Over the Fence

Pre circa 1200 Before the Polynesian migration New Zealand was the only significant land mass (the Antarctica apart) that was in a truly virgin ecological state unmodified by man or any other exotic flora or fauna.

13th Century Maori arrive in locality introducing the rat (kiore) and dog (kuri), subsequently hunt moa and other species to extinction and fired large tracts of land.

15th and 16th Centuries (mainly) Maori, by design or accident, burn vast areas of Hawkes Bay (and other regions), destroying the mature bush cover. This began the process of slow regeneration, or in the drier areas, conversion to native grass lands.

1773 Captain James Cook in the Resolution on his second voyage hoves to off Pourerere to receive Maoris on board and present them seeds, fowl and pigs. Not sure about the seeds and fowl, but the pigs seem to have coped.

1820-30s Whalers and sealers introduce steel digging and cutting tools to Maori and introduce exotic plants and animals. Norway and black rats arrive.

1840s Frederick Sturm and William Colenso introduce fruit trees to H B

1844 William Colenso brings several head of cattle to his mission station at Waitangi, the first recorded introductions to H B

1849 3000 Merino sheep arrive at Pourerere, Hawkes Bay’s first pastoral run.

1851 Donald McLean purchases the Waipukurau, Ahuriri and Mohaka blocks for the Crown, making the bulk of the future province available for settlement.

1854 Fred Chapman of Edenham Station (Elsthorpe District) plants out gorse (recorded in his diary). Is this the first gorse in Hawkes Bay?

1858 Hawkes Bay Provincial District established.
1858. Land owners meet in Napier’s Royal Hotel (now the Royal Tavern) and form a graziers Association, the forerunner of the Hawkes Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society.

Early 1860s Rabbits first seen in the southern part of the Province in the 1860s.

1860s Most of the open and drier land now under extensive sheep grazing

1867 Flood alters course of Ngaruroro River away from present course of the Karamu Stream, but east of Fernhill. Provincial Council passes “Thistle Act”, probably the first case of the compulsory control of weeds in H B.

1868 H B Acclimatisation Society formed. Some animal introductions subsequently become pests. First artesian bore sunk on Heretaunga Plains – and with a good head no doubt.

1870 Hawkes Bay’s first saw mill operated by Cashmore, near Clive.

1874 The Queen Bee arrives in Napier from Britain with 650 birds of various species, organised by the H B Acclimatisation Society to ‘remind the settlers of home’.

1876 Provinces disbanded and replaced by Counties, which subsequently become responsible for weed control.

1880 First Red Deer introduced to H B, at Matapiro Station by W. Shrimpton, but Guthrie Smith sighted one as early as 1868, presumably that had made its way north from a Wairarapa liberation five years previously.

1884 First North Island export of frozen meat from Tomoana through the Port of Napier. This opens up new prospects for meat and dairy industry and the wholesale clearance of bush and the drainage of land throughout the region. Huge bush fires along 70 mile bush.

1886 Waipawa River diverted into the Tukituki, thus enabling the draining and Lake Roto-a-tara and reduction in the periodic inundation of surrounding land at Pukehou.

1887 Hawkes Bay Rabbit Board established (N Z’s first). But rabbits first seen in the southern part of the Province in the 1860s.

1894 Liberal Government passes the Lands for Settlement Act, leading the breaking up of many large pastoral runs into family farms. This transformed the social and visual landscape of much of H B.

1897 Flood alters course of Ngaruroro west of Fernhill.

1900 Noxious Weeds Act passed.

1910 Hawkes Bay Rivers Board formed.

1914 National records show that the Hawkes Bay Land District contains a quarter of the national sheep flock

1914/15 Arguably Hawkes Bay’s worst drought

1920 State Forest Service formed

1921 Tutira by Herbert Guthrie Smith published. Subsequent editions in 1926 and 1939.

1923 Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society established.

1924 Devastating flood in mid H B. A meter of rain recorded at Puketitiri.

1926 Large plantation forest established by Chambers at Woekoau, the first in Hawkes Bay. Species include radiata, redwood and douglas fir.

1929 Lake Waikaremoana hydro power scheme (first stage) completed, involving the downwards stabilisation of Lake level.

1930 First season when a license is not required to shoot red deer

1931 Hawkes Bay Earthquake devastating the centres of Napier and Hastings and causing 256 deaths. Two meter up-thrust drains much of the Ahuriri Lagoon, and subsequent drainage by government largely completes the process, allowing the farming of several thousand of acres which hitherto didn’t exist. Napier has since expanded over much of the area. Severe drought

1934 James Wattie establishes J Wattie Canneries, thereby profoundly changing land use on the Heretaunga Plains and later other productive flat land.
1930s Railway works its way north of Napier towards Wairoa. Guthrie Smith records how river gravel used in its construction was a primary source of weed infestation. This was an effect of other rail and road construction throughout the region’s history.

1936 Tutaekuri River diverted away from Inner Harbour to discharge at Awatoto. First open season on possums. (A permit needed hitherto.) First D2 diesel crawler tractor introduced to Hawkes Bay, heralding a new era in crawler tractor technology that was to lead to major land development and hill country improvement through the use of bulldozers, root rakes and giant discs, although it was not until after WW2 that this was able to be fully realised. Also track-laying tractors greatly hastened the development of swamp land.
Late 1930s Heavy earthmoving equipment imported, leading to mechanisation of land clearance, farm dam construction and road development, especially after WW2.
1938 ANZAC Day storm devastates hill country north of Napier and leads to pressure on Government to implement legislation aimed at mitigation.

1939-45 World War Two. Manpower shortage causes increase in rabbit and weed infestations.

1941 Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act passed.

1943c Merrick Williams of Ngahere Station, Omakere, pioneers over-paddock planting of poplars for soil conservation. This later becomes a primary policy of the Catchment Board and its successor, the Regional Council.

