Tough times in the forest products industry

This got me thinking of our former community of Woss. Canadian Forest Products started Englewood division in the 40s. Sometime in the 80s it was called CanFor. In the early 2000s, Western Forest Products bought the Englewood division out. Talk to people around here and they still call it CanFor almost 19 years later.

 

I checked on a logger today. The guy is 60. He is a single man operation. He has all power equipment. It down machine, skidder, and loader. He will cut for a bit, then jump on the skidder and pull till he has a pile at the loader then jump on theloader and work up the wood. He has two trailers and one driver. The driver will drop the empty trailer Russel will load it and then when driver gets back he drops empty trailer and then hooks up to loaded one and hauls it. Russell then gets set out truck and moves empty trailer into the hole to load. Then when loaded he goes back to working wood up.

 

CanFor bought a mill in my area 8-10 years ago. It was a local mill I think it was local. But anyway, that mill was called NewSouth. To this day we say NewSouth still, no one calls it CanFor! Haha . The scale tickets and everything say CanFor but when I ask foresters or truckers where the wood is going I will say New south like a question or they will answer New South. We all know what mill were talking about. They only time that's not the case is if you have a new young Forester start in the area. You will say something about NewSouth and then say yes the mill in Camden as he is looking at you like you have two heads. Then you remember he doesn't know it use to be called that and he only knows it as CanFor. Haha

 

I knew they had operations in the US but really didn't know where. That's cool to think we are connected that way. The Englewood division was the jewel in CanFor's crown for many, many years when it was still the family owned private business. It really changed after they went public. Right now the major shareholder is trying to return the company to private ownership.

 

GP (Georgia Pacific) was publicly traded for years untill the Coke Brothers bought it and turned it back to private ownership, that was maybe 10 years ago? If you do not know who those guys are, there brothers, no relation to the drink just same name. And they are very wealthy businessmen.

 

I think it's Koch.

 

Your probably right. But if I wrote it like that j would of had to said pronounced Coke. Haha. But yea I think I do now remember a wacky sleeping that did not look like it sounded.