Forestry

BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations

The BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations represents the government in the forest industry as well as within the BC Jobs Plan. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations has been focusing on diversifying the industry’s markets since 2003, and it has paid dividends. Since 2003, wood exports to China have increased from $69 million to $687 million per year.

In April 2012, Steve Thomson, the Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, introduced the new Forest Sector Strategy for British Columbia. The strategy is focused on six different areas: a commitment to using wood first; growing trees, sequestering carbon, and ensuring that land is available from which to derive a range of forest products; creating a globally competitive, market-based operating climate; embracing innovation and diversification; supporting prosperous rural forest economies; and First Nations becoming partners in forestry.

The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations website provides links to a wide range of industry related government websites.  Additionally, there is information for potential investors, including authorizations, licensing, permitting, contract bids, and job applications on the website.

• BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations

The Nadina, Skeena Stikine, Coast Mountain, and Haida Gwaii Forest Districts cover BC’s Northwest Region.  These sites provide maps of the district, information about personal tree cutting, fire information and forestry road updates. For potential investors there is also district contact information, contract opportunities and a link to the Forest & Range Practices Act.

The Land and Resource Data Warehouse is a government run website. The purpose is to provide corporations a repository for integrated land, resource and geographic data.

BC Timber Sales

BC Timber Sales was founded in 2003 with a mandate to provide the cost and price benchmarks for timber harvested from public land in British Columbia. Through 12 Business Areas and an operational presence in 33 locations, BC Timber Sales manages roughly 20 percent of the provincial Crown allowable annual cut. In its first five years, they offered more than 73 million cubic metres of timber to the market, sold 63 million cubic metres and generated $430 million in net revenue for the Province.

The BC Timber Sales’ commitment to the safety of all people affected by its operations – employees, contractors, licensees and the public – is demonstrated by achievement of SAFE Company certification in August 2008. Starting in 2009, BC Timber Sales requires SAFE Company certification for all parties employing workers on Timber Sales Licenses or bidding on contracts with BC Timber Sales.

Sound forest management is a high priority for British Columbians and central to the BC Timber Sales mandate. BC Timber Sales is the largest tree planter in British Columbia, with 199 million tree seedlings planted in its first five years. The commitment to forest management excellence includes achieving and maintaining certification of an Environmental Management System in all Business Areas under the International Organization for Standardization and achieving Sustainable Forest Management certification over three-quarters of its operating areas. 

The BC Timber Sales website provides information about their business plan and performance, and access to documents, forms and other materials for clients and program registrants. 

www.for.gov.bc.ca/bcts

Western Silvicultural Contractors’ Association

Since 1984 the Western Silvicultural Contractors’ Association has represented the silvicultural contracting industry to both federal and provincial governments on forest policy, industry regulation, and health and safety. The organization’s members include treeplanting, stand tending, wildfire fighting, site preparation and ecosystem restoration contractors. The silvicultural industry comprises approximately 10,000 seasonal workers and generates $500 million annually in economic activity in Western Canada. In 2002 the industry planted its 5 billionth tree in British Columbia. More than 2000 contract wildfire fighters fought fires in B.C. and Alberta during 2003.

The Western Silvicultural Contractors’ Association is focused on four major themes: growing healthy, ecologically diverse forests, working for a future with a sustainable planet, building a balanced, enduring forest economy, and ensuring safe conditions for silviculture workers.

The Western Silvicultural Contractors’ Association website provides information about safety regulations, conferences, news updates, and links to industry resources.

http://wsca.smartt.com

Northwest BC Forest Coalition

The Northwest BC Forest Coalition is making a Request For Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for natural resource investment into Northwest British Columbia's forest economy. The Coalition’s members are making 2,700,000 cubic metres of presently uncommitted annual timber harvest volume available to support long term wood fibre requirements of forest industry proponents.

The Northwest is a zone ripe with economic opportunity bolstered by support from Federal, Provincial, and municipal governments. With distinct advantages in: geography, industrial infrastructure, deep water ports and a highly experienced professional and technical labour force particularly in the logging industry; the region is ideally positioned for sawmill, pulp and/or paper mill, pellet mill or other wood processing investment.

