Arrow creating wood chips at its yard on Mission Flats Road (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

B.C. FOREST INDUSTRY

Funding to produce more wood fibre helping Kamloops forest companies in challenging times

Jan 23, 2020 | 4:32 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s been a tough year for the forest sector in B.C. Shutdowns and curtailments of sawmills in the Interior and across the province has put thousands of people out of work.

The closure of mills has led to a significant reduction in the amount of wood chips and fibre available in local forests.

However, there is hope amid the downturn that’s devastating the province. The Forest Enhancement Society of BC is providing millions of dollars of funding, through the B.C. government, to three local operations: Arrow Reload, Domtar and Westwood Fibre Resources.

Arrow is the recipient of three funded projects, allowing the company to bring in more unusable logs to chip and increase production.

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“With the closure of Canfor in Vavenby and West Fraser in Chasm, we lost a lot of trucking,” noted Gayfer. “Domtar lost the residual chips, so this funding has helped us double production in this facility and provide the chips that Domtar lost. It’ll keep Domtar going and everyone healthy.”

The funding, in Arrow’s case, helps with the cost of hauling logs that exceed six hours of travel. They are logs that cannot be turned into lumber and would otherwise be burned in the forest.

Since 2016, the society has provided $233 million in funding to companies across the province. The overall goal is to provide more employment and improve climate change.

“[Forest companies] utilize their quotas that they’re allowed to utilize and they leave behind the rest,” said operations manager of the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. David Conly. “What we’re picking up is the rest. We’re unfortunately not able to get it all, but we’re able to get a significant portion of it.”

During its first year of the project, Arrow has brought in 87,000 cubic metres of logs. It’s amounted to 1,500 loads.

“For employment, that’s 1,000 truck driver days. For this place here, it allows us to put on a third shift, seven days a week,” noted Gayfer.

Domtar’s project, which is expected to launch in April, will see wood fibre ground down and turned into hog fuel. It is used in the energy plant and excess energy is sold to BC Hydro.

The third company benefitting from funding is Westwood Fibre Resources. It plans to haul 325,000 cubic metres of logs over the next four years. It will mainly be taking the tops of trees that are left behind.

“It was something we were already doing at log yards in Princeton and Okanagan Falls, bringing in tops from the bush that would otherwise go into burn piles. This program came around and it gave us the opportunity to reach out a further distance from the log yard and the chipping operation to bring that extra volume in that would otherwise not be brought in,” said President of Westwood Fibre Resource Jim Thrower.

The utilization of fibre from the forests is in its early stages. The Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. says these projects in Kamloops and elsewhere around the province will only grow into the future.