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Ontario government looking to allocate one-third of province’s wood supply

The Ontario government is seeking innovative ways to use logs, branches, and other wood in Crown forests for manufacturing or other commercial purposes. The aim is to help create green jobs and new investment in the forest industry.
Proposals are currently being accepted for the use of about 11 million cubic metres of wood. This competitive process is open to anyone interested in using Crown wood supply and investing in Ontario – including existing and new forest companies.

Proposals will be evaluated on a number of criteria, including fostering effective, cooperative relationships between industry and Aboriginal communities.
“This government is putting Ontario’s wood to work to create jobs and generate wealth for Ontario when we need it the most. We are taking firm actions to ensure Ontarians get the maximum benefits from our forests,” says Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry.
Proposals must be submitted by March 4, 2010. This wood supply competitive process is the second stage of the ministry’s Staged Competition for Crown Wood Supply in Ontario. It includes about one third of the existing wood supply identified in Forest Management Plans.

Stage I, the Request for Expressions of Interests, was launched in January 2009 to help determine if a wood supply competitive process was warranted. The response was strong — 131 submissions from Canadian and international proponents with proposals related to biofuels, biochemicals, wood pellets, heat and power projects, composites, and other value-added uses.
The wood will come from 41 forest management units in Ontario, the majority of which are in Northern Ontario. Part of the wood supply in this competitive process will come from harvest residues — tree tops and irregular limbs – that can be used to support Ontario’s emerging bioeconomy sector, such as to produce wood pellets for energy.
Information sessions are scheduled for Kenora, Thunder Bay, Pembroke, Timmins and Sault Ste Marie in the coming weeks.  
For more information on the Provincial Wood Supply Competitive Process and how to submit a proposal, visit ontario.ca/crownwood.