Tags
29 March 2023, 3:45 PM
Horizons Regional Council wishes the best to environmental management officer Dave Alker, who is retiring this week after 32 years of service.
Dave started at Horizons in 1991 as a pest animals officer, later becoming a supervisor of the team in 1993, and finally moving to the pest plant team in 2003. It was here that Dave found his calling and was a trailblazer in controlling invasive weed species in the Taumarunui area. Dave’s manager, environmental coordinator for pest plants Michael Beech, says that Dave’s pest plant control work in the region has been monumental. “In 2007 Dave was a founding member of the Tutsan Action Group which aimed to control the spread of the invasive weed in Taumarunui. The group included Horizons, local farmers, Department of Conservation and Manaaki Whenua Landcare investigating the potential of using biocontrol agents to control tutsan,” says Mr Beech. “Dave was highly involved in the committee’s success in releasing two agents to fight the spread of tutsan in the Taumarunui area in 2017. Tutsan is a threat to farming because it invades pastures and shades out native fauna. “Dave’s dogged determination and positive approach to getting out there and doing the hard yards in those steep blackberry-filled gullies has been second to none and will be sorely missed.” Mr Beech says one of Dave’s greatest accomplishments was successfully managing the infestation of alligator weed at Taumarunui’s oxidation ponds. “Alligator weed is one of the world’s most damaging invasive plants because it smothers native aquatics and blocks waterways - controlling its spread in our region is difficult but incredibly important. “Dave’s last day at Horizons is Thursday 30 March. He looks forward to doing lots of fishing, some casual farm work on farms he has previously worked with while at Horizons, and spending time with his grandkids. “We wish him all the best in his retirement,” says Mr Beech. Image: Dave (left) with the Chair of the Tutsan Action Group, Graeme Wheeler.