Residents “hanging in” with mill closure
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FORT ST. JAMES – Residents of Fort St. James are in a holding pattern after Conifex announced plans to sell its mill to Hampton Lumber, but shutter operations until Hampton could build a new mill on that site.
Joy Reierson has lived in the community for the past 15 years. She says people community are “hanging on” through the course of the downturn in forestry.
“People are doing jobs that they weren’t doing before. They’ll be working as a cashier in a store, they’ll be pumping gas. They’re working wherever they can find a job. Maybe it’s not the same wage, but it’s work.”
The District of Fort St. James has declared a state of financial crisis in order to help community members access federal and provincial help they need to ride the tide.
