Since the company's rotation cycle will be about 12 years, Mac-Blo's first harvest has not yet been made, and it will produce no operational paper until at least 2004. New Westminster-based Scott Paper has a similar project, but with some differences. That company has planted only 50 ha. Also, Scott requires larger blocks of wood, so uses longer rotation periods, of 15-35 years. Which means it is already on its second, and in some cases third, rotation, although the growth rate of its trees is comparable to those of MacMillan Bloedel.
New trees are clones, produced from cuttings.
The company's current equipment is not suited for other possible pulp sources, such as hemp, but it believes poplars to be a good farm crop because trees also provide habitat for wildlife. These hybrid trees have not been subjected to the kind of genetic manipulation that takes place under a microscope in a darkened laboratory. Rather, they are the product of cross-pollenation of the best specimens of cottonwoods from different regions. Scott Paper's system is a bit different. There may be those who are concerned that the super-poplars will escape their plantations and offer unfair competition to indigenous species.