The Coalition is committed to connecting interested industrial parties with timber tenure holders in order to develop sustainable relationships that will be beneficial to investors, stakeholders, and communities.

Interested parties are invited to visit the contact section to initiate communications.

http://www.nwbc-forestcoalition.org/

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.

West Fraser owns and operates Houston Forest Products in Houston and Pacific Inland Resources in Smithers.

West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. is an integrated forest products company producing lumber, wood chips, fibreboard, plywood, pulp, and newsprint. Today, the company carries on its operations through subsidiary companies and joint ventures owned directly or indirectly by the company’s principal operating subsidiary West Fraser Mills.

West Fraser has 16 operations in British Columbia, 11 in Alberta, and 15 spread across Southern USA, and the majority of West Fraser’s lumber production is sold in the North American markets.

Fraser Lake Sawmills is capable of producing J-Grade, Export Hiline and North American Hiline lumber. All variations of available West Fraser lumber are produced in Canadian mills except for SYP lumber, which is produced in the American sites. West Fraser produces a variety of softwood lumber products which are sold into the North American and export markets. All lumber is graded in compliance with the NLGA (National Lumber Grades Authority) and the NGR (National Grading Rules) which are accredited by the ALS (American Lumber Standard) and CLS (Canadian Lumber Standard).  Each piece of lumber is grade stamped showing the grade of lumber, the dryness, the mills designated number, and the accredited agency.

West Fraser’s website provides detailed information about the company’s history, their product line, operations, and up-to-date investor information.

Career opportunities at West Fraser are found on their Jobs page.

http://www.westfraser.com/

Abfam Enterprises

Abfam Enterprises owns and operates the Abfam Sawmill in Port Clements.

Abfam Enterprises operates a custom cut sawmill in Port Clements. The focus of Abfam is in custom cuts; as such they have the ability to supply their customers with kiln dried lumber to custom specifications with a variety of species. Abfam produces cuts of western red cedar, yellow cedar, hemlock, spruce, alder and pine.

Abfam Enterprises’ website has up-to-date information on current log inventory, pricing, and contact details.

http://www.abfam.ca

Hampton Affiliates

Hampton Affiliates owns Decker Lake Forest Products in Burns Lake.

Hampton Affiliates is a lumber products company with seven sawmill operations spread across British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon. Hampton manages approximately nearly 300,000 acres of publicly owned forest land in British Columbia., and owns nearly 100,000 acres in the USA. Hampton Affiliates sells more than 3.5 billion board feet of lumber every year.

Softwood remanufacturing is another skillset of Hampton Affiliates. Services include custom drying packaging and surfacing, pattern work, resawing and ripping, merchandising lengths, paperwrapping, barcoding, and stenciling. Additioanlly, Hampton Affliaites remanufacture to custom specifications and they also deliver the final product to a given location.

Decker Lake Forest Products yields eighty-five million board feet of western SPF lumber. The mill produces studs, timbers, framing lumber, treated poles and decking in select dimensions including, 2x4 to 2x10 (8’ to 16’ long), 4x4 and 4x6, 6” rough/S4S and 5/4”x4-6”. Additionally, Decker Lake Forest Products also can cut export metric sizes of lumber.

Hampton Affiliates’ website features information regarding their sales, mills, and transportation divisions.

Those interested in pursuing a career with Hampton Affiliates can visit their jobs page. 
 
http://www.hamptonaffiliates.com/

Just Cut It Sawmilling

Just Cut It Sawmilling is a privately run sawmill in Terrace.

Based in Terrace, Just Cut It Sawmilling is a small sawmill that specializes in custom cuts of cedar, hemlock and cypress. Just Cut It Sawmilling separates itself from its competitors as they offer portable milling and a construction team for project assembly. Additionally, they are flexible on pricing, and can offer substantial discounts for wholesale truckloads of lumber.

Just Cut It Sawmilling offers a wide range of sizes of lumber. Sizes are available from 1x4 to 12x12 and anywhere in between. Lengths are available anywhere from 8ft to 32ft.

The Just Cut It Sawmilling website features a gallery of lumber products cut by the sawmill and completed projects built by their team. There is also a price list on the website, with detailed pricing information for every size of lumber they offer.

http://www.justcutit.ca/