Sturgeon Falls Brush and Contracting Limited - Licence for a forest resource processing facility

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is considering the issuance of a type “C” forest resource processing facility licence to authorize the construction and operation of a forest resource processing facility.

Under Ontario Regulation 167/95 under the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, a type “C” licence is issued for a “sawmill” with the capacity to consume between 25 and 200 cubic metres per eight-hour shift.  Typical products include lumber, sawdust, bark, by-product chips, etc.  A forest resource processing facility licence may be issued for a term of up to five years.

Other information

Sturgeon Falls Brush and Contracting Limited has submitted a proposal to establish and operate a sawmill facility.  The facility is to be constructed on the company’s property located east of Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.  The proposal involves the construction and operation of a sawmill facility which will include equipment necessary for receiving fibre, debarking, sawing, planing, and chipping/creating shavings.  The new sawmill is intended to replace an existing smaller sawmill currently operating on the same property.  The company plans to maintain the existing sawmill which may operate intermittently, and it will also continue operating a fuelwood processor and cedar mulch business at the same site.

The proponent is proposing to consume private land and Crown forest resources. Harvesting of forest resources in a Crown forest will be conducted in accordance with approved Forest Management Plans.  Harvesting of trees reserved to the Crown on patented or privately-owned lands will be conducted in accordance with a licence to Harvest granted under Ontario Regulation 167/95.

The sawmill is expected to consume approximately 7,000 cubic metres of primarily poplar and hemlock forest resources annually.  Other species such as cedar, white birch, tolerant hardwood, red and white pine, and spruce-pine-fir may also be processed at the sawmill.

Products will include:

• lumber for the building of swamp mats
• skids used in utility construction projects
• custom order rough and planed lumber
• decking
• dock and siding materials
• fuelwood

The wood supply will be primarily sourced from land clearing projects undertaken by Sturgeon Falls Brush and Contracting Limited and via the purchase of open market fibre from local Crown forests such as the Nipissing Forest.  The sawmill will continue to employ five to seven staff and will operate year-round.