: Minutes of October 2019 Meeting
See attached for the minutes of this meeting, received on December 18 2019. . Julia had sent her apologies but they were not noted. RUG minutes October 2019. The next RUG meeting is Feb 24th, 2020, to be held in Dannevirke.
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