Today was the Grand Closure of Weyerhaeuser's Kamloops sawmill.

To recognize the event and draw attention to the plight of the forest industry, the United Steelworkers (USW) union is holding a rally at 2 p.m. outside the sawmill plant’s gates.

Billed as a Grand Closure event, the rally will feature a barbecue and guest speakers, all to give a proper farewell to the 200 jobs provided by the mill.

The closure of this sawmill was announced in February.

Source:
Farewell to Weyco mill (Kamloops This Week)

Gordon Campbell, Premier of British Columbia, was in Kamloops on Friday to announce plans for $129 million promised by Ottawa earlier this year, which will be used to set up three new programs aimed at helping workers and communities hit hard by an ailing forest industry.

Three new programs:

1. $17.25 million or a tuition-assistance fund that will give workers facing layoffs the opportunity to upgrade their skills and education. The funding will cover tuition costs to a maximum of $5,000 per worker for one year. Individuals can apply to the fund beginning May 15.

2. $85.5 million to provide transitional assistance for retiring older workers. Individuals can apply to the fund through a secretariat by mid June.

3. $26.25 million will go toward a job-opportunities program that will support silviculture and reforestation in urban areas, forest and fuel management and other forestry programs to provide short-term employment opportunities.

The Northern towns of Mackenzie and Fort St. James, British Columbia, will get $2 million in direct assistance.

Source:
Forestry industry gets $129 million (Kamloops This Week)

The leadership of the Grassy Narrows First Nations is set to sign a memorandum of understanding today with the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield.

Chief Simon Fobister has said that they'd come to terms with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on a process meant to find ways to protect and manage the community's traditional lands. The Grassy Narrows First Nations is optimistic about the beginning of this new relationship, but they are not yet ready to lift their moratorium on clear-cutting within its traditional territory.

"We are engaging in a process to determine what can and will best work for forest management and use in the area, and we hope and expect the MNR will engage with us with an open mind about this. Until that determination is made, we are not agreeing with current clear-cutting harvesting regimes and practices in the Whiskey Jack Forest," said Chief Simon Fobister.

Read more: Grassy Narrows to sign agreement with MNR - Grassy Narrows First Nations leadership is set to sign a memorandum of understanding today with the MInister of Natural Resources, Donna Cansfield. (Kenora Daily Miner and News)

Catch up on the history of the Grassy Narrows - Boise stops buying lumber from the Grassy Narrows territory

Cascades Inc. reported a new loss of $4 million in its first quarter of 2008.

To regain profitability, Cascades is planning to cut 155 jobs. Just a year ago, Cascades reported a net profit of $22 million in its first quarter.

This year's net quarterly loss is being blamed on high fibre costs, a strong Canadian dollar and challenging business conditions in the company's boxboard and tissue paper sectors.

The job cuts will be spread across Cascades' operations in Quebec, as well as its operations in the United States. Layoffs began in the fall and will continue until the end of the summer.

There will also be several temporary plant shutdowns of varying durations.

Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, transforms and markets packaging and tissue mainly from recycled fibres. The company employs close to 14,000 employees at operations in Canada, the United States and Europe. Its Norampac unit is Canada's largest cardboard maker.

Source:
Cascades announces job cuts to stem first-quarter net loss of $4 million (Brandon Sun Online)

Pope & Talbot received approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Christopher S. Sontachi to transition out of reorganization and begin liquidating its remaining mills - a worst-case scenario for the company's remaining employees who will likely lose their jobs.

Pope & Talbot will now move from Chapter 11 reorganization into Chapter 7 liquidation.

On May 13th, their pulp mill and plant in Halsey, Oregon will be auctioned.

Sources:
Pope & Talbot to liquidate remaining assets (Portland Business Journal)
Harmac closure a heavy blow (Nanaimo News Bulletin)

Neenah Paper has reported a loss in their latest quarterly results. Consolidated sales of $206 million were reported in the first quarter of 2008, a gain of 19 percent, but operating income was off $1.5 million compared with the year ago period.

This spring, Neenah Paper put its Abercrombie Point pulp mill at Pictou, Nova Scotia up for sale, as well as its associated woodlands. Neenah Paper expects the mill to be sold within a year. In its quarterly results, Neenah Paper reported the net loss from the discontinued operations of the Pictou mill as $81 million, or $5.46 per share.

"The continued rise in costs of raw materials and energy, coupled with slowing economic growth, are clearly impacting current results," said Sean Erwin, chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Read more:
Neenah Paper Reports 2008 First Quarter Results (Neenah Paper Press Release)
Neenah puts Pictou mill up for sale (Nova Scotia Business Journal's Daily Business Buzz)
http://www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=133530&sc=49 (The News)
Neenah Paper records sales gain (Oshkosh, Northwestern)

Back in early April, Domtar announced that it would be dropping a shift at its Timmins, Ontario sawmill on May 19th.

Domtar has recently confirmed that the shift elimination will result in the layoff of 30-35 people.

