Logging is tough, dangerous work. Have an off day in the bush with a chainsaw and the consequences can be fatal. Bay of Plenty forestry contractor Danny Arbuckle says each day he and his workers are faced with a stark choice.You either go home in the van at the end of the day or you don't. It's that simple. You have to stay focused all the time. This episode of Country Calendar gives a rare insight into the logging gangs that harvest the close to two million hectares of forestry plantations scattered through New Zealand. Since restructuring in the 1980s, ownership of many large exotic forests has shifted into foreign hands. But it is still local men and women who have the job of harvesting the crop. Danny, who grew up in Tokoroa, was attracted to the industry as a youngster because the bushmen held a certain mystique. They were hard tough men. That was what it was all about for me in those days. He started out as a skiddie or skid site worker. Twenty years on, he and wife Janine run two hauler crews in the massive forests that spread out in a green patchwork south of their Whakatane base. Forestry features high in workplace accident statistics. Last year there were four deaths and around 160 serious injuries in New Zealand forests. So Danny has made safety a big focus. His crews have scored well in the Top Spot competition, which rates crews throughout the country on safety, skill and ability. In 2008 Crew 25 picked up the top national award and last year Crew 86 was best in the region. The two crews also scripted, acted and produced their own video dealing with safety in the bush. That initiative earned them a Workplace Health and Safety award in 2007. Danny says the modern bushmen and women are lot more professional that those of the past. All of his crews have to be trained and rated for the equipment they are using - be it a chainsaw or a 60 tonne hauler. Danny says he and wife Janine have enjoyed the lifestyle of the logging contractor but say it isn't for the faint hearted. The couple have three children but aren't sure if they would encourage them into the business. Danny points to a big investment in expensive forestry machinery that means he has to keep his crews working. That hasn't always been possible during some recent lows in the industry. It's not been easy. There are huge costs and the risks are high. Each year we get to the end of the year; pat ourselves on the back and say well done. www.tvnz.co.nz (09/07/2010)