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Island logging company calls it quits after three generations

After nearly 90 years in business, a stalwart of the forest industry on Vancouver Island said it is cutting it losses. Citing a timber tenure system that has handcuffed small contractors, W.D.
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W.D. Moore Logging, based in Winter Harbour, will cease operations this month, lay off 25 staff and sell all its equipment.

After nearly 90 years in business, a stalwart of the forest industry on Vancouver Island said it is cutting it losses.

Citing a timber tenure system that has handcuffed small contractors, W.D. Moore Logging based in Winter Harbour on the North Island will cease operations this month, lay off 25 staff and sell all its equipment.

“It was a difficult decision. My family has run this company for three generations,” said owner Graham Lasure.

He said the company used to report revenue between $6 million and $7 million annually. “But, like so many B.C. logging contractors, we just can’t make a reasonable return on our investment within the tenure oligopoly existing in B.C. today.

“Geographically, there’s only one company I can work for, which makes meaningful contract negotiation impossible.”

The issue of timber tenure — a licence from the government to log Crown land — being held by only a few companies has long been a problem, according to the Truck Loggers Association, which represents 480 logging contractors in the province.

“It’s frustrating. It’s a sad story and one that shouldn’t be happening,” said David Elstone, executive director of the TLA. “This is not the only contractor leaving the business. This is a company that’s been around 90 years, has been through thick and thin, boom and bust, you name it.

“And today, when you see the major forest producers in this province talking record sales and record earnings, here we have one of the longest running contracting businesses in B.C. closing. You know something’s not right.”

Elstone said when large corporations, with an ownership group that doesn’t live in the small communities it affects, have control over Crown land, the small contractors have little choice but to dance to their tune.

“This is the risk of having just one major licence holder. Tenure in too few hands has downstream consequences. If we don’t do something about it, we will see more of this,” Elstone said. The industry has seen as many as 30 to 40 contractors bow out in the last decade, he said. “You can’t have this kind of disconnect in prosperity between one party and another that relies on each other.”

Western Forest Products, the largest Crown tenure holder on the West Coast, last year reported a $94-million profit in 2016 on sales of $1.2 billion. This year, the company is on pace to repeat the feat. Through two quarters of 2017, Western reported a $42 million profit on sales of $575 million.

Western did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

Forests Minister Doug Donaldson called the closing unfortunate and a hardship for a small rural community such as Winter Harbour. “I live in a small, remote rural area and I know how important the small business sector is to a rural community,” said the MLA for Stikine and a resident of Hazelton. “It’s an incredibly tough situation not just for the company, but the people who live in that community.”

Donaldson said concerns over the tenure system should have been addressed earlier. “It’s not good for anybody in the industry whether it’s a tenure holder, mill or contractor if there’s not many contractors left or no one left to haul the wood from the forest,” he said. “It’s something that needs to be addressed.”

Former Liberal cabinet minister MLA George Abbott is overseeing the next phase of the logging contractor sustainability review, a process that is designed to improve the competitiveness of forest sector contractors and strengthen relationships between logging contractors and licensees. That review is to be completed in January.

“What I’d like to see is a healthy small-business contractor sector. They live in small communities and they are the ones that are an important part of a value-added forest sector,” said Donaldson.

But for Winter Harbour that review comes too late, said Greg Vance, owner of the general store in Winter Harbour.

“The closing of W.D. Moore Logging will have a major impact on our off-season [October to May] business. The logger-related business was enough to justify keeping the lights and heat on and keep limited store hours in winter,” said Vance.