Half of the province is covered with forests. In the most northern part of the province where it is cold, shrub-like trees grow. Further south there are forests of spruce, jack pine, birch, poplar and aspen.



THE IMPORTANCE OF FORESTS

• The forest is home for many plants, birds and animals.
• We need wood and paper products. (see below)
• Activites that take place in wooded areas include hunting, fishing, trapping, hiking, camping and observing wildlife.
• Forestry provides work for many people.

Before the settlers came, the First Nations peoples relied on the forests for transportation, fuel, clothing, tools, shelter, recreation and medicine.

When explorers arrived they hunted and trapped in the forests of northern Saskatchewan.



The settlers used trees for building homes and other buildings. Wood was used for making furniture and for heating their homes. The land was cleared of trees so that they could farm.



A sawmill was built in 1877 at Prince Albert. Soon sawmills operated in other northern communities. The sawmills were near rivers so the logs could be floated down the rivers. By the 1930s the large mills had shut down. Too many trees from those areas had been cut down. The government became concerned about overcutting.



FOREST INDUSTRY



There are 10 large manufacturing plants producing lumber, pulp and panels and over 100 small businesses producing a variety of forest products. Some communites that rely on the forest industry are Prince Albert, Hudson Bay, Meadow Lake, Big River and Carrot River. Many people work in the forest industry in

• timber-cutting and logging
• mills (saw mills, pulp mills, paper mills, planing mills)
• plants producing timber, plywood, waferboard, lumber
• treatment plants (fence posts, poles, logs for cabins, shingles, wood chips, etc. )

Over 85 percent of forest products go to the United States, Japan, Mexico, Australia, England and other countries

note: In 2006 the Weyerhaeuser pulp and paper mill in Prince Albert closed affecting some 690 jobs.
(In January 2006 the paper mill closed and in April 2006 the pulp mill officially closed.)
The mill in Big River and the Wapawekka mill were also shut down indefinitely, putting nearly 300 people out of work.
January 2007 : The sawmill in Carrot River and the softwood mill in Hudson Bay were shut down indefinitely.
In February 2008, Weyerhaeuser's Carrot River and Hudson Bay mills were closed permanently.
April 2008 : Weyerhaeuser announced that the strand board plant in Hudson Bay will be shut down indefinitely putting 170 people out of work.
March 2009 : NorSask sawmill in Meadow Lake shut down indefinitely.
June 2009 : The only operating pulp mill in Saskatchewan is the Meadow Lake pulp mill.
May 2014: The reopening of the province’s largest saw mill took place in Big River, Saskatchewan.
The mill northwest of Prince Albert employed more than 100 people in 2016.
May 2016: The sawmill in Carrot River (restarted in 2012) was upgraded to boost production.

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS

Many other industries rely on wood and paper products.

• stationery (paper, notebooks, file folders, etc.)
• toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, paper bags
• magazines, books and newspapers
• furniture makers, cabinets, coffins
• wooden boxes and pallets
• home builders
• chopsticks, toothpicks and matches
• cardboard boxes
• prefab buildings, wooden doors
• shingles for roofing
• other wood products - rayon clothing, turpentine

Leaves, cones, mosses, bark, berries, branches are used for

• potpourri and perfume
• nature crafts - flower arrangements, wreaths
• food flavoring
• medicines

We get maple syrup from the Manitoba maple tree.

SASKATCHEWAN ECONOMY

SAWMILL, PULP AND PAPER MILL



LINKS: Sask. Energy and Resources our forests | Sask. Forestry Association Focus on Forests