Milling native timber without consent has earned a Raetihi man and business a $15,000 fine.
Sawmiller Max Cody and his business Timber and Stone Ltd were also ordered to pay $6000 in costs when sentenced at the Ohakune District Court last week for illegally milling and transporting tawa.
The Ministry for Primary Industries said the charges followed information received that tawa trees had been taken from Waimarino Forest near Raetihi.
An investigation identified Cody, a previously registered sawmiller, and a search at his property located a sawmill in a shed, about 4cu m of tawa, and the remnants of a sawmilling operation in a paddock. The search also revealed evidence Cody had already sold about 8.7cu m of tawa to an Auckland timber merchant. That was later seized.
The ministry will work to have the timber returned to the landowners.