August 21, 2003

Wildfires hamper mills, but production continues
By Paul Harris*

It is hardly business as usual, but while the wildfires continue to seriously hamper lumber production in some regions of British Columbia, the majority of the province's timber industry has been unaffected, said analysts today.

While the fires have significantly affected sawmills within specific regions, the majority of BC's harvesting area remains unaffected which has, in some cases, led to a surplus of logs ready for production.

Fire crews are currently battling more than 800 fires -- large and small -- with efforts focused in the southern region of the BC Interior. The fires have led to swathes of forest being burned and several small communities in BC have been temporarily evacuated from their homes while the fires are suppressed. One person has died fighting the fire -- a helicopter pilot whose aircraft crashed in a tragic accident over the weekend while attempting to control the blaze.

Last week, Premier Gordon Campbell extended the 'state of emergency' within BC for a further two weeks, to enable the province to draw resources from across BC as needed to fight fires. Earlier today, the province urged residents to avoid non-essential trips in backcountry and forested areas of the Southern Interior and Southern Coast, to reduce the risk of new human-caused fires. Concerns over short-term timber supplies have led to a significant surge in lumber prices -- in some cases exceeding US$300 per 1000 board feet. But, even if the dry, hot spell of weather continues, buyers should be assured that the affects of fire will create only short term difficulties in selected areas, said industry analysts.

While the province remains on alert, the only region seriously affected by wildfire has been the southern region of the Interior, in and around the Kamloops and Kelowna area. The southern region is where a minority of the overall timber harvesting in BC takes place. The northern region, where 60% of all Interior harvesting and production is initiated, has been almost entirely unaffected.

Gary Crooks, vice-president of southern operations for the Tokyo and Vancouver-based Council of Forest Industries, said: "We have certainly seen some sawmills temporarily close and we are seeing other mills at risk of closure if this weather continues much further. There have also been mills running at a lower capacity on generators due to the power being affected by the fires.

"But just because some sawmills are temporarily shutting down, it does not necessarily mean that the planing mills are also being closed. Planing mills are still producing finished lumber, although future weather conditions will partially dictate how long that continues. Many operations have between one and six weeks worth of logs backed up, that were harvested before the serious forest fires began. The fires have been very serious and the situation is getting closer to critical, but we always anticipate some forest fires in the summer in the Southern Interior region."

Around 20% of all mills in the Interior are currently closed or on reduced milling schedules in British Columbia. Crucially, in the northern region of the Interior, where the majority of forestry takes place, the fires have barely affected operations.

Mr Crooks said: "The northern region has not really been affected at all. They certainly have sufficient wood supply, and may even have too much because harvesting has been ongoing due in part to the mountain pine beetle infestation in some forest areas." He said the market reacted very quickly to concerns over supply. "There has been an increase in timber buying due to the potential shortage. There is only a serious threat of shortage if this weather continues, although production has certainly been curtailed," he said. "Any actual shortage will only be short-term in any event, and in a few cases we have excess capacity."

Analysts said it remains an important factor for timber buyers that logging is still taking place not only in the Northern Interior but in the Coastal region too, where around 20% of British Columbia's total harvesting takes place. Brian Zak, of the Coast Forest and Lumber Association, Vancouver, said: "Many logging operations have slowed down on the Coast due to the unusually dry summer season, but some logging is still taking place and log inventories are still ample to run the Japan product programs."

Forest fires are not unusual in BC. Natural fires usually burn on a 40 to 60 year cycle for many of the forest types that exist in the Southern Interior. These natural fires help keep the forest floor relatively clean of combustible materials, burning out all the brush and undergrowth. Routine controlled burns have been conducted by the provincial government often in co-operation with the forest industry in the Southern Interior to emulate natural forest fires.

ENDS
The author is an independent forestry writer based in Vancouver, BC