Prince George, B.C., – The Province continues to work with the community of Burns Lake as the community tries to recover from the devastating loss of the Hampton Affiliates’ Babine Forest Products sawmill.

 

Tourism experts will be heading to Burns Lake to work with First Nations and Burns Lake community leaders to develop a tourism strategy. Minister of Jobs Tourism and Innovation , Pat Bell, says one project which could be further enhanced may be the  mountain bike festival. Bell says that event could possibly be expanded.

 

The fibre supply analysis  for the Burns Lake region continues, “I’m confident we will be able to come up with some solutions,  right now, they are looking at eleven different options “ Bell says they expect to have advice to present to the Minister of Forests in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, 22 thousand cubic meters of wood will be harvested to help keep Pinnacle Pellet up and running. That plant is next to the Babine Forest Products operation and relied on wood waste from that sawmill. Bell says that  volume will just get Pinnacle through the spring break up, and long term solutions are needed.

 

Other initiatives include:

·        having a team of economic development experts heading to Burns Lake to develop strategies

·        working on brownsite clean up , there are three sites which could be cleaned up and prepared for development,

·        ramp up the forests for tomorrow program over the summer months to have more replanting in that region, forest fire fuel mitigation   work

·        a second job fair could be held in mid March, this time focusing on opportunities such as tourism

·        possible short term work on ministry of transportation projects in the region,

·        possible work on B.C. Hydro projects that have been ear marked for the area.

 

Minister Bell offered praise to Endako Mines for coming to the plate to offer jobs to the workers displaced by the tragic fire which claimed two lives and destroyed the sawmill which was the primary employer in the region.