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Southern Interior
The Southern Interior region is highly diverse in its geography and economy.
From high mountains to fertile valleys to broad plateaus and even desert, it comprises an area of approximately 24 million hectares or 25% of the provincial land base. The region stretches from the City of Quesnel in the North to the US border in the south and from the Rockie Mountains in the east to the District of Lillooet and Anahim Lake in the west.
Home to more than 700,000 people, it is famed for its historic gold rush, the beautiful Okanagan orchards, burgeoning wine, hi-tech and tourism industries, an important ranching community, world class skiing and a strong, diverse & resilient forest industry.
Kelowna is the region’s largest community, but there are many communities throughout the region where forestry is a major contributor to the economic well being of the area, including; Kamloops, McBride, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House, 70 Mile House, Castlegar, Vavenby, Cranbrook, Elko, Canal Flats, Golden, Grand Forks, Kelowna, Lumby, Lillooet, Lytton, Merritt, Midway, Nakusp, Nelson, Penticton, Okanagan Falls, Radium, Slocan, Creston, Princeton, Revelstoke, Westbank, Salmon Arm, and Vernon.
The Southern Interior Region is the largest wood products producing region in Canada, including; 7 billion board feet of lumber, 2.8 billion sq ft 3/8 of plywood, panels, veneer and engineered wood products and 1.8 million tonnes of pulp & paper annually. The most important commercial tree species are SPF (spruce-pine-fir), Douglas fir and cedar.
Forestry Industry Quick Facts - Southern Interior
- The total harvest in 2004 was 29 million cubic meters.
- Forestry in southern BC supports approximately 26,000 direct and 52,000 indirect jobs.
- Of the $1.2 billion in stumpage, royalties and rents paid by the BC forest industry to the BC Government in 2004, $450 million or 37.5% came from the southern interior lumber sector.
- Sawmills produce more than 7 billion board feet of lumber annually (enough for 640,000 new single family homes).
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| Estimated Annual 2002 Manufacturing Capacity within COFI Southern Region |
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Facilities |
Number of Facilities |
| |
Chip Mills |
5 |
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Log Homes |
30 |
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Lumber Mills |
82 |
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Pole Mills |
23 |
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Pulp Mills |
5 |
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Plywood and Panel |
16 |
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Other |
6 |
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TOTAL |
168 |
(Source: MoF, July 2005)
| Gary Crooks, Vice President - Southern Operations |
| Archie MacDonald, General Manager - Forestry |
| Gary Desrosier, Manager - Quality Control |
| Deb Bazett, Forest Education Coordinator |
Please call us if you have any questions about forestry in Southern British Columbia
Contact Info:
Council of Forest Industries
#360 – 1855 Kirschner Road
Kelowna, BC V1Y 4N7
| Phone: |
250-860-9663 |
| Fax: |
250-860-0009 |
| Web: |
www.cofi.org |
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