Interior towns fighting for future out of forestry’s downturn

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December 11, 2019
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From Derrick Penner of the Vancouver Sun:

There are hints of better news for a couple of communities mired in the downturn of B.C.’s forestry sector that have allowed one mill to recall workers and another town to see a future beyond a mill closure.

Aspen Planers in Merritt was able to secure enough new timber to add a second shift to its operations, at least temporarily, creating work for 50 people, primarily those who were laid off when the company cut a shift last May.

“It was nice to hear they’re going back to work,” said Merritt Mayor Linda Brown. “At least, even in the short term, just before Christmas, there are 50 more employees in town having paycheques. It was a good thing.”

The timber came from clearing work that is part of a forest fire mitigation program, said Ravi Kahlon, the MLA for Delta North and parliamentary secretary for Forest Minister Doug Donaldson.

“I would love to find a solution like this for every community,” Kahlon said. “Unfortunately it is not available for every community, but we were fortunate to support (Aspen Planers).”

And rates for stumpage, the fees that forestry firms are charged for the rights to cut timber on Crown land have started to adjust downward, Kahlon added, which is another hopeful sign.

Stumpage rates are calculated using a complicated formula based on the market price for lumber and Kahlon said they fell 12 per cent on average in the province’s interior at their last reset and 24 per cent on the coast.

“So stumpage prices are coming down, obviously reflecting where markets are at,” Kahlon said.

Still, the province estimates 5,100 workers remain out of work or on reduced schedules across the province, according to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.

In total, five sawmills have closed permanently, another four are on indefinite hiatus and as of Nov. 29, nine more were on curtailment.