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New Brunswick woodlot owners are crying foul over the provinces’ decision to allow large Crown wood license holders to export raw lumber into the United States this season. The decision will see more than 200,000 cubic metres (about 70,000 cords) trucked into the United States for processing at American mills. Is this really the best use for our forestry resource? The woodlot owners are claiming large forestry companies have an unfair advantage with their Crown wood, and are poaching a market demand they worked hard to develop after many New Brunswick mills have either shut down or scaled back their operations.

The three large companies, Fraser Papers, UPM and J.D.

Irving counter there is no New Brunswick demand for this wood, and the exports are providing valuable employment for wood harvesting crews and trucking companies. Neither argument considers another important consideration; New Brunswick’s Crown Wood is a provincial resource that should provide tangible benefits for all New Brunswickers.

For decades the vast timber resources on provincial land have been more than a source of fibre. Companies with a license to harvest Crown wood had to also process it in the province, providing valuable jobs. Softwood was transformed into dimension lumber at sawmills, pulp was manufactured into newsprint and specialty papers, hardwood was created into furniture, flooring or fuel. It was a case of basic economics, making a valuable natural resource even more valuable by refining it, creating more goods and wealth for the province. The stumpage fees derived for timber harvesting was a small part of what the forest was worth to New Brunswickers.

Unfortunately "New Brunswick's oil patch" has seen tough times in the last three years. Employees in forestry dependent communities like Juniper and Plaster Rock have joined other wood workers in the unemployment line as the companies were forced to close mills because of soaring costs and plummeting demand for their products. Exporting raw logs outside the province may have some short-term benefits, but there are encouraging signs that the market will turn around in the near future, and the province should make sure that the provincial wood resource provides a maximum return and benefit to all New Brunswickers.