Forestry

Several communities throughout Northern Ontario have been receiving bad news recently. The news is coming from lumber mills and pulp and paper mills.

Industries may soon be knocking on the back doors of land owners in hopes of enticing themto establish tree plantations to offset greenhouse gas emissions. In 1997 there were 160 countries that signed the Kyoto Protocol agreement.

If Tembec’s Kenogami mill remains closed, Rosko Forestry Operations is ready to develop its own milling and planing facility in Kirkland Lake. “We’ve put in a proposal to the (Ontario) Ministry of Natural Resources,” says company president Joe Rosko.

Timmins-area forestry contractor Albert Boudreau finds the permitting process to be long and arduous, and often one which leads to loss of opportunities in the industry.

Tembec and Domtar announced June 19 they are combining forces in Ontario and Quebec.

Canadians have manufactured a centuries-old reputation as hewers of wood and drawers of water, exporting rail-car loads and ship loads of raw material for someone else to process into consumer goods. But the ongoing Canada-U.S.

Being in business for one’s self has its advantages.

The community of Fort Frances is celebrating a century of history this year. “Most people really enjoy the history of small communities like Fort Frances and how they change,” says Pam Hawley, curator of the Fort Frances Museum.

CBC Television’s Dianne Buckner, the host of Venture, will speak at the Municipality of Greenstone’s inaugural Wild Things conference.

Tucked in behind the mill town of Thessalon is a small project that is symbolic of big things to come for Northern Ontario.