Managing the forests: crown wood agency still in building phase.

AuthorRoss, Ian
PositionNEWS

Three years after the Ontario government created a new local forest management corporation (LFMC) on the north shore of Lake Superior, the Crown agency is still rounding into form.

The Nawiinginokiima Forest Management Corporation was established in the spring of 2011 to be the first pilot project established under the province's overhauled forest tenure system.

It will deliver a measure of local control with this community-based agency that will be able negotiate, market and oversee the sale of Crown wood.

LFMC chairman Daryl Skworchin-ski, who participated in drafting the organization's business plan in 2008, admits the roll-out isn't happening as fast as he would like. "I'll be completely honest and blunt about that. But we think we've come up with a formula and model that the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) can use across the province."

Over the winter, the corporation was recruiting senior managers and forest technicians to be housed in refurbished offices at the old travel information centre in Marathon.

Former Terrace Bay CAO Carmelo Notarbartolo was named general manager and John formerly of KBM Resources Group, was named chief financial officer.

Both will reside in Thunder Bay, which shouldn't hinder their job performance, said Skworchinski.

It's been a challenge to convince qualified people to move to Marathon, located halfway between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, he said.

"We decided as a board, if we found the right people that had the right fit for the organization that issues such as geography and distance, with today's technology, weren't going to hold us back."

With almost 3,000 square kilometres of Crown forest to oversee, travel is part of the job anyway, he added.

Nawiinginokiima, an Ojibway word meaning "working together," covers a 1.9-million hectare area comprised of four management units of the Big Pic, Pic River, White River and Nagagami Forests.

The land base contains an available harvest volume of 2.2 million cubic metres of merchantable wood annually, and about 430,000 cubic metres of biomass fibre.

On the agency's to-do list for 2014 is acquiring formal control of those units since the LFMC is still waiting for the official transfer documents from the province.

when harvesting starts up under the LFMC, a good chunk of the corporation's revenue will be generated through the collection of stumpage fees.

Most of that money will be plowed back into local training programs, building First Nation capacity, and...

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