Forest Management Certification Assessment Report for - Rainforest ...

Forest Resource Management and 30 unionized employees working in equipment maintenanceand logging. Forty-two (42) forest management consultants work for the company providingplanning, on-site supervision and specialized technical services. Seventy-eight (78) contractorfirms undertake logging, road construction and log hauling. Fourteen (14) silviculturecontractors provide forest management services.In recent years, there have also been significant changes and reduced employment and economicopportunities in the forest industry in BC. Annual allowable cuts have been reduced in someareas and logging costs have risen due to a number of factors including changing public demandsand legal requirements about logging practices. Commodity prices have been volatile andAmerican duties on softwood lumber have had a significant financial impact on the forestindustry. These and other factors have created strong pressures on companies like Tembec toincrease operating efficiencies and reduce costs. Tembec has undertaken a series of initiativesinvolving staff reductions, reductions to the number of contractors and the amount ofemployment provided by its forestry operations and rate renegotiations with its contractingforces. The effects of these changes are discussed in Criterion 4.1 in Appendix III.Page 56 of 89