The residents of Mackenzie have been watching a pair of log sorting yards develop, wondering if they represent forest industry jobs rolling out of the region.
The two sort yards are adjacent the railroad tracks, close to one another. Sources from the logging industry in Mackenzie said that it was common knowledge there was more available wood in the Mackezie Forest District than its own mills could handle, so where were these logs being processed?
"If they are taking raw logs to the mills like Babine in Burns Lake to get them back on their feet, or Quesnel or 100 Mile, that's OK, but if that timber is going to ships in Prince Rupert and they are taking it out of here unmilled, that's just exporting our jobs out of the country," said one logger from Mackenzie.
The town's mayor Stephanie Killam said the former notion was the true one. One of the log sorting yards was finally being developed by Dunkley Lumber, located between Prince George and Quesnel, after owning the property for years. The other was a wood handling landing for longtime McLeod Lake forestry company Duz Cho Logging.
"We can't process it all, so we have to make the best market decisions we can," said Killam. "Duz Cho has won awards for the work they have done, and they are very supportive of our community. They have done very well, and this is another sign of their activities. Dunkley has been very very good in their dealings with us and with the other companies in Mackenzie. They are very good to work with," she added. "We are happy to have both of them working with our community."
