Media Release: Northern Rockies Logs to Benefit Northern Rockies Economy

January 27, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FORT NELSON – Recent forest industry announcements show real promise for the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, with the potential to drive economic recovery in a community where the decline has been the reality for more than a decade.

In response, Regional Council is taking the opportunity to confirm their position on forest investment including the harvest and export of local fiber and local manufacturing. Primary to Council’s objectives is that logs grown in the Fort Nelson Resource Operations District remain in the community, ensuring that the resource benefits the local economy.

Council’s support for any enterprise looking to do business in the Northern Rockies is rooted in the expectation that locally-based workers and businesses are given reasonable preference. Wherever practical, local persons and providers should be considered first for employment opportunities, provision of goods and services, and the harvesting and transportation of logs.

Regional Council accepts that the success of a manufacturing operation may require the export of select resources from the region, but only where the overall project ensures:

• Significant local manufacturing sector employment opportunities;
• Significant local direct logging opportunities;
• Significant local direct transportation opportunities;
• Significant local service sector opportunities; and
• A broad local economic benefit.

Today’s forestry market demands a degree of flexibility to achieve the balance needed to be competitive, particularly during the sensitive startup phase. A viable forest manufacturing industry necessitates a balance, and Regional Council is committed to achieving that for the benefit of the community as a whole.

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