Earning their reputation again

Farmers complain about the rest of New Zealand thinking they're environmental vandals. And then they do stuff like this:

A farmer in Maruia, on the South Island's West Coast, is threatening to burn 80ha of native bush on his property and turn it into pasture in a bid to raise its value and save his farm.

The land is likely to be classed as a significant natural area (SNA) under new biodiversity rules in regional and district plans.

[...]

"If I have to, I'll burn it now to save my farm. I've got a valuer coming out this week, and if they don't value it the same as the rest of the farm, I'll have to look at getting rid of most of it, just to get our equity up."

With attitudes like this, it seems like that reputation is well-earned, and the industry needs tighter regulation to prevent it from behaving in this manner.