The government of Saskatchewan has signed logging agreements that will allow private companies, communities, and First Nations groups to log two million cubic metres of wood on Crown land in northern Saskatchewan.

The Prince Albert Forest Management Agreement applies to 10 companies and First Nations groups and covers 3.3 million hectares, an area more than half the size of the province of Nova Scotia.

These forests had been managed by Domtar and held in the name of Weyerhaeuser. Weyerhaeuser closed its pulp and paper mill in Prince Albert in 2006.

The new entities that have been allocated in logging rights in the area are:

• Agency Chiefs Tribal Council
• C & C Wood Products (Carrot River)
• Carrier Lumber Ltd. (Prince Albert)
• Independent Forest Operators
• L & M Wood Products (L&M) (Glaslyn)
• Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp
• Meadow Lake OSB
• Montreal Lake Cree Nation
• NorSask Forest Products Inc. (Meadow Lake)
• Northern Village of Green Lake

Not every one is happy with the announcement. The Big River sawmill did not receive any wood allocation at all. A potential buyer, British Colombia-based Eacom Timber, has said it will move the mill out of the province if it does not receive logging rights.

Source:
Sask. signs logging deal with 10 groups (CBC)