Miramichi woodlot owners find life in pellets

The forest industry in Miramichi is getting new life, with plans to build a wood pellet plant in the area.

Theproposed plant is a joint venture between the Northumberland County Woodlot Owners Association and a large Swedish energy company, Vattenfall AB.

Plans and financing for the plant are still being developed, said Kevin Forgave, executive director of the woodlot owners' group. The group has applied for provincial and federal funding.

The planned pellet plant will give Jean Guy Comeau and other woodlot owners a new place to sell their wood.

"On the Miramichi, all our mills are closed. It will give us a market for our low-grade quality wood products," said Comeau.

Woodlot owners wouldn't be the only ones benefiting from the plant, said Comeau, adding that full usage of the tree in the community creates jobs in the community.

"When you harvest a tree, you have various products that come from it, and if you can't market all of your product it makes the whole operation infeasible," said Forgave.

"And as a result of this, over the last few years our operations are down by over 90 per cent."

The group hopes to start construction of the wood pellet plant by the end of the year.