When AbitibiBowater announced on June 3 that it was going to stop harvesting in the Whiskey Jack Forest, it spelled…
When AbitibiBowater announced on June 3 that it was going to stop harvesting in the Whiskey Jack Forest, it spelled bad news for Weyerhaeuser.
According to a recent report by the Miner and News, 40% of the wood Weyerhaeuser turns into TimberStand at its iLevel plant, comes from the Whiskey Jack Forest.
“Time is of the essence,” Miner and News reported Weyerhaeuser director for government and public affairs Lawrence Pillon as saying. “The mill’s future depends on sustaining adequate wood supply without additional cost or compromising the quality of the product.”
AbitibiBowater holds the timber license for the forest but rescinded its rights to operate in the Whiskey Jack Forest so as to avoid waiting for the results of a consultation process between the province of Ontario and the Grassy Narrow First Nation on how the forest should be managed. The process could take up to four years.
There are currently 157 employees still working at Weyerhaeuserr’s Kenora facility, but as the Miner and News noted, those jobs could be wiped out within a few months unless the supply problem is solved.
The report further noted that company management are in discussions with the MRN, which oversees harvesting on Crown land.
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