They were planted initially to stop hillside erosion and then they were seen as a way of bankrolling the city's costly wastewater treatment scheme but either way trees harvested in a joint Wanganui local body forestry enterprise has earned $11.6 million in the past 15 years.
Those figures are the latest available from the forestry holdings of which the Wanganui District Council holds 97 per cent. Ruapehu and South Taranaki district councils hold the remaining 3 per cent.
The Wanganui council's original involvement in forestry was with Wanganui County Council's plantings at Kaiwhaiki and Wanganui City Council's at Waitahinga.
Kaiwhaiki was planted under a lease agreement with the Kaiwhaiki Land Trust to stabilise a steep river face that was badly eroding. The Waitahinga afforestation was on farmland to protect water quality and quantity in the headwaters of the Okehu Stream, then the source of Wanganui's water supply.
The changing local authority landscape brought in another aspect in 1978 and under the auspices of the Wanganui United Council. This council had regional responsibilities for planning and Civil Defence, and many local authorities worked in unison to promote forestry as the best and most suitable use on steep, highly erodible, weed-infested land.
Councillor Nicki Higgie chairs the council's joint forestry committee and she said the main drivers for the then-Wanganui City Council was the impending costs of the city's wastewater scheme.
"The councillors saw it as an opportunity to gain government funds through the Forest Encouragement Loan scheme which allowed a loan of up to $1200 per hectare at 4.5 per cent interest until the trees were harvested," Mrs Higgie said.
Those initial parties to the agreement were the Wanganui City Council, Waitotara, Wanganui, Waimarino and Rangitikei county councils, along with the Raetihi, Ohakune, Taihape and Patea borough councils, and the Rangitikei Wanganui Catchment Board.
The major players for Wanganui City Council in the early stages were Mayor Ron Russell, the city's chief planner, Ted Fox, and Ian Moore for the Catchment Board. Mr Moore dealt with the practical side of the enterprise including finding suitable land, the subsequent purchase of properties and their development from dense gorse and erosion into productive forestry land.
But after further local government reforms of 1991 and a series of amalgamations, several smaller holdings, such as the coastal soil conservation forest at Nukumaru, were melded into one management structure. That 43ha forest at Nukumaru was previously part of a huge area of exposed sand country.
Mrs Higgie said apart from the land use initiatives, there was a high component of encouraging employment and many schemes were used ranging from the PEP scheme through to becoming NZQA registered.
"Many years were spent training forestry workers, many who are still employed locally in the harvesting of the district's forests today," she said.
The Wanganui council also played a pivotal role in helping set up the Rural Fire District where a combined unit of various for district now collectively deal with rural fires.
The forest estate covers 1066ha and consists mainly of pinus radiata but there are small areas of macrocarpa, eucalyptus and acacia.
Rowan McGregor, the council's property manager, told the Chronicle that as at June 30, 2011, the tree crop in the forests was worth $3.9 million and the land valued at just under $3 million.
In terms of current harvesting operations there was 200ha in the Tauwhare forest that was being completed as well as the salvage operation at Nukumaru Domain Board land which suffered severe wind damage in early March.
"The domain board land is government owned and any revenue has to be used solely for recreational purposes. Our council is currently exploring opportunities to open up new access to the coast through these lands," he said.
The next forest coming on stream is the 120ha McNab Forest on the Paraparas and harvesting was expected to start in 2014.
Then there's the vexing question about carbon credits in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Mr McGregor said the district council embarked on registering its pre-1990 forests for carbon credits, with the first allocation received in October 2011. Some forests have still not been completed because of inconsistencies with titles.
"The peak of prices for credits before our council received its first allocation was $20 per tonne but that had collapsed since then down to $6.50.
"No credits have been sold and there is concern that the Government is trying to renege on its second allocation due early next year," he said.
In the meantime, the council has agreed to examine the possibility of selling a proportion of the ETS units should they get back to $15. To that end it had sought professional advice on the issues driving the ETS market and was prepared to take a medium-term position to the sale of the units.
"We're also looking at the possibility of using the credits to help attract new business to Wanganui or to lease them," he said.
As to the future involvement in forestry, Mrs Higgie said the council had looked at extending its area of special-purpose trees but was limited by the fragility of the soils and complexity of scrubweeds.
"At this point there is no intention to extend the forest holdings but opportunities are constantly monitored."
She said that might even see a recommendation going to council "should an attractive offer to purchase the entire portfolio be received from the market place," Mrs Higgie said.