The Top Companies in Alberta’s Forest Industry Logging & Sawmilling Journal is once again pleased to present its list of Alberta’s top logging contractors by volume, as well as the province’s top producers of lumber and panelboard. Mill closures and curtailments have had a significant impact on the volume of forest products manufactured inAlberta and the amount of work available to logging contractors. For example, the Alberta Forest Products Association estimates that since 2006, Alberta’s OSB production has fallen by about 62 per cent due to permanent or indefinite mill closures and production curtailments in the province. Generally, logging contractors have seen harvesting volumes reduced. Although the industry as a whole has been hit by the downturn, logging contractors harvesting logs for the pulp and paper industry, and for sawmills not entirely dependent on the softwood lumber market, seem to be less affected. All logging contractors on this list were contacted and participation was voluntary. While we do our best at Logging & Sawmilling Journal to identify those contractors meeting the volume criteria, it is possible that we may have inadvertently missed someone. If you know of someone who should be on the next list, please contact our office at (604) 990-9970. Top 10 Alberta Lumber Producers – 2008 1 Blue Ridge Lumber Inc. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Fraser Mills Ltd.), Whitecourt 2. Millar Western Forest Products Ltd., Whitecourt 3. Weyerhaeuser Company Limited, Grande Prairie 4. Hinton Wood Products (a division of West Fraser Mills Ltd.), Hinton 5. Sundre Forest Products (a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Fraser Mills Ltd.), Sundre 6. Canadian Forest Products (Canfor), Grande Prairie 7. Weyerhaeuser Company Limited, Drayton Valley 8. Millar Western Forest Products Ltd, Boyle 9. Vanderwell Contractors (1971) Ltd., Slave Lake 10. Buchanan Lumber, High Prairie All contents of this article are copyright© 2009 by Logging and Sawmilling Journal and may not be rerpoduced in any form without express written consent Owner: Nik Kuznetsov Top Alberta OSB Panelboard Producers – Head office: Plamondon 2008 Area of operations: Northern Alberta Hardwood and softwood, cut-to-length 1. Ainsworth Engineered Canada LP, Grande Prairie (ori- Volume: 600,000 cubic metres ented strand board) 3.Double B Logging 2. Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd., Edson (oriented strand board) Owners: Leo and Celine Berube 3. Alberta Plywood Ltd., Edmonton Plywood Division (A Head office: Whitecourt wholly-owned Area of operations: Whitecourt Hardwood and softwood, tree-length subsidiary of West Fraser Mills Ltd.), Edmonton (ply- and cut-to-length wood) Volume: 500,000 cubic metres 4. West Fraser LVL (owned through Sundre Forest Prod- ucts Inc.), Rocky 4.Triple G Construction Inc. Owner: Gervin Antypowich Mountain House (laminated veneer lumber, veneer) Head office: Grande Prairie Area of operations: Grande Prairie 5. Ranger Board (a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Hardwood and softwood, tree-length Fraser Mills Ltd.), Volume: 400,000 cubic metres Whitecourt (medium density fibreboard) 5. Paradis Bros. Logging Ltd. *Information provided by the Alberta Forest Products As- Owners: John and Will Paradis sociation Head office: Caroline Area of operations: Central Alberta Alberta’s Top Logging Contractors Softwood, tree-length Volume: 350,000 cubic metres 1. D & J Isley and Sons Contracting Ltd. Owner: Roy Isley 6. Bigstone Forestry Ltd. Head office: Grande Prairie Owners: Bigstone Cree Nation Area of operations: Grande Prairie, Fox Creek, and White- Head office: Wabasca court Area of operations: Wabasca Hardwood and softwood, tree-length Hardwood and softwood, cut-to-length and cut-to-length Volume: 850,000 cubic metres Volume: 320,000 cubic metres 2. SAN Forestry Ltd. 7. Wilderness Logging Ltd. Owners: Perry and Linda Hussey All contents of this article are copyright© 2009 by Logging and Sawmilling Journal and may not be rerpoduced in any form without express written consent Head office: Edson 12a. R. Bruce Erickson Area of operations: South of Edson Construction Owners: Bruce, Murray, Allan Erickson Softwood and hardwood, cut-to-length Head office: Sundre Volume: 300,000 cubic metres Area of operations: West of Sundre Softwood, cut-to-length 8. TJ Logging Inc. Volume: 180,000 cubic metres Owners: Tim White and MaryAnn White Head office: Whitecourt 12b. JHL Forestry Ltd. Owners: Heart Lake First Nation/ Area of operations: Whitecourt Chipewyan Prairie First Nation Softwood and hardwood, tree-length Head office: Chard, Alberta and cut-to-length Area of operations: Northeastern Alberta Volume: 270,000 cubic metres Hardwood and softwood, cut-to-length Volume: 180,000 cubic metres 9. ESC Harvesting Ltd. Owners: Niel Graham Alberta’s Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) -- 2007 Head office: Cochrane AAC coniferous: 15,977,000 cubic metres Area of operations: Southwest Alberta AAC deciduous: 11,213,000 cubic metres Softwood, tree-length Total AAC: 27,190,000 cubic metres Volume: 258,000 cubic metres Alberta Timber Harvest -- 2007 10. Kropp Contracting Ltd. Harvested coniferous: 14,634,000 Owners: Dennis Kropp Harvested deciduous: 8,353,000 Head office: Slave Lake Total harvest: 22,987,000 Area of operations: South of Slave Lake Hardwood and softwood, tree-length and cut-to-length Volume: 225,000 cubic metres 11. Tchir Forest Products Owner: Geraldine Tchir Head office: Lac La Biche Area of operations: Northeastern Alberta Softwood and hardwood, tree-length and cut-to-length Volume: 200,000 cubic metres 12. Exact Harvesting Ltd. Owners: Henry, Peter and Dave Peters Head office: LaCrete Area of operations: Northwest of High Level Softwood, tree-length Volume: 180,000 cubic metres All contents of this article are copyright© 2009 by Logging and Sawmilling Journal and may not be rerpoduced in any form without express written consent.