Our community wants to work with these wood suppliers to develop new markets. A strong business development strategy can turn this situation into a win for everyone involved. The Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission is leading a regional coalition to deal with this issue and Jon Howard, an experienced manager in our wood supply organization, has been appointed to work full time for the next year with the coalition. A unified approach which cuts across government agencies and the private sector is needed to create new opportunities for hundreds of our citizens. The ideal solution would create new businesses and expand existing businesses to utilize all the logs and chips currently produced.
Timing is a critical factor.
The sawmills and logging operations have payrolls to meet and equipment financing costs which must be met. Logging companies and sawmills which supply the pulpmill are located primarily within a 100-mile radius of the pulpmill. Many of these companies use the most modern, productive, environmentally sound approaches with a sustainable forest philosophy. The costs of transporting the logs and chips become prohibitive after 150-200 miles. The less desirable logs and chips are used for pulp while better logs are used for saw logs.