By Michael Lynch
Creating between six and 10 full-time jobs is a good possibility for Iroquois Falls, says Suzanne Parton, chair of the community’s forestry committee.
“The jobs would be at a merchandizing yard that would service forest product companies in the surrounding area,” Parton says.
In merchandizing yards, logs are cut to specified length before they are forwarded to sawmills and pulp and paper mills for processing into products.
“There are at least 10 potential customers in the Iroquois Falls area that require logs cut to length,” Parton says.
She says the nearest merchandising yard is located 400 kilometres southwest of Iroquois Falls.
Parton is a registered professional forester and general manager of the Abitibi Lake Model Forest, an organization that conducts forest research for clients across Canada. The non-profit organization also provides forestry education for children and the public.
The merchandizing yard project is at the business-plan stage, Parton says, and the forestry committee is seeking government funding to develop a business plan. Parton says the forestry committee has been examining a number of other job-creating possibilities for Iroquois Falls.
A report commissioned by the forestry committee entitled Opportunities for Underutilized Wood Species outlined nine possibilities.
Some of the opportunities include: a rough mill that would rip boards, but not plane them; a kiln; production of balsam and poplar dimensional lumber, furniture components, edge-glued panels, ready-to-assemble furniture and charcoal, stair treads; and fencing and decking.
The forestry committee has received a number of presentations from companies and organizations. One of the more interesting of these was a presentation regarding fuel logs. Fuel logs, used in fireplaces, are manufactured using waste wood and municipal waste.
“We are looking at all these ideas to create jobs.”
