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By Curtis Galbraith

Forestry

Forest Products Association confident increased cut allowance will work

Oct 8, 2020 | 12:14 PM

A spokesman for the Alberta Forest Products Association says it will be possible to meet higher allowable cut allowances set by the province.

On Monday, the government announced it was increasing the allowable cut by 13 per cent, with an eventual goal of up to a 33 per cent increase.

Association vice president Brock Mulligan says there has been what he terms “extensive analysis” of cut allowances.

“The analysis reveals that we can sustainably up allowable cut levels and that is because our forests are so sustainably managed. We have a 200-year planning horizon and we plant two trees for every one we harvest.”

The province says its plan contains five ways to get to that initial 13 per cent increase. Those include getting burned forests back into production more quickly, awarding unallocated portions of approved cut through a bidding process, making better use of harvest waste, working with companies to make the best use of their allocations, and using natural seedlings.

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The province announced Thursday afternoon that some of the unallocated timber it would be making available is 51,000 cubic metres of deciduous annual allowable cut located about 70 kilometres northwest of Grande Prairie.

Mulligan says this recognizes several years worth of scientific advancements that are already being used.

“These advances really allow us to up our game on the sustainability side and, at the same time, also have more productive forests.”

The province is hoping its Forest Jobs Action Plan allows the industry to take advantage of record prices. Mulligan says prices for building materials, cut lumber and OSB, are booming worldwide.

“It is due to a combination of a few factors. One is that folks are now at home a lot more and they’re really thinking about ways to beautify that space, especially their outdoor spaces, so we’re seeing a lot of deck and fence building and that is driving demand.

“Two is that the economics in the US that underpin housing are pretty strong. Their housing stock is getting older and needs to be replaced.”

Mulligan says a lot of younger people are building new homes as well.

Prices have been over $1200 per 1000 board feet. Mulligan says in the past, mills were happy with a price of $500.

He adds the pandemic has shown how important pulp is, as it is used in things like personal protective equipment and laboratory filters. The pandemic has lowered the use of paper and newsprint.