'Use it or lose it': Prince Albert mayor calls for province to adapt to lumber demands
Prince Albert Mayor Greg Dionne says the province needs to guarantee new players in the forest industry a steady supply of wood so they can operate in Prince Albert and provide jobs to local people.
“Everyone is shocked that there was not a use it or lose it clause because everyone knows in the last five years, how much wood could have been harvested around PA,” said Dionne.
He said he’s aware of wood supply issues for Paper Excellence, which is working to get wood to reopen the pulp mill; furniture manufacturer Pivot Subscriptions; and the proposed construction of a oriented strand board (OSB) factory by One Sky Forest Products.
Minister of Energy and Resources Bronwyn Eyre says the province has been able to provide a small amount of unutilized and unallocated timber to One Sky.
“There’s nothing precluding companies from entering into private agreements with each other. We always have to work within the timber allocation system that exists right now,” said Eyre.
Erye says because companies base their capital and business decisions on timber allocations, they are not breaking contracts.
“We are talking to all viable projects, including Pivot, One Sky and Paper Excellence to make sure we are clear on what they need and they’re clear on what we have in the area and that’s important as we move forwards to see these projects through,” said Eyre.
The government says they’re working with Paper Excellence to find a suitable solution. In Saskatchewan, Paper Excellence has a timber allocation, however it is seeking softwood to supply the revamped pulp mill operation in Prince Albert.
In respect to Pivot, Eyre says they do not have a running operation at present and they can enter into agreement with other companies while they work to find supply.
In 2010, Sakaw Askiy Management Inc. (Sakaw) took over the Prince Albert Forest Management Agreement (PAFMA) for the wood supply formerly held by Weyerhauser that supplied wood to the pulp and paper mill.
Sakaw is a corporation made up of five forest companies and two First Nations who have been allocated wood from within the PAFMA area.
This includes includes A.C. Forestry, Carrier Forest Products, Edgewood Forest Products Operations, Dunkley Lumber Ltd, Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp Inc. Montreal Lake Business Ventures and NorSask Forest Products andTolko Industries Ltd. The PAFMA area also supplies wood to 13 forest product businesses and five mills.
Sakaw general manager Diane Roddy says she understands the position the new companies are taking.
“Generally businesses want their own wood supply to take to the bank to get their funding. Most of the wood is allocated but there is some hardwood and some small softwood tops that’s still available.”
Under The Forest Resource Management Act there are specific terms for softwood and hardwood harvesting. There’s also area-based term supply licenses (TSL) typically issued for two to five years.
Logging companies also have to complete and adhere to environmental impact studies and reforestation plans. About 23 percent of the forest in Saskatchewan is managed with TSL.
Sixty-one per cent of the province's commercial forest has long-term licensing arrangements with forest management agreements in place, according to the Saskatchewan government.
The province uses 20-year forest management plans for growth, harvesting, renewal or planting of tree seedlings, says Roddy.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

BREAKING Amber Alert issued for missing 2-month-old girl in B.C.
An Amber Alert has been issued province-wide in British Columbia as Surrey RCMP search for a two-month-old child they believe has been abducted.
BREAKING Dodgers beat out Blue Jays, sign coveted free agent Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani agrees to $700 million, 10-year contract with Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mideast ministers in Ottawa to discuss Israel-Hamas war with Joly, Trudeau
A group of foreign ministers from the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are in Ottawa today for a quietly planned meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to discuss attempts to end the Israel-Hamas war.
A pregnant Texas woman asked a court for permission to get an abortion, despite a ban. What's next?
Kate Cox, a mother of two in Texas, became pregnant again in August but soon after learned devastating news: Her baby has a fatal condition and is likely to either be stillborn or die shortly after birth.
Thousands of revelers descend on NYC for annual Santa-themed bar crawl SantaCon
Here come Santa Clauses. Again. Throngs of people dressed as jolly Old St. Nick descended on New York City for the annual SantaCon charity pub crawl on Saturday.
Extremely rare white alligator is born at a Florida reptile park
An extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park. The 19.2-inch (49 cm) female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of a few known leucistic alligators, Gatorland Orlando said Thursday.
Minnesota grocery store clerk dies after customer impales him with a golf club, police say
A Minneapolis store clerk died after a customer beat him and impaled him with a golf club, police said. The 66-year-old clerk was attacked Friday at the Oak Grove Grocery, a small neighborhood store in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis. A 44-year-old suspect is jailed on suspicion of murder.
A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv
City workers in Kyiv on Saturday dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
Ibrahim Ali found guilty of killing 13-year-old girl in B.C.
A jury has found Ibrahim Ali guilty of killing a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.