Forestry: The art (skill), practice, science and
business of managing forest stands and landscapes to sustain an
ecologically possible and socially desirable balance of values.
Forest management in Ontario is guided by provincial legislation and strategic policy documents that mandate social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Forest management practices are regulated through the Ontario's forest management guides and through its forest management planning
process. Forest companies in Ontario gain access to public timber
supplies, also known as tenure, through agreements with the province of
Ontario called Forest Resource Licences.
The most common license is the Sustainable Forest License (SFL), which
cover a period of twenty years and are renewed every five following Independent Forest Audits
of forest management activities. In exchange for the right to harvest
forest resources, the Forest Company, or Licensee, agrees to collect
information pertaining to the forest resource, prepare forest management
plans that adhere to government regulation, implement and monitor
harvesting and forest protection activities, construct and maintain
forest roads, and pay a stumpage fee to the crown for all the wood they harvest.
The Forest Sector is an integral part of Ontario. While the role of
the forest sector in the development and prosperity of northern Ontario
cannot be overstated, its contributions to the entire Province are
seldom recognised. Ontario's forest sector is deeply integrated into
communities throughout Ontario and its importance extends well beyond
the industry sectors producing primary forest products.
In the past century Ontario's forests
have supported the development of extensive sawmilling, pulp, paper,
and plywood industries. In that time however, the forest sector has
grown such that characterisations of the forest sector solely in terms
of 2x4's and newsprint production are no longer valid. The Ontario
forest sector now produces a wide array of high value paper and wood
products such as structural building components engineered to building
specifications. Moreover, a broad array of equipment, service, and
supply sectors are now engaged throughout an increasingly complex
process that turns standing timber into countless forest products.
A useful distinction can be made between two sectors of the Ontario Forest Industry:
The forest resources management sector includes all activities
associated with managing the forest resource, harvesting timber, as well
as transporting wood to processing facilities.
The manufacturing sector involves all aspects of the manufacturing
and remanufacturing process that transforms wood into end products and
consists of two distinct industries engaged in either:
Wood products manufacturing - industries manufacturing lumber,
plywood, veneer, and other re-manufactured or engineered wood products;
or,
Pulp and paper products manufacturing - establishments that
manufacture pulp for use in paper production, and/ or paper products
Within these categories further distinctions are also made that
commonly refer to products as either primary or secondary (i.e.
value-added) products according to the amount of processing required to
deliver the end product.
