News

Logging, plant jobs saved as new owner acquires Tolko mill

The Tolko paper mill in The Pas will remain in operation, now that the company has sold the mill rather than shutting it down in December as planned. The sale will come as a huge relief to the roughly 250 contract loggers who have been supplying about half the Tolko plant’s pulpwood, wood chips and […]

Tolko closure a blow to MB foresters and contractors

By Sheilla Jones The closure of the Tolko paper mill in The Pas is a blow to the 332 employees who will lose their jobs and a town that will lose a major employer. It’s also a big blow to the contractors and private foresters supplying the company’s roundwood and wood chips. “It’s huge,” said […]

In honour of the tamarack

By Marilyn Latta, Nature Manitoba. I am Tamarack. The Algonquian people gave me this name which means “wood used for snowshoes”. Others used the name hackmatack. Larch is another one of my names and you might know me as Eastern, Alaskan, American, Black or Red Larch. I once was much honoured and played an important […]

Production starts at Kenora’s sawmill

By Mike Aiken, KENORA ONLINE For the first time in almost eight years, Kenora Forest Products is producing lumber. Months of renovations and testing finally came to an end on Monday, February 15th, as dozens of workers returned to the site. “Unifor has worked closely with KFP management to help re-start this sawmill, and we are extremely pleased to see […]

Report on wild food industry suggests the need for a co-operative

By Jennifer Paige, MANITOBA COOPERATOR The Woodlot Association of Manitoba (WAM) says the province’s privately owned forests are a cornucopia of foods if entrepreneurs are willing to take a walk on the wild side. Following a number of interviews and public meetings, WAM has prepared a report that sees a bright future for wild food […]

WAM releases Wild Food industry report

The Woodlot Association of Manitoba (WAM) has released its report on wild food foraging and farming in Manitoba. The report is the result of consultations, research and analysis undertaken by the WAM in 2014/2015. Wild Food Foraging and Farming: Building a sustainable wild food industry in Manitoba presents a new way of looking at wooded […]

Woodland-based “crop” opportunities

By John Dietz, TOP CROP MANAGER A virtual cornucopia of wild edibles and non-timber products is ready to be harvested in  the woodlands and boreal forests of Western Canada. While native bush may be something you want to protect forever as a heritage site, or clear off entirely for pasture or grain production, it also […]

Assessing the validity of wild food production in Manitoba

By Jennifer Paige, Manitoba Co-operator Manitoba forests and wooded areas could be a cornucopia of wild edibles ranging from mushrooms to herbal teas, the Woodlot Association of Manitoba (WAM) says. It has been consulting with woodlot owners this spring about the potential for creating a sustainable woodland food industry. “We are trying to suggest to […]

Bark beetles are killing forests — but they might be saving them, too

By Maddie Oatman, Mother Jones There is an eerie feel to this grove of lodgepole pines that I can’t quite put my finger on as entomologist Diana Six tromps ahead of me, hatchet in hand, scanning the southwestern Montana woods for her target. But as she digs the blade into a towering trunk, it finally […]

Woodland foods project identifies need for community cooperatives

By Sheilla Jones Developing a viable wild foods business in southern Manitoba will depend on addressing the gap between producers and consumers, according to producers who are currently harvesting wild foods. “The message from producers is plain,” said Mike James, Woodland Farm Foods researcher and expert in non-timber forest products. “People are not interested in […]