It was a typical blustery, cold February day in the Cariboo Chilcotin Friday, but that didn’t deter many of those invited to the opening of River West Forest Products.
River West, formerly a Sigurdson operation, now owned outright by four First Nations groups officially started production late last week.
Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands Pat Bell, Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett, wood buyers from China, and others were in attendance for the Friday ceremony, said Tsilhqot’in chief Joe Alphonse.
The day started out with introductions, included a run down of mill operations and recollections about how the logging industry has changed in the last 20 years.
“I think sometimes we like to think we haven’t made any progress but you think of where we’ve been and where we’re at when I started and I think we’ve come a long way as First Nations people and as people in the industry and the acceptance of First Nations people,” Alphonse says.
“To the point where we’ve actually have our own entity now and own business venture this is what we’ve been striving for. It’s not an easy thing to get off the ground.”
For now, the mill will employ 14 staff on an eight-hour shift each day; its product is being supplied by two logging companies. Alphonse expects this to grow.
“We have to be a little cautious. We’ve had to cut corners here and there and as the revenue builds we’ll start adding more and more positions in the future.”
River West mills beetle-kill wood into rough wood.
Alphonse has been invited to attend a future trade mission to China; he’s not sure whether he will go but thinks it would be exciting to see Chilcotin wood being put to use halfway around the world.