The layoff is for an undetermined amount of time.

Source:
Up to 35 jobs lost; Domtar official confirms layoffs at Timmins mill (Timmins Press)

The forestry high-tech equipment manufacturer, Coe Newnes McGehee, let 105 employees go yesterday in Salmon Arm. There were no vacation pay outs or severance packages. The company simply had no money to pay out.

The remaining 215 employees will continue to work while the future of the company is unknown.

On April 30th, Coe Newnes McGehee was granted creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

Video coverage: Bad news at Newnes - Video (CHBC News)

AbitibiBowater Inc. has plans to shed $500 million of assets by the end of the year as it deals with slumping demand for paper and a heavy debt load.

The first thing to go is AbitibiBowater's South Korean paper mill that has been put up for sale.

Along with the Korean mill, the company is willing to part with forestlands, sawmills, hydroelectric sites and other assets.

Source:
AbitibiBowater to sell Korean paper mill (Globe and Mail)

Tolko is terminating 35 employees - about 5% of its workforce throughout the country.

8 jobs will be lost in Williams Lake and Quesnel. No positions in Williams Lake and Quesnel have been terminated yet, but the employees who will lose their jobs have been notified. These terminations are not layoffs.

Some vacant positions at some operations will also be terminated.

Some workers will also see a salary reduction, although it is unknown how much that reduction will be.

Source:
FORESTRY Termination notices affect Tolko'€™s Quesnel mill (Quesnel-Cariboo Observer)

Craig Campbell, a forest industry advisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, has said that the forest industry will likely not see a lumber market recovery until at least 2010, and financial returns for firms based in western Canada will hit record lows this year.

Campbell says that the North American lumber market is still oversupplied. Because of this, he said, "there's going to be more (closures), more cash burn, more blood on the floor."

Read more: Canadian foresters warned to expect more "blood" (Reuters Canada)

AbitibiBowater Inc. has reported a net loss for the first quarter 2008 of $248 million, or $4.32 per diluted share, on sales of $1.7 billion.

There is no complete comparison to last years results since the merger of Abitibi-Consolidated and Bowater is more recent. In the first quarter of 2007, the company of Bowater Inc. posted a net loss of $35 million, or $1.19 per diluted share, on sales of $772 million.

"Important progress was achieved during the first full quarter of AbitibiBowater," stated President and CEO David J. Paterson. "We set out with a disciplined approach and a commitment to deliver sustainable long-term value. Our EBITDA improvement, this quarter over the fourth quarter of last year, is an important step in positioning the Company as the industry's great turnaround story."

During the first quarter, AbitibiBowater successfully completed a series
of financing transactions, totaling $1.4 billion, designed to address
near-term debt maturities and general liquidity needs for its
Abitibi-Consolidated subsidiary.

Full Press Release:
AbitibiBowater shows significant improvements in Q1 operating results (AbitibiBowater Press Release)

At the end of yesterday's Pope & Talbot court proceedings, the decision was made to continue with the orderly shut down of the pulp mills while a new search is started for a buyer(s).

Lenders agreed on Wednesday to let it spend enough money to keep workers on the job until Saturday, allowing an orderly shutdown of the mills in Nanaimo and Mackenzie, in British Columbia, and Halsey, Oregon.

Lawyers involved in the hearings said a bid may already be in the works for the Halsey mill. The Mackenzie mill was also expected to be relatively easy to sell, but finding a buyer for Harmac might be more difficult.

Pope & Talbot, which traces its roots to 1849, was forced to seek creditor protection last year after its finances collapsed under the weight of high debt, weak lumber prices and a strong Canadian dollar.

Read more:
Pope & Talbot pulp mills to be idled for now (Reuters)
Court extends creditor protection for Pope and Talbot until Monday (News 1130)

The province of New Brunswick recently cut back its Crown Land silviculture program from $8 million to $4 million.

Forestry company UPM is being forced to cut 50 of its contractor jobs that were tied to the assistance from the program.

Although UPM shut down its Miramichi mill last year, it continues to actively maintain almost a million hectares of crown land.

1000 jobs are estimated to be lost across the province because of the funding cut.

Read more about this:
Contractor jobs: UPM cuts more jobs (Miramichi Leader)
Silviculture deal won't prevent job losses (The Daily Gleaner)
Woodlot owners 'not happy' with silviculture deal (Telegraph-Journal)
1,000 jobs expected to be lost in silviculture (The Daily Gleaner)
Silviculture cuts debated in legislature (Miramichi Leader)

Another explosion rocked a mill this week.

Early this morning there was an explosion at the Louisiana Pacific plant in Thomasville, Alabama. Six people were injured. Four of the victims suffered burns.

The company said the explosion and fire occurred just before 2 a.m. in the thermal oil room and was brought under control in just under two hours.

It remains unclear what caused the explosion.

The mill manufactures sheathing used mainly in residential construction.

Source:
Explosion, fire leave 4 hurt at Clarke County mill (WRCB )
Plant explosion in Thomasville (Fox10 News)