(Quebec) The government and forestry companies will be in a “race against time” to harvest trees burned by wildfires before they are eaten by insects and lose all commercial value. The fires have already burned almost four times what the industry normally consumes in a year.
Posted at 1:39pm. Updated at 5:00 p.m.
“The Ministry is preparing the map for a race against insects so that forest companies can recover some of the wood affected by the fires,” said Minister of Natural Resources and Forests Maïté Blanchette Vézina.
When a forest fire is out, the trees are often still standing and only their outer shell is charred. “The affected wood [par un brasier] “The wood can be harvested, the heart is still healthy, but it’s important to harvest it quickly because there are insects that can reach the wood, which loses a lot of value,” she explained.
Financial help
In the regions affected by the fires, the action plan for forestry activities planned for this spring ends up in the trash.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, ARCHIVE LA PRESSE
The Minister of Natural Resources and Forests, Maïté Blanchette Vézina
We will give priority to this wood, we can’t wait until next year. It must be done now.
Maïté Blanchette Vézina, Minister of Natural Resources and Forests
To encourage foresters to salvage these damaged trees, Quebec will, as usual, provide financial support “for the restoration of forests affected by fire and windthrow,” with “the additional costs of disturbing forest stands being primarily for planning.” are taken into account, timber harvesting, road works, accommodation and timber transport. The determination is based on the quality of the felled trees and their species.
This is currently being prepared on the north coast, where the wildfires are under control thanks to last week’s rain. “As we have only just reopened the North Shore, the idea is to allow forestry activities as soon as it is safe to do so. “We are in talks with SOPFEU to enable operations to be resumed,” said the minister.
close factories
Because for the industry, the lack of raw materials is felt, since the cuts are forbidden because of the fires. For example, Resolute Forest Products has had to close several factories due to a lack of wood: access to the boreal forest is still prohibited throughout the area. “Due to the traffic ban throughout the boreal forest, it is impossible to supply sawmills with timber from public forests,” explained Louis Bouchard of Resolute Forest Products via email.
On the north coast, for example, the plant in Pointe-aux-Outardes had to stop operations for a few days from Friday because there was a shortage of logs for sawing, emphasizes Mr. Bouchard. The improvement in the situation in this region suggests that activities could resume early next week.
In Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, the La Doré and Girardville sawmills planned to exhaust their timber reserves on Friday and it will take about a week to rebuild, Mr Bouchard estimates.
Critical situation in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
However, the situation is most critical in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The activities of the Comtois and Senneterre sawmills have been suspended “until further notice”, he says. “On the Senneterre side, our teams have erected fire lines to protect the town and installed sprinkler systems at our Comtois plant, but these systems are not currently directly threatened by the flames,” adds Ms. Bouchard.
And in some areas, this race will face a sad reality: forest machines have been destroyed by the fires. “It’s a race against time if we have the numbers. We are currently checking whether we have enough equipment at the forestry companies. We don’t know the extent yet [des dégâts] because companies cannot yet return to the forest,” explained the minister.
A Chapais sawmill on alert
In Chapais, the Barrette sawmill, where many people from Chibougamau also work, is already feeling the effects of the forest fires. “In relation to the buildings on the site and the surrounding equipment, nothing is affected, but as far as the wood and equipment in the forest are concerned, we assume that it could be affected.” However, we cannot yet be on site to confirm to check this,” emphasizes the company’s human resources coordinator, Rémi Asselin. “In particular, we hope that the situation will calm down and that people can return to the region. Once this is done we will resume our transformation operations. At the forest level it gets more complicated, there are discussions and the game plans can change, so we will wait for the authorities,” adds Mr. Asselin. Nevertheless, despite the situation, around twenty people take turns staying at the sawmill to ensure the protection of the site. “Incidentally, as a preventative measure, we sent all our employees home,” the coordinator specifies.
Henri Ouellette-Vézina, La Presse
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181,000 hectares Average annual area of forest cut on public lands in Quebec
Source: Department of Natural Resources and Forestry
688,110 hectares of forest affected by fires as of June 9
Source: Department of Natural Resources and Forestry
1.5% share of forestry in Quebec’s GDP in 2021
Source: Department of Natural Resources and Forestry
408 million worth of annual truncation rights royalties received by the Quebec government in 2022
Source: Department of Natural Resources and Forestry