Three mills in North Central B.C. are cutting production by 40%.
 
Three sawmills in North Central B.C. are seeing significant curtailments.

Sinclar Group Forest Products Ltd. announced Thursday it is reducing production at its mills in Prince George, Vanderhoof and Fort St. James by 40 per cent effective Monday, Oct. 27.

That means 350 workers across the three plants will see their hours reduced.

“The significance of this action should not be underestimated,” said the company in a news release. “These production curtailments are equivalent to the closure of one full mill.”

The company blamed the closures on an “unsustainable provincial policy landscape and persistent uncertainty around fibre supply” and “deepening economic challenges.”

“All made worse by punitive duties and additional tariffs on Canadian lumber entering the United States.”

In response to the curtailments, president of the BC Council of Forest Industries Kim Haakstad said the federal government must make resolving the softwood lumber dispute a national priority.

“At the same time, the provincial government must act decisively to stabilize the sector in BC—ensuring mills stay open, people stay employed, and forestry continues to anchor rural, urban and First Nations communities across the province,” Haakstad said.

A crisis a long time coming
The contraction of the forestry sector in the region has been expected for at least a decade in the wake of the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

In 2004, the annual allowable cut in the Prince George timber supply area was 14.9 million cubic metres, a figure it peaked at while loggers rushed to harvest beetle-killed timber while it was still valuable. Prior to the epidemic, the annual allowable cut was 9.2 million cubic metres. It now sits at 6.9 million.

"The mountain pine beetle epidemic was an unprecedented event," said Dianne Nicholls, B.C. chief forester in 2017, when harvest levels for the next decade were being determined. "I am concerned regarding the possible risks to biodiversity and other non-timber values that have resulted from the infestation and from salvage harvesting of [beetle] impacted stands."

"As we reach the end of mountain pine beetle salvage harvesting, it is time to shift the stewardship focus to recovery and rehabilitation of non-timber values," Nicholls said

At the time, Nicholls mandated a phased decline to the annual allowable cut, keeping in mind the socio-economic impact a reduction in the cut would have on forestry communities. But, she noted that a significant and longterm reduction in harvesting levels was needed to "achieve timber supply sustainability."
     
Source: castanet.net