Below you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about West Fraser’s operations. How is West Fraser working to protect caribou? How does West Fraser manage the forests in which it operates? How can customers and other forest stakeholders be assured of West Fraser’s commitment to sustainable forestry? How much forest does West Fraser manage? Do you own the forests you manage? Are Canada’s boreal forests well protected? What is forest certification? What forest certification systems does West Fraser subscribe to? How is the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in BC affecting West Fraser’s harvesting practices? Where can I go to learn more about wood and green building?

How is West Fraser working to protect caribou?

• We have voluntarily stopped harvesting in all of the caribou range on our Hinton Forest Management Area (FMA) while government-led caribou recovery plans and our next detailed forest management plan continue to be developed.  This includes a voluntary deferral in February 2007 of harvesting on 50,000 hectares (123,500 acres) of our Hinton Forest Management Area (FMA) in Alberta -- this deferral more than doubles the size of a previous voluntary deferral for woodland caribou habitat.

• Most of the caribou habitat within our Slave Lake FMA in Alberta burned in a forest fire several years ago and we have no harvesting operations in the area.  However, we are providing funding for a recent government-led research and monitoring program to learn more about the Slave Lake caribou herd as part of the recovery planning process.

• A portion of the Red Earth caribou herd overlaps with areas where we have harvest tenures but are not the primary forest manager. We are not currently harvesting in the range of the Red Earth caribou herd.

• West Fraser is working closely with government and industry on research and long-term caribou conservation planning. This process will culminate in an Alberta government conservation plan.

• In BC, West Fraser has deferred all harvesting in areas that have been designated as critical caribou habitat under the BC government’s land-use plan.

• In October 2007, West Fraser announced a 100,000 hectare (247,000 acre) deferral in the Quesnel and Williams Lake areas in support of a proposed Mountain Caribou Recovery Strategy initiated by the BC government.

• In non-critical caribou habitat areas, we have limited activity to the control or salvage of insect-damaged timber and small harvest trials for scientific research purposes.
  

• A top priority for our company is sustainable forest management, which is about reforestation, replanting and carefully managing forests for biodiversity, so that the areas we manage will continue to support thousands of species in healthy ecosystems.
  

• Our management practices are designed to meet and comply with rigorous provincial government regulations, which govern areas such as reforestation, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and public involvement.

• We have gone beyond regulatory requirements by voluntarily having all of our woodlands certified by independent, third-parties as being sustainably-managed. 
  

• Over the last 50 years, our company has planted more than 1.1 billion trees to ensure the forests where we operate are constantly renewed.

• Wherever possible, West Fraser uses ecologically-sound variable retention harvesting techniques. This method of harvesting creates openings that vary in size and shape, with variable amounts of trees and other wood structure retained on site.
  
  
• Our harvest practices are matched to the types of disturbances and tree species that are found in natural forests and closely approximate natural processes.

• As Canada’s forests are primarily publicly owned, our management practices are designed to meet and comply with rigorous provincial government regulations, which govern areas such as reforestation, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation and public involvement.
  

• Provincial government agencies closely monitor our activities to enforce regulations and enhance the long-term health of ecosystems.

• We have certified all our Canadian woodlands operations to the market-leading and internationally recognized Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standard.
  

• With our comprehensive certification program in place, customers can have confidence – based on strict verification by third-party auditors – that the products we manufacture are derived from sustainably-managed forests.

• West Fraser manages approximately 8.5 million hectares (21.5 million acres) of crown land in B.C. and Alberta.

• No. In Canada, 95% of forestland is publicly owned.

• We manage public forests under tenure agreements with provincial governments.
  

• As Canada’s forests are mainly publicly owned, the forest industry operates under some of the toughest environmental regulations anywhere in the world.

• Yes.  Canada’s boreal forests are very well protected.  Canada has the largest area of protected forest in the world. Over 65 million acres of boreal forest is currently protected.

• Canada has maintained the highest percentage of original forest of any country in the world. Because Canada’s forests are constantly re-growing, approximately 92% of the forest area believed to have existed 8,000 years ago still exists in Canada today.
  
  
• Canada has the largest area of independently certified forest in the world.

• Only one-quarter of Canada’s forests are managed for commercial use, and only one-half of one percent are harvested annually, including the boreal.

• Sustainable forest management (SFM) certification is a voluntary market tool that demonstrates to forest products customers, via an independent, third-party audit, that their purchases are derived from sustainably-managed forests.  Third-party auditors verify the quality of on-the-ground forest practices, against defined standards relating to key indicators such as biodiversity, habitat protection, reforestation and harvest levels.

• Environmental management systems for all of our Canadian woodlands operations have been certified to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 standard.
  

• We have also certified all our Canadian woodlands operations to the market-leading and internationally recognized Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standard.

• With our comprehensive certification program in place, customers can have confidence – based on strict verification by third-party auditors – that the products we manufacture are derived from sustainably-managed forests.
  

• West Fraser’s harvesting has focused on removing dead and dying trees to halt, where possible, the continued spread of the Mountain Pine Beetle infestation while harvesting timber that is still commercially viable.

• In Alberta, we are working with industry and the provincial government to prevent the eastward spread of the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic. At this time, we are continuing with swift and aggressive action on this front.
  

• Visit www.beconstructive.com to learn more about wood and green building.