Two more wood supply offers accepted

Left to right: JP Gladu, president of Wawasum Corporation; Chief Yvette Metansinine, Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek; Chief Paul Gladu, Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek; and Michael Gravelle, minister of northern development, mines, and forestry.

Apr. 6, 2011 – Two more Ontario forestry
companies have accepted wood supply offers from the province: Wawasum
Corporation and South Wabi Sawmill.

Wawasum Corporation, located near
Greenstone, has accepted an offer of 113,000 cubic metres/ear of poplar and
white birch. It will use the wood to produce pellets for energy production. The
construction of the pellet plant is a joint project of the Bingwi Neyaashi
Anishinaabek and Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan Anishinaabek First Nations and is
expected to be completed within two years.

"This will be a legacy project for our
communities, Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek and Animbiigoo Zaagi'igan
Anishinaabek, as it will allow us to create opportunities never thought
achievable a decade ago. Our First Nations are extremely excited to contribute
to the biofuel and forestry economies," says JP Gladu, Wawasum project
lead for the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek.

South Wabi Sawmill in Haileybury has
accepted an offer of 3,600 cubic metres/year of red and white pine. The company
will modernize its family-owned sawmill and remanufacturing shop, where it
produces pine and cedar millwork, panelling, and barrel saunas.

"I want to thank Minister Gravelle for
awarding South Wabi a wood supply allocation,” says Fred Mackewn, owner of
South Wabi Sawmill. “We pride ourselves on being a true value-added company.
Our logs are used to build square log homes, saunas, fences, decks, and much
more. We are proud of our commitment to building in the North for the
North."

Ontario is investing $1 million in the
construction of the pellet plant and $32,500 in the South Wabi Sawmill
modernization through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation.