TimberWest Forest Corporation is selling its southern Vancouver Island public land operations to focus more on private timberland business.
The company has agreed to sell Tree Farm Licence 46, with timber rights on 83,546ha, to the Teal-Jones Group, which has recently built a C$30m sawmill – believed to be the first new mill on British Columbia’s coast in more than 20 years.
TimberWest president Paul McElligott said: “We believe this transaction is consistent with the direction the provincial government is pursuing with its forest policy objectives and is positive in that it diversifies tenure ownership.”
British Columbia’s provincial government is taking back 20% of existing Crown forest tenures for redistribution among smaller producers, including First Nations.
TimberWest intends to disclose the sale value when the transaction is finalised during the first half of 2004. It plans to use proceeds to pay off debts.
