Boisaco and other forest companies affected by the wildfires are urging Quebec to accelerate implementation of a burned wood clean-up plan.
• Also read: Forest fires: Rethinking forest management is a priority
The countdown is on to build new trails before insects spoil fallen trees. The CEO of Groupe Boisaco recalls the 2018 forest fires that devastated much of his logging area north of Haute-Côte-Nord.
More than 100,000 cubic meters of burnt trees were harvested after the fires. The sanitation program had enabled the harvest in October of the same year and the machinery was shut down in May because the wood was too infested with insects.
For this reason, this time Boisaco wants a restoration plan for these forests quickly. But harvesting this charred wood will not be an easy task. Special measures are taken when cutting and processing these logs. For example, the chips must not contain any traces of carbon.
Machine knives are changed more frequently due to the abrasiveness of carbon and factory cleaning is performed more frequently than usual. Boisaco also wants to quickly negotiate a rehabilitation plan with the government to give itself a chance to build new access roads.