Mill closure threatens B.C.’s forest restoration work

Restoring forests involves more than just planting trees. It also means thinning crowded forests, reducing wildfire risks, and fixing damaged land. These activities create wood and other materials that can be turned into useful products. Mills play a key role in this process. When there are fewer mills, it becomes much harder to carry out restoration work.

Jeff Lutes from the Western Forestry Contractors’ Association says the Northwood closure is part of a worrying trend.

“It’s another domino in the manufacturing capacity falling,” Lutes said. “And it’s absolutely vital that there be a resilient manufacturing capacity in the forest economy in order to conduct large-scale restoration of the province’s forests.”

The association represents independent businesses that work directly in forest restoration and management throughout B.C. Its members are involved daily, so they have a clear sense of where the industry is going.

Lutes explains that the pulp mill used to buy low-value wood from restoration projects. This includes leftover fibre from fire-mitigation and commercial thinning work.

“Much of the fire mitigation and commercial thinning work depends on having a buyer for this low-value fibre to make these projects possible,” he said. “Otherwise, we would need to heavily subsidize this work, and I don’t think the province has the budget for that right now.”

This uncertainty makes it difficult for contractors to plan or expand. Lutes says businesses are hesitant to invest in new equipment or retrain workers unless they know the work will continue.

“There’s a great deal of uncertainty about whether we want to, as individual contractors, make investments into specialized machinery and retraining our workforce, without the certainty of having guaranteed long-term work opportunities,” he said.

The numbers show the sector is already struggling. Lutes says B.C. used to plant between 240 and 260 million trees each year until 2018. In 2020, planting rose to over 300 million trees and stayed at that level until 2024. This year, he says, the province is down to about 230 million trees, mainly because less land is being harvested.

He warns that dealing with wildfire damage will require much more funding.

“We will need to inject double the amount of money into reforestation,” Lutes said, adding that wildfire-affected areas could require triple the current investment if large, catastrophic fires continue.

Lutes admits these are political decisions, and the province has many other needs to consider.

“It’s hard to say that the planting of a tree is a more important thing than the well-being of the health care sector, and we understand that,” he said. Still, he argues the stakes are high: “The well-being of all the communities of British Columbia has been directly tied to the health of the forest economy since the beginning of B.C. being part of Confederation.”

Dr. Phil Burton, a professor emeritus of forest ecology and management at UNBC, shares the concern about restoration work but also adds important context about the mill.

“There’s certainly a concern with any curtailment in the forest industry in terms of the amount of activity and funds out there to do any kind of forestry activities,” Burton said, “whether that’s related to logging and processing or silviculture and restoration.”

Burton points out that Northwood does not process primary fibre. “They’re working off mostly the residuals from sawmills — sawdust and chips,” he said, adding that these materials also face challenges from U.S. tariffs and changing market conditions.

He also offers reassurance on one point: replanting is not in doubt. “That’s a legal obligation on the part of Canfor, which is still a solvent company,” he said. “They are going to be held liable to reforest the areas that have been cut over the last few years.”

Burton says the greater risk is to the extra restoration work, like thinning and reducing fuel, which help make forests healthier and safer.

“The question is whether there are going to be sufficient resources, access, manpower and experience for doing the value-added treatments related to thinning and fuel reduction around communities, as we lose some of that workforce,” he said.

Burton says the entire industry is under pressure. Pulp mills are seeing less demand for paper and facing competition from subsidized wood-pellet markets overseas. Meanwhile, past over-cutting, wildfires, and bark beetles have reduced the amount of forest.

“There’s a domino effect on so many things,” he said. “It’s inevitable we have to see reduced levels of harvesting. The allowable annual cut needs to be reduced to reflect those conditions.”

This means there will be less forest to log and, eventually, less forest to replant. Burton says nurseries and tree planters will have to adjust to this change.

For Lutes, the main goal is to ensure forestry has a future.

“We want to make sure that the future generations of people in the province of B.C. are also able to engage in a long-term, sustainable economy and industry,” he said.

Pattison Media is owned by Jim Pattison Industries, a majority shareholder in Canfor.

by Dave Branco

Mill closure threatens B.C.’s forest restoration work

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