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Paper Excellence and Cumberland House Cree Nation plant 1,000 seedlings

Paper Excellence recently partnered with Cumberland Wood Products (CWP) to plant 1,000 jack pine seedlings in and around the First Nation community of Cumberland House.

Cumberland House Cree Nation formed CWP to provide economic benefits directly to the communities and shareholders who remain stewards of Kitaskīnaw, the Saskatchewan River Delta.

This spring, using seedlings facilitated by Paper Excellence through its partnership in Meadow Lake, CWP managed the plant with several volunteers from the community on May 27 and June 3.

The jack pine is native to Saskatchewan and produces excellent habitat for local plant and animal species. The company says the seedlings planted this year will provide a natural ecosystem buffer for key areas around the Northern Saskatchewan community, and serve to naturally enhance the regrowth on reserve.

Katie Leason, GIS coordinator, Cumberland Wood Products, drops off the tree seedings to the Cumberland House Cree Nation. Photo: Paper Excellence

“Cumberland Wood Products is an ecosystem services management company that sees tremendous partnership and commercial relationship potential within the forestry industry and other sectors,” says Aaron Kuchirka, CPA, chief executive officer, Cumberland Wood Products, in a statement.

“Realizing this project’s success with Paper Excellence and our shareholder, Cumberland House Cree Nation, demonstrates the potential of partnership for social, environmental, and economic benefit.”

“We value these opportunities to build relationships with local Indigenous communities,” says Dale Richardson, community relations manager for Paper Excellence.

“Paper Excellence has worked in partnership with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council through Mistik Management Limited for the last decade. However, we recognize we have more work to do and this is a small step in the right direction.”