On Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Announcement

Like many across the Sunshine Coast, we are thinking today of the employees, families and businesses affected by the announcement that Howe Sound Pulp and Paper will be indefinitely idled.

We also want to add some dimension to the conversation by sharing what the mill has meant to the Sunshine Coast Community Forest over the past twenty years.

A lot has changed in forestry since SCCF began operations, but one thing has been remarkably consistent: from our first year twenty years ago through to last year, Howe Sound Pulp and Paper purchased approximately 10% of the logs we harvested each and every year. They have not been our largest customer, but they have been our most consistent.

Having a local mill able to use part of the fibre harvested here on the Sunshine Coast has been an important piece of the regional forest economy and of our own operations. There is no comparable regional customer waiting to absorb this volume. For us and for others, that can mean more export and more fibre left without a viable market.

Last year, members of our Board, Community Advisory Panel and staff toured the mill as part of an effort to build a stronger, more collaborative relationship and deepen our understanding of how our respective operations connect after entering into a pulp log supply agreement. We also looked forward to working together on future events, and on our wildfire risk reduction north of the Sechelt Airport - where they were slated to buy logs to help balance the budget. While there, we were hosted by highly professional staff in various roles, some of whom who had moved there for their jobs, and also where more than one family member currently worked at the mill - this announcment is much more than a figure for job numbers, it's deeply personal.

The announcement marks the potential loss of something that has been a steady part of SCCF’s story since the beginning, and a significant change to the forestry landscape on the Sunshine Coast.