COFI Chair, Nick Arkle, and Acting President and CEO Doug Routledge Set stage for  conference- photo 250News

Prince George, B.C.-  The Council of Forest Industries  is  on the eve of it’s first full convention since 2008, that in itself is a  positive sign about the state of the forestry sector says  COFI   Acting President and CEO  Doug Routledge.  “This is the resurrection of the full blown 2 and a half day type of convention that we have enjoyed  since  about 1940”  says Routledge, who adds, the convention itself   has been designed to  mirror the transformation the  forestry sector has undergone.

The forest industry used to be  all about  lumber, panels, pulp and paper. But  the  depression that  hit  with the collapse of the U.S. housing market, meant  the industry had to  diversify not only it’s products but its markets.  The forest industry today is   bio-energy, bio-chemical and  portions of trees that  were not considered valuable before,  have new value.

“That is  our future expansion area” says Routledge, “Those areas of fibre that  we weren’t previously able to use, there was no  product development, no demand in the market place, we didn’t have the manufacturing  processes that would handle that kind of fibre economically, and that really is the root of the transformation.”

Routledge says the convention is hoping to  hit the 500 delegate participation mark. That is  about  1/3 of it’s delegate attendance from forestry’s  days  before the American housing market crash, but  then again, there are fewer players in the  field now, as  companies either  merged with others, or folded during the  downturn.

 “The industry never  went away, and I think that there is a perception by the people in B.C.  that  somehow, the industry is no longer  significant.  We were in a deep depression for the last five years, it wasn’t just a recession” says COFI Chair Nick Arkle.

The dark days are over,  as  forestry  is now poised for  what economists call  a “super cycle”   demand  for  lumber is high,  supply is shrinking and  prices  are  higher than  most  can recall yet, forestry,  like other sectors, is facing the same  challenge  all  resource based industries face, and that is a  shortage of skilled labour. 

“We’re working with government.  Obviously government’s recognize this" says Arkle.  "It’s interesting to note both the NDP and the Liberals right now have that fairly high on their agenda because they recognize it’s not just the forest industry.”  Arkle says this  is a fantastic time to be coming out of school with a trade, “No doubt about it,  one of the messages I’ve  been  giving to school kids over the past few  years is, ‘your timing is perfect’ .”  He says  there  is  also a need to increase awareness that forestry  has a future,  that it provides  good paying jobs.  “What we need to do as an industry is let them(students) know there are good, long term, family supporting jobs available for them, they just need to get the right training  and that’s where  the Province  steps in and helps out as well, in  saying let’s get these training programs up and running.”

The conference runs tomorrow and  Friday at the Prince George Civic Centre, with  keynote  addresses  by NDP leader Adrian Dix, and Premier Christy Clark.