PF Olsen exceeded expectations protecting historic
An archaeological assessment is required when historic sites or wahi tapu could potentially be modified or damaged by operations. In this case three features were identified during the assessment (two water races associated with past mining activities and the site of the Rasmussen homestead) and an Authority was granted based on minimising their disturbance.
Deb Foster, an archaeological consult, had this to say in her post-harvest report on Authority 2018/502 (on behalf of Heritage New Zealand): "PF Olsen has a robust environmental protocol which includes identifying archaeological sites with distinctive yellow triangular markers and tape. The triangles are placed on standing trees around the perimeter of the features to alert the contractors to leave those stumps high, so the trees do not fall across the sites."
"All the conditions of the Authority were met, and in fact, the outcomes exceeded expectations. All the extant features of the Rasmussen house site, including the post and wire fence, were left in the same state as they were prior to harvest.
"The contractors, Chamois Logging, (Nigel Bryant Ltd), were particularly fussy about avoiding damaging the sites and approached the removal of trees as a challenge, taking pride in achieving the best outcome where it would have been far easier to claim destruction of the sites as inevitable collateral damage."
A buffer zone will be left around the recorded sites in respect to replanting the area.
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