Public hearings getting underway for Pasquia Porcupine forest management area.  (file photo/paNOW)

By By Doug Lett

Public meetings on Pasquia FMA

Public meetings on Pasquia forest management plan to start this week

Oct 25, 2022 | 11:14 AM

You will soon get a chance to hear about harvesting and reforestation plans in the province’s northeast this week.

Public hearings are being held on the Pasquia Porcupine Forest Management Plan. The plan covers two million hectares of forest in northeast Saskatchewan. It’s one of six main FMA’s in the province that lay out how much timber forestry companies can cut and their requirements for doing reforestation after harvesting.

“Basically outlining some of the draft operating plans proposed for the 2023 operating year,” said Travis Hedger, with Edgewood Forest Products, which operates a sawmill at Carrot River. “Within that, there’s also some updates on other forest activities such as renewal, tree planting, forest management plans. It’s an opportunity for the public to attend and participate,” he said.

Hedger said for the 2023 operating year there is not much change.

“It’s pretty much a status quo,” he said.

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However, he said Edgewood has made some capital improvements and is working on adding another production line to its mill in Carrot River. The $100 million expansion was announced about a year ago by Dunkley Lumber, the parent company of Edgewood. So in future years, the company is going to need more timber to feed its increased production – although it’s not clear how much of that would come from the Pasquia FMA.

“That increase may not come from the Pasquia Porcupine FMA,” said Hedger. “The timber coming into the sawmill comes from a lot of different sources, the Pasquia Porcupine FMA is only one.”

While not much change is expected in the coming year, the FMA helps support two mills that provide hundreds of jobs. Hedger said around 150 people work at the sawmill in Carrot River, and another 100 work in harvesting timber for the mill. The lumber from the mill, like 2X4’s, is mostly sold in the United States.

According to Weyerhaeuser, 167 people work at it’s mill in Hudson Bay, while an additional 160 people work in harvesting and hauling. As well, 14 work in it’s Timberlands division, which handles forest management. The mill produces oriented strand board, or OSB. It’s a type of engineered wood similar to particle board and is used for sheathing, such as floors and walls.

Between the two of them, the companies harvest roughly 6,000 hectares of forest per year in the Pasquia Porcupine FMA, said Hedger.

Five public meetings are planned – on Oct. 25 in Porcupine Plain, Oct. 26 in Endeavor, and Oct. 27 in Tisdale, followed by meetings on Nov. 1 in Hudson Bay, and Nov. 2 in Carrot River. The meetings start at 7 pm.

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doug.lett@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @DougLettSK