Local mills are hopeful the provincial government will approve changes to land access that will help them survive.
The interior lumber manufacturer’s association has been working with the ministry’s biologists to create a new overall plan.
Mathew Maddess, the Woodlands Manager at Wynnwood in Wyndell, says the number of constraints on the land can be reduced, like the swapping of certain areas, while keeping ecological values in place.
This would help address the piecemeal fragmentation of the land base the past two decades.
The mills met Forests Minister Steve Thomson last week to remind him that unlike huge forestry companies on the coast that can close a mill to save money they are single entities that generate hundreds of local jobs in very challenging circumstances.