The head of the New Brunswick Federation of Woodlot Owners is cautiously
optimistic that the provincial government’s halt order for cutting lumber on
Crown land will be the necessary catalyst to get big forestry companies back at
the table. Andrew Clark says the relationship between private woodlot owners and J.D.
Irving Limited and Twin Rivers Paper Company has been “confrontational” and
“dictatorial". Woodlot owners say they haven’t been able to sell pulpwood for months as a
result of an overabundance of product caused by recent mill closings and
because forestry companies are taking their supplies from Crown land at low
prices. They say their revenues are down $250 million over the last 5 years.
