Monday Feb 23, 2009 By Mike Shusterman
Recently, I was invited to participate in the province’s Northern Growth Plan, Value-Added Forestry Technical Session held on the campus of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay.
As part of a travelling road show whereby the province is seeking input from various sources from across the province on a number of initiatives, such as Health, Transportation, Aboriginal Economic Development, Alternative Energy, Value-added Mining, etc; this was Forestry’s turn to step-up and command change and carve a future.
I must admit I was someone skeptical as I panned the audience, as 85% of the participants were government officials. Where is the forest industry, where are the people that can actually implement the ideas? I know you probably have a similar reaction, “so here we go again with Value- Added Forestry”, or “okay, enough talk already about Value-Added, show me the wood!”
Well, I have to admit that my skepticism was put to rest this week as I learned that the province proved that it is listening, as they satisfied the number one concern from many potential value-added forest industry entrepreneurs, access to wood fibre. This was voiced at the conference as a must starting point. So now, the province is un-locking a significant amount of wood fibre across the province. The MNR has recognized that opportunities exist amongst the under-utilized forest species that many have always felt was an opportunity waiting to happen. In northwestern Ontario these familiar species are white birch, aspen poplar, black ash, soft maples and cedar, and their branches and tops.
We are creatures of habit here in the northwest, and our culture has always been, do what is working, and do it big. This has meant many sawmills and pulp and paper mills manufacturing commodity products such as 2x4’s and pulp, utilizing the spruces, and pines only. The commodity business is short –term thinking as we have painfully realized. Occasionally there has been some poplar and birch utilization but not significant, and not on a continued basis. This has always concerned me, as I knew how the Scandinavian countries manage their forests, and now we are starting to emulate their philosophies. In Finland for an example I have actually walked into a stand of birch that was managed for veneer, as the trees were pruned to lessen the amount of branching that affects veneer quality!
Now, finally with this MNR initiative, these under-utilized species can be accessed for conversion into Value-Added Forest products, such as pre-finished engineered flooring, Modular Housing, birch furniture, bio-energy, laminated veneer lumber, I-Beams, etc. These products have always been out there to manufacture, however the entrepreneur had to wrestle with the access to the wood required. The wood was there but nobody would make it available.
There are other benefits to this new strategy, as our forests will now be managed properly, as all the species can have a market opportunity allowing for true forest management. Our recent past, is a harvest with the under-utilized species left to die or are knocked-over and rot.
With the new energy demand opportunities to convert wood waste as well as slash from harvesting operations to electrical power, coupled with the creation of value-added forest products, the province is truly granting northwestern Ontario the opportunity to provide its own unique solutions to our future.
We have the R & D facility at Lakehead University’s new Value Added Forestry Centre to develop, create, test, and market these products. Let’s raise its profile!
