The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Forestry benefits all of Nova Scotia
Advocacy group says new, greener pulp mill vital for economy, management of healthy forests
Near the western tip of Cumberland County lies a 1,600acre woodlot that has been in Peter Spicer’s family for seven generations. Every generation has harvested wood from the land and, as the owner of Seven Gulches Forest Products, Spicer takes great pride in his forestry management practices.
“When we harvest an area, we try to improve it,” Spicer says. “By taking out the low-quality trees we improve the stand.”
A certain percentage of any harvest is going to be pulpwood — the lower quality wood fibre that is not suitable as high value lumber, Spicer explains.
“There are parts of the tree — and a percentage of trees — that cannot be made into a 2-by-4 or any piece of lumber,” he says. “That’s what becomes pulpwood.”
This pulpwood comprises slightly more than half of all harvested trees and is destined for processing at a pulp mill or lower grade production facility. Without a market for that pulpwood, it becomes difficult for woodlot owners to effectively manage their stands of trees. Leaving the lowerquality trees standing leaves forests susceptible to disease, infestations, forest fires and blowdowns.
“If the poor-quality wood is left standing — a practice called ‘highgrading’ — then that portion of the forest becomes degraded,” Spicer points out. “For any harvesters who want to practice good forest management having a pulp mill is critical.”
Pulp grade wood from Spicer’s woodlot has been sold to the Northern Pulp Mill since the facility opened in 1967, ending with the mill’s closure in January 2020.
Spicer is a member of Friends of a New Northern Pulp, a group concerned about the future of forestry in the province. The group advocates for the interests of 36,000 small and large woodlot owners, 10,000 owners and workers of forestry businesses and people who supply the forestry sector with goods and services. The group is supporting a proposal by the mill’s owner, Paper Excellence, to transform and re-open the facility.
The group wants to dispel the myth that pulp mills are a relic of a bygone era, pointing out that many household items including tissues, toilet paper, newspapers, writing paper and cardboard are all made from wood pulp.
“We all want and need paper products,” says Robin Wilber, president of Elmsdale Lumber and Chair of Friends of a New Northern Pulp. “Technology has come a long way in this industry, and pulp mills are not what they used to be. This mill will need to pass a rigorous environmental assessment to open as one of the cleanest in the world and that is important to all of us because we need both a strong economy and a clean environment.”
The economic impact of having an operating pulp mill in central Nova Scotia is hard to overstate. In addition to the direct jobs at the mill, forestry contractors and secondary industries throughout the supply chain — the sawmills, harvester and truckers — all benefit from the activities at the mill. The impact of the mill’s closure has been felt throughout the consumer economy, says Andy
“Paper Excellence has a great plan, a plan to transform its mill into one of the cleanest in the world,” Wilber points out. “They’re prepared to make a significant investment in Nova Scotia’s forest industry.”
Macgregor, CEO of Macgregors Industrial Group in New Glasgow.
“Car dealerships, restaurants and retail stores are all impacted,” Macgregor says. “You can see a real difference in the local economy.”
Macgregor joined the Friends of a New Northern Pulp because he believes the forestry sector in the region cannot be sustained without a centrally located pulp mill.
“We need this mill if we’re going to have healthy forests in the future,” he says.
Just a decade ago, Nova Scotia had pulp mills operating in Pictou, Port Hawkesbury and Liverpool. With the Liverpool mill now closed, the Port Hawkesbury mill operating at reduced capacity, and the Northern Pulp Mill having ceased operations, harvesters in central Nova Scotia no longer have a viable market for their pulpgrade wood.
The proposal by Paper Excellence would transform the facility into one of the world’s cleanest pulp mills. The plan includes a brand-new effluent treatment system that includes primary, secondary and — for the first time in Canada — a yearround tertiary treatment system to process the effluent to the highest standard.
The new mill will use less water and fewer chemicals, while producing less carbon and no odour in normal operating conditions.
“Paper Excellence has a great plan, a plan to transform its mill into one of the cleanest in the world,” Wilber points out. “They’re prepared to make a significant investment in Nova Scotia’s forest industry.”
Paper Excellence has also committed to improving its relationship with the local community, establishing a permanent community liaison committee and committing to third party environmental auditing.
“They understand that for their company to be successful, the people they buy and sell from need to be successful,” he says. “We all need to make a living here.”
The use of local wood products has sustained Nova Scotians for centuries, Wilber adds, and a centrally located pulp mill is a vital component of that sustainability.
“Forestry impacts all of Nova Scotia,” he says. “Having a pulp mill here is important not just for the local economy, but for the ecology of our forests.”