<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <!--#include file="template.inc"--><HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <%=Header("", 5, 0)%> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2802" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY> <table border="0" width="400" height="638" align="center"> <tr> <td colspan=2 align="left" height="19" class="bigsectiontitle"> FOREST RESOURCE</td> </tr> <tr> <td height="14"></td> <td height="14"></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 align="left" height="300"><span class="regular"> Peace Valley OSB recognizes the long term significance and benefits in the utilization and management of the mixed wood forest that makes up the timber resource surrounding Fort St. John. <br><br> The naturally occurring mix of deciduous (aspen/poplar) and coniferous species (spruce/pine) has not been fully utilized in the past and present harvesting has had to &quot;work around&quot; the aspen portion of the resource. This skewing of the forest profile should not go on indefinitely if sound sustainable forest practices are to be achieved and the full economic benefits of Fort St. John s forest resource realized. <br><br> The aspen portion of the resource represents approximately 50% of the annual harvest level set for the Fort St. John Timber Supply Area. The introduction of an aspen consuming facility, such as the OSB mill, will enable balancing of the species utilized with the profile of the forest resource and will complement existing harvesting and forest management for the long term benefit of the community. <br><br> Timber to supply the Peace Valley OSB mill will be sourced from two forest licences, a pulpwood agreement, BC Timber Sales, woodlots, private landowners and salvage wood from energy sector developments. Annual wood supply required will be 1.1 million cubic metres of aspen and cottonwood. BC s allowable annual cut (AAC) is about 75 million cubic metres. </span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan=2 align="middle"><br><span class="regular"> <A href="documents/Slocan-LP OSB EMS revised Sept_15_03 original.pdf" target=_blank > Our Environmental Management System</a> </span><br><br></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="231"> <p align="center"><IMG src="images/sloping_forest.jpg"></p> </td> </tr> </table> <%=Footer("", 5, 0)%></BODY></HTML>