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Manitoba Forest Companies & Tenure
Manitoba Forest Companies Tembec has a Canadian operations website, but is also has a website specific to its Manitoba operations that was publicly launched November 28, 2006.Tembec's Manitoba site provides information to the public on Tembec's activities in FML 01, including Forest Management Plans, Public Meetings, Forest Monitoring and Research Reports, our Environmental Management Systems, and Forest Certification. Tembec Industries Inc acquired the operations, mill, and FMLA for Pine Falls Paper Company in stages starting in 1998. Its forest management legal agreement with Manitoba expires at the end of 2008. Tembec Industries Inc. currently holds FML 01 (License No. 1557 ER) in addition to harvesting rights in IWSA 1 & IWSA 2. The company is also a quota holder in other forest regions, and acquires fibre from five natural regions in the province. Tembec has submitted annual Operating and Renewal Plan since its long-term forest management plan expired in 1994. The company has been granted one-year license extensions to its license under the Environment Act each year. Tembec committed to delay submission of a long-term sustainable forest management plan until the completion of Manitoba Conservation's wide-area land use planning initiative for the East Side of Lake Winnipeg. Tembec also delayed submission of its Interim Forest Stewardship Plan due to the current softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the United States. In November 2006, Tembec released the 2006-2008 Interim Forest Stewardship Plan, presenting as a guidance document to assist in providing Tembec with input on the development of the long term plan - the 2009-2028 Forest Stewardship Plan (FSP) - which will be submitted to Manitoba Conservation for review, approval and licensing in 2008. See Public Registry File No. 4572.00 for details. Tembec has achieved ISO 14001 EMS and FSC certification status for the Manitoba woodlands operation. The Interim 2006-2008 Plan was used by Smartwood in making the FSC Certification decision for FML 01 while the 2009-2028 FSP was being developed. Manitoba Conservation has started the sequence of steps to arrive at a new long term forest management plan and operating plan, new environmental license for Tembec in FML 1. The public review of Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines closed in March 2008. Manitoba Wildlands provided comments. View Manitoba Conservation's information on Tembec  Download Manitoba Wildlands March 2008 Comments  (PDF)Tembec Licence Review Comments Tembec announced that it wished to sell the Pine Falls Mill in December 2009. Media coverage as of mid January 2010 indicates that at least 3 parties are interested in purchasing the mill. In November 2009 Manitoba Conservation allowed Tembec's twenty-year forest management plan, Environment Act proposal for environmental licensing, and the EIS to match the twenty-year plan to be filed. Public review of the plan, and EIS was ongoing through the above events.
Tembec Requests Twenty Year Licence Former customers for the newsprint from this mill included newspapers in the US and Canada. An earlier plan to combine a new sawmill with the TMP mill was dropped. Despite the situation described above in late 2009 Manitoba Conservation requested a twenty year forest stewardship plan, with a proposal under Manitoba''s Environment Act, and environmental impact assessment. The filings went to public review, which closed in January 2010. The licence for the mill, and the woodlands operation are separate licences, but both are held (together with a legal agreement with the Manitoba government) by the same company. All fiber under a woodlands environmental licence goes through the mill. Tembec had been securing additional fiber for the mill across the province. Manitoba Wildlands responded to the public review under the Environment Act. "We found there was a lack of context, and a serious lack of knowledge of public policy as these apply to the public forests in the Forest Management Area. The lack of a business plan, or explanation whether there is any market or an operating mill for the fiber is a glaring deficiency at this time. Our recommendation to the minister of Conservation is to avoid licencing until there are answers to these deficiencies, an improved plan, and EIA," commented Gaile Whelan Enns, director of Manitoba Wildlands. View Tembec Manitoba Operations |
2002-2010