City Lights News
Highlights and Events May 1994

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Deadlines event publication: Printed Edition before the 15th of every month and Electronic Edition before the 20th of every month. Information & publication of events: Stephen Serenelli tel./fax (306) 922-1831 or E-mail to City Lights BBS (306) 763-1777 or Internet E-mail or write to: 978-2nd Street East, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan S6V 0G4 Canada

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WEYERHAEUSER IN PRINCE ALBERT

Can you imagine life without paper or a world without lumber? Society's needs for these products has led to the establishment of a forest industry which accounts for a significant portion of Canada's foreign trade balance, as well as contributing to our country's development. For more than 25 years, Prince Albert has been a manufacturer of quality northern bleached kraft softwood pulp used by paper makers around the world. Hardwood pulp production began in the mid-1980's and since 1988, Prince Albert Pulp & Paper has been converting almost half of its pulp production into quality fine paper products sold in Canada and the USA.

Builders have come to rely on the quality softwood dimensional lumber produced at Big River Lumber. A joint venture between Parsons and Whitemore Inc., and the Government of Saskatchewan, P. A. Pulp Company produced its first ton of softwood pulp on July 20, 1968. In 1981, the government assumed full ownership of the company, along with a chemical manufacturing facility in Saskatoon. Weyerhaeuser Canada purchased the mill, the chemical plant, a sawmill at Bodmin (10km S. of Big River) and a 5 million hectare Forest Management Licence Agreement (FMLA) area in 1986. The newly constructed paper mill produced its first ton of "fine paper" in August 1988. Sheeter machines were added in 1990 and 1991 to convert the mill's 40 ton rolls of paper into sheet stock for end use customers.

P. A. paper products are used for photocopying, book publishing, computer stock, multi part forms, writing papers, envelopes, and a wide variety of printing materials. P.A. softwood and hardwood pulp is used by manufacturers in Canada, the United States and Asia to produce a wide variety of paper stocks including magazines, glossy brochures, bible type papers, disposable paper uniforms and sanitary products.

Saskatchewan Timberlands administers the FMLA with the Province and supplies the Big River sawmill and P. A. Pulp & Paper with their timber and fibre needs. Sawlogs from the FMLA or purchased from private land holders, are trucked to Big River for conversion to dimensional lumber. Waste wood converted into chips, softwood chip wastes from other sawmills and pulpwood from the FMLA, are trucked to P.A. for processing into pulp. Less than half of 1% of the available commercial forest in the Weyerhaeuser FMLA is harvested annually. All harvested areas are renewed within two years of the harvest. A large portion regenerates itself naturally either from root suckers or natural seed cones. More than 50 million seedlings have been planted since harvesting began in 1967, in areas lacking an adequate supply of natural seed for regeneration.

The life cycle of a forest varies from 80 to 120 years, depending on species and growing conditions. Harvesting and reforestation plans are designed to minimize the impact on wildlife habitat, streams, lakes and aquatic life. Weyerhaeuser Canada shares the public's values and concerns and has developed an integrated approach to forest management. The current rate of reforestation shows that growth exceeds harvest.

The future health of this business depends on the future health of the forest, and the use of this valuable resource to meet society's needs, must always be at a sustainable and environmentally sound level.