• Coniferous
Compared with the rest of the province, large scale forest harvesting in the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area is relatively recent, with the first major operations in the late 1950s. Since that time, forestry has been a major contributor to the local economy. Currently, one company operates two sawmilling facilities within the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area. A second company operates a pulp mill in Taylor. The timber supply area has several smaller processing operations as well.
Based on figures supplied by the licensees, approximately 83 per cent of the wood processed in 1994 was obtained from the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area. Other sources of wood include private land in British Columbia and Alberta. (SEA page 27)
Harvesting, processing and silvicultural activities connected to the current allowable annual cut from the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area generate an estimated 434 person-years of direct forestry employment within the timber supply area. An additional 252 person-years of spin-off employment are estimated to be created through forest company and employee spending. (SEA page 29)
• Deciduous
To date no harvesting has occurred in predominantly deciduous forests. The company operating the pulp mill in Taylor plans to more than double its production and to begin using aspen chips. This would, in time, require harvesting deciduous forests in the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area. As well, the Small Business Forest Enterprise Program has a deciduous allocation of 180,000 cubic metres available for harvest, as well as an allocation of 15,000 cubic metres to be harvested through the woodlot licence program.
