Barkerville Historic Town and Park and Cariboo Pulp and Paper are among the recipients of a recent round of project grants that aim to help create jobs across the province and help increase the use of wood fibre that otherwise would have been burned as slash.
Last week, the provincial government announced $27 million in funding for a variety of projects throughout the province. These project grants are being provided by the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. (FESBC), which distributes the grants, in partnership with the B.C. government and the Government of Canada.
“Nothing frustrates people more than seeing piles of slash go to waste rather than be used to help create jobs,” Ravi Kahlon, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD), said during an announcement Nov. 13 at the Pacific BioEnergy plant in Prince George, where he was joined by industry and FESBC representatives and Mackenzie Mayor Joan Atkinson.
These projects will employ forestry contractors, some of whom might otherwise be unemployed, according to a news release. In addition, they will help to employ mill workers who produce electricity, wood pellets and pulp at mills that produce these products specifically. As a result, more wood waste will be turned into electricity, heat energy and pulp products to help achieve B.C.’s and Canada’s climate change targets.
This latest round of grants by the FESBC covers 38 different projects in B.C., with individual grant amounts ranging from $16,980 to $1.5 million. As of Nov. 13, 2019, about $230 million have been provided by the Forest Enhancement Society of B.C. to support 251 approved projects.
Projects funded by the FESBC help minimize wildfire risks, enhance wildlife habitat, improve low-value and damaged forests, re-plant damaged forests and use fibre for green energy production. Many of these projects also result in carbon benefits and contribute to climate change mitigation, according to the release.
“Supporting greater utilization of fibre and improving greenhouse gas management are two of our key objectives,” Wayne Clogg, board chair of the FESBC, said in the release. “These 38 projects will help achieve these objectives while supporting rural communities. We are very pleased to work with the provincial government on projects that support important climate action goals.”
In this most recent round of funding, the FESBC has allocated $27,682,301 to support 38 projects..
In the Quesnel region, the September 2019 intake includes the following funding:
• $488,958 to Alkali Resource Management Ltd. (about 52,000 cubic metres west of Williams Lake)
• $707,540 to Cariboo Pulp and Paper (about 74,000 cubic metres near 100 Mile House)
• $1.5 million to Canfor Prince George Pulp and Paper (about 143,000 cubic metres from Prince George area)
• $1 million to Central Chilcotin Rehabilitation Ltd. (about 90,000 cubic metres in the Williams Lake area)
• $584,138 to Cariboo Pulp and Paper (about 98,000 cubic metres in the Quesnel area)
• $160,000 to Barkerville Historic Town and Park (about 9,000 cubic metres near Barkerville)
• $750,000 to Williams Lake Indian Band (about 30,000 cubic metres near Williams Lake)
• $750,000 to Atlantic Power (about 75,000 cubic metres in Williams Lake area)
READ MORE: Barkerville Historic Town and Park takes big steps to protect site against wildfire
— Quesnel News Staff
editor@quesnelobserver.com
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