Self Sufficiency in NB

[SwampDonkey]

Doesn't pertain to forestry directly, but part of it can include the forestry sector. So I put this link in the general board for any NB forum members to find and participate if they wish. This site is not well advertised to my knowledge. A 5 second blurb on CBC TV won't draw much attention I'm afraid.  :

Self Sufficiency Task Force - Forum

A couple of forum members, myself included have added comments. There may be others I have not recognized.

[slowzuki]

Some segments of their report bear heavily on the forest industry, promoting super mills etc.

[leweee]

SwampDonkey....Irving selling out ???

[SwampDonkey]

Slowzuki which one? I have all three reports and have been skimming through them with the search function of Adobe Reader and from what I can see: they want to reduce sawmill output with closures of older mills, upgrade newer mills with current technology to improve efficiency, take some of the forest out of ecological reserves (10 %) to increase wood supply, also increase the intensity of silviculture to increase wood supply, give industry exclusive access to biomass for energy production at their mills. Give the forest industry exclusive access and a guaranteed wood supply (same as they have now). The government recognized that some of those big sawmills need to close. We have four 200,000 + bf/shift sawmills within 20 miles (as the crow flies) of one another. Some of those mills are trucking raw wood from hundreds of miles away. Just so happens those four are sitting on the most productive area of the public forest. Two of those mills will likely close in the short term, but unfortunately one company will prevail, not the current two. : Frasers have restructured many times and are most likely soon going down for the final count. The biggest problem is (as always) they aren't allowing private forest land owners and operators in on the prosperity pipe dream.

[SwampDonkey]

lewee no. Didn't you know Irving was higher up the ladder than the premier? ;)

[leweee]

The biggest problem is (as always) they aren't allowing private forest land owners and operators in on the prosperity pipe dream.

Thanks for clearing that up. ;D I had thought the world had slipped off it's axises for a moment there.

[slowzuki]

I'll be honest I've only listened to the interviews with the task force after each release and one of the releases the chair was discuss what they mean by urbanization with respect to the forest industry.  They wanted better highways built so products could be transported farther to dedicated mills producing single products.  They wanted the mills located in urban centres to become the main mills so they could be close to population bases.

They wanted to increase production from these main mills.

To me this sounds a bit like a poor idea, I know the sawmill competition is going to kill some mills, but building mills located near urban centres bigger and transporting wood further doesn't help rural employment, doesn't reduce fuel consumption and means more large contractors doing the harvesting since they are more vertically integrated with transportation.
Ken

Slowzuki which one?

[SwampDonkey]

Ken, I agree that it isn't going to work. I was only reiterating some stuff I dug from the reports. But we do have a larger capacity to produce saw timber than is sustainable. They are suppose to be operating on 80 year time horizons and they are already trying to harvest saw material from 15 year old thinnings, which are around 35-40 years old, and 50 year old black spruce plantations. It's not working and they are still trying. No one can produce enough of that small stuff in a day to make it profitable and the % of waste is too high at the mill, where you cut 40-60 % of the log as slabs and sawdust and bark. Let the wood grow to over 14 inches before you try and make saw material.  And to thin some of those 40-60 year old stands for pulp, you need more $$ per volume if your going to sustain harvest contractors and do a proper job. Problem is we have an over abundance of pulpwood which is driving the price down and there is more potential biomass which is largely untapped. I read in some magazines that the supply of pulp is low to some mills and they have to import it. The only reason they have to import it, is because they can get it cheaper. It's not at all a reflection of what's available for market.

[Tim]

Self sufficiency of whom?

I didn't read the reports, I probably won't. I've seen a mess of initiatives conducted in this province and area that rarely help the people that it should.

Even then, if they (government) is offering help, do you really want it? One of the things that truely burn my britches here is the way that timber is allocated in this province. I can buy timber off crown cuts. It would take a staff of seven to deal with the bureacracy involved though to purchase a consistant amount if any in the end. Meanwhile what is being shipped to la belle province as white pine pulp to a mill owned buy an individual in Chicago, could provide a good living for a couple small sawmills here. Can't buy that though...

self sufficiency? Truly though, how many inovations are seen from the large or super mills are honestly seen when times get thin? When the softwood lumber agreement expired in 2000, why was there not a switch to the sale of prefab building components that did not carry duty? The inovations attempted, like predrilled studs, were quickly stricken down.

Personally, I'm going to continue with my small operation, that is vertically integrated. I certainly will not be seeking or accepting government participation in my well being, I don't want that extra work.

[slowzuki]

That sentence I think is needed to be addressed in the self sufficiency plan.  We are always going to have trees in NB despite what markets do and we are going to need to diversify demand for the supply.  I can't think of a better demand than biofuels.  Why not get our beloved NB Power in on it too, if Irving leads the pack we won't see the bulk of the benifits.

potential biomass which is largely untapped.

[SwampDonkey]

Self sufficiency of whom?

The province wants to reduce the reliance on transfer payments.

I've seen a mess of initiatives conducted in this province and area that rarely help the people that it should.

Agreed.

One of the things that truely burn my britches here is the way that timber is allocated in this province.

Most don't like the system here, but the corporations control it. Also, despite what those folks preach at the Forest Products Association, they are the only ones (the companies they represent) that are guaranteed a supply of wood. In fact their plans give them access to 25 years worth at a time. Woods contractors and some woodlot owners that produce forest products from private woodlots (producers) have to go knocking on doors and compete over the majority of their wood. Plus, they have to compete with cheep crown wood.