1944 Hawkes Bay Catchment Board formed. First State Forest plantings (at Gwavas).

1945c Hormone weedicides became available, enabling the economic and practical control of weeds like thistles, gorse and blackberry.

1946-7 Major drought, leading to serious fires in the western mountain foothills.

1950c Electric fences begin to be used on dairy and later sheep farms. As technology improves they provide an effective means of excluding stock, especially cattle, from water ways and conservation areas. Introduction of aerial topdressing of hill country. Not only does this lead to substantial increases in production but stronger ‘English’ pastures reduce the occurrence of surface erosion.

1953 Flood in eastern Central Hawkes Bay causes widespread erosion and stock loses.

1953 East Coast Farmers Fertilizer Ltd open fertilizer plant at Awatoto, thereby, with the development of aerial topdressing and good prices, enabling the widespread improvement of Hawkes Bay’s pastures and consequent increase in stock numbers.
Early 1950s Catchment Board begins soil conservation plantings and construction of substantial stop banks along rivers using heavy earthmoving equipment.

1955 First use of a helicopter in agricultural work, a Hiller 12B.
Mid 1950s Polythene developed, enabling the economic distribution of water over farms and orchards. A consequence of this is the development of efficient technology to irrigate orchards/vineyards. Polythene also has played a major role in electric fence technology.

1950s-1970s Sustained period of good farm produce prices leads to widespread land development.

1956 H B Branch of the Farm Forestry Association established.

1959 Agricultural Chemicals Act passed, leading to restrictions and/or banning of chemicals such as Dieldren and DDT.

1961 Urewera National Park gazetted. Extremely wet winter followed by severe drought.

1963 Queen’s Birthday weekend flood in mid H B.

Mid 1960s 1080 poison first used to control possums in H B.

1966 Aerial seeding of pinus contorta on eroding mountain lands after initial trials prove adaptability of the species under severe semi alpine conditions. Later the species becomes a conservation land weed.

1969 Ngaruroro River diverted away from what became known as the Clive River (lower Karamu Stream) to a common mouth with the Tutaekuri.

1970c Consents required for irrigation water takes introduced by Catchment Board

1970-72 Manapouri debate and subsequent Lake protection symbolises the rise in nation-wide popular environmental ethic.

Early 1970s Substantial waste water treatment upgrades by urban authorities.

1970s New technologies in pasture and crop irrigation developed through travelling irrigators, leading to on-going increases in irrigation. This is especially the case in the early 2000s with the development of centre pivot irrigators.

1973 Pan Pac mill opened at Whirinaki.

1973 Severe drought. Hawkes Bay records its hottest day on February 7th.

1974 Poplar rust arrives in Hawkes Bay causing a hiatus in conservation planting using this genus pending the development of suitable rust-resistant varieties. To a large extent willows substituted.

1974 Major flooding in Hawkes bay, including sea inundation at East Clive

1977 Queen Elizabeth II National Trust formed to commemorate the Queens Silver Jubilee. Its mission is to assist landowners to legally and physically protect biodiversity on private land.

1983 Severe drought. Lake Hatuma completely dries up

1985 Fourth Labour Government stops land development and other farmer assistance introduced by previous National Government.

1987 Department of Conservation formed by Fourth Labour Government.

1988 Cyclone Bola hits Northern Hawkes Bay and Gisborne Districts, leading to an upsurge in tree planting on hill country.

1989 Omaranui landfill developed, enabling the closing of the Roys Hill dump.

1989 Hawkes Bay Regional Council formed, being primarily responsible the protection of soil, water, air, and biosecurity within the Region. A mandatory Maori Committee represents Maori environmental values.

1991 Resource Management Act passed.

1992 Hastings District Council declines an application to extract shingle over a substantial area in the vicinity of Roys Hill, now under viticulture. Major flood in Central H B causing record levels in the Tukituki.

1993 Regional Council initiates Landcare Scheme to assist private land owners. First Regional Coastal Plan. Te Angiangi Marine Reserve (CHB coast) gazetted.

1994 Forestry Amendment Act No 2 severely controls logging of native trees on private land.

1995 H B Environmental Awards inaugurated.

1997 Labour weekend flood cause severe erosion in the Nuhaka district. Development of Pakowhai Country Park by Regional Council and Landcare Foundation begins, capitalising on planting initiatives undertaken by Dr Michael Bostock and others in the early 1970s.

1998 Regional Council initiates wetland restoration programme, beginning with Pekapeka Swamp.

2000 Regional Council acquires Guthrie Smith Trust land east of Lake Tutira and develops into a country park from which stock is excluded, thereby improving the quality of the Lake.

2001 Willow sawfly arrives, killing willows along river berms.
Mid 2000s Public pressure grows to protect quantity and quality of surface water in Hawkes Bay.
Mid 2000s Major programme to reduce possum numbers, driven largely by the threat of TB, leads to a revival of native bush health, and accordingly, native bird life.
Mid 2000s New cultivation techniques using chemical knockdown and direct drilling or strip tillage

2007 Predator-proof fence around Lake Opuahi, (Tutira district) opened.

2008 Storms seriously aggravate coastal erosion in sections of the southern Hawke Bay coast.

2009 Regional Council acquires property at Devil’s Elbow, Tutira district, to develop multi-species forestry on eroding hill country.
Regional Council Hearings Committee develops Air Plan changes to meet government-imposed standards.
Regional Council acquires properties in preparation to remove waste water from Waipukurau and Waipawa oxidation ponds rather than discharging into river system.

(If the reader spots mistakes or omissions then I would be grateful to hear from you. It involves a bit of recollection which I acknowledge is fallible. Email ewan-mac@xtra.co.nz)