No Wood Products to be Sold by City of Whitehorse This Year From Fire Smart Projects

Thursday, 8 August 2019 13:19

There was some confusion at a city council meeting on Monday night regarding why the federal government had to be involved in the sale of wood products from the City of Whitehorse.

Some city councillors asked for clarifications around a summary by city administration at a council meeting on Monday night, which stated that the sale of wood products from Fire Smart Projects around the City of Whitehorse would not be possible this year.

The summary stated that the sale of wood products accumulated during fire smart and wildfire mitigation projects would take too long, particularly since an application process submitted to the federal government on the matter would take months to complete.

Councillor Dan Boyd said in a response that the parties involved in the application process didn't make sense to him.

"The devolution of resources was devolved to the Yukon government in 2003. I fail to see why the Yukon government would need to submit an application to the federal government in order to to all us to sell the wood or allow a contractor to salvage and sell the wood. I can understand why the Yukon government might be involved, but I do not understand why the federal government would be involved or what they would have to do in such a process."

Councillor Steve Roddick highlighted however that the wood projects being harvested around the city aren't suited to be sold anyways.

"One thing that wasn't mentioned in the summary is that the area that is currently being cleared for wildfire fuel is ill suited for commercial timber harvesting. It's mostly brush and small trees. While it may not be possible now to to get the permitting in place to do this (sell the wood), this area isn't very good for commercial timber harvesting."

Roddick highlighted during the discussion that the wood is being used efficiently in different ways by the City of Whitehorse.

"While all of the wood that has been harvested can't be sold as firewood, it's being used for our composting facility which is necessary and needed."

Acting City Manager stated that the whole process was new to administration and that they would see what information they could gather and report back to council when they reconvene next month.