The economic downturn that has caused mill closures and production cuts in the forestry industry has had an effect on silviculture as forest companies seeking to cut costs reduce the level and intensity of forest regeneration.
As Dave Bradley, Thunder Bay division manager and co-owner of Outland Reforestation Inc. explains, fewer trees are being hand planted in Ontario every year, which could have a profound effect on the industry for generations to come.
Bradley, one of the original investors in Outland began his treeplanting career in 1985.
He witnessed growth in the silviculture sector in the early years but over the last decade or so there has been a steady decline in the number of trees being planted across the province.
"The economy has slowed down harvesting dramatically.As a result we are seeing a significant drop in the number of renewal projects scheduled for 2009 and an even more dramatic drop for 2010.We are projecting that our revenues are probably going to drop by 40% this year" Bradley says.Forest managers are being forced to consider how harvested or burnt area can be adequately renewed with minimum dollars. Although planting is the treatment of choice slashed budgets mostly due to market conditions mean fewer dollars are available. There are a lot of other approaches being used to renew instead of planting which are removing the number of trees from the annual plant."
The downturn has made competition very stiff for the remaining trees to be planted.Not all the reforestation companies are going to survive the next couple of years says Bradley."At least we are still working unlike many of our harvesting friends who have seen their businesses dry up faster than anyone thought possible." Our turn will come in a couple of years unless things turn around.
According to Bradley, the government has a responsibility to ensure that the highest level of silviculture possible is maintained to ensure a viable industry.This requires that forest management get ‘on the radar’ of the government and public at large.If there was more political will, the forest industry would be recognized for what it really is to the Canadian economy and treated seriously.
Through government stimulus packages there seems to be a focus on finding shovel ready projects to build infrastructure and repair and ailing auto industry, but projects concerned with putting forests back are not really seriously considered Bradley says. "In our view forest renewal projects should be on the radar for stimulus funding.There are significant backlogs of NSR land in Ontario which can be taken care of over the next few years.We can maintain the renewal capacity in the province, we can put people to work and we could be putting back the wood basket for the future economy of Ontario."
Bradley fears that there is a danger that Ontario’s once world-class silviculture program is being neglected.
"There has been lots of talk about moving to intensive silviculture but it seems to be miles away right now. Currently whatever capacity the province has built with pre-commercial thinning has been almost completely lost because there are so few projects right now we can’t sustain our workforce" Bradley said. "That is very sad because rebuilding that capacity going forward is going to be very, very expensive. All the investment over the years to create a productive thinning workforce is basically drying up."As well we are waiting for new silvicultural guidelines and increased stocking requirements to be implemented by government which we presume will lead to more work in the future.The question is, who will pay?Consumers are not in the mood to pay higher prices for Canadian products made from high cost wood.
Bradley says diversification is the key to weathering the current storm hitting the silviculture industry. Outland’s primary focus has always been tree planting and tending but now also handles projects in the mining and mining exploration sector, vegetation management and remote camp provision and catering services.Aboriginal youth summer employment and training programs have also become a large focus. This year is our 10th year partnered with industry, government and education in the delivery of the First Nations Natural Resources Youth Employment Program.We are about to launch new programs in Nunavut and Northern Manitoba.
"Our approach to coping with the economic downturn has been to diversify what we do. We’ve taken capacity that we’ve built over 20+ years of forest renewal operations and pushed that capacity into other areas" Bradley says. "The undeniable work ethic driving our company and staff to survive in an ever tightening forest industry is serving us well allowing us to be competitive in a wide variety of business opportunities.
"It certainly has been an interesting ride for the now 14 person ownership group" comments Bradley."We would never have imagined in 1986 (the year the first Outland tree went into the ground) that we would be where we are today!
Bradley remains optimistic about the future and strongly believes that it is not too late to reinvest both money and commitment into silviculture."Governments seem to be looking for shovel ready projects to spend their stimulus money on; what better place than on Ontario’s silviculture workers creating long-term value which will be owned by Ontario for generations.Surely this is a better investment than propping up a money-losing factory?
"Our vision is to try to remain viable through the downturn and be in a position to pick up the torch once things start to turn around" Bradley said. "Once companies start logging again and the area needs to be treated we want to be ready. So the diversification is helping to keep us ready. We are very dedicated to a viable forest renewal industry – planting trees is in our blood." ◊