Great Bear Rainforesthttps://www.greenpeaceusa.org/media/factsheets/westfraser.htm
Putting a Face on Destruction: West Fraser
West Fraser's business consists of logging, selling and processing logs
(47 percent of its sales), and producing and selling dissolving and paper
pulp (24 percent of its sales). It also operates a chain of 49 retail home
improvement stores in western Canada (29 percent of its sales). It
owns ten sawmills and four pulp mills.
West Fraser exports 28 percent of its pulp and 66 percent of its
lumber to the United States, making the U.S. its most important
market.
Environmental and Legal Record
West Fraser has the rights to log in 17 pristine rainforest valleys and in
an additional four key ecological areas within the Great Bear
Rainforest. It is currently logging one of the pristine valleys, Chambers
Creek, and already has plans to log seven more over the next five
years.
According to the Michael Jantzi Research Associates report (1998),
over 74 percent of West Fraser's lumber is produced by clearcutting.
According to official government figures, West Fraser broke provincial
regulations on 77 occasions between 1995 and 1997.
Among these violations were:
31 infractions of the Forest Act and
44 infractions of the Forest Practices Code.
The British Columbian government has also alleged that West Fraser
violated the Forest Practices Code on an additional 108 occasions.
Address
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.
Suite 1000
1100 Melville Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6E 4A6
Ph.: ("1) 604 895-2700
Fax: ("1) 604 681-6061
www.WestFraserTimber.ca
Facts and Figures
CEO: Henry Ketcham III
Employees: 6,500
Annual Allowable Cut (AAC): 5,700,000 cubic meters
Sales (1997): 1,869,800,000 Canadian dollars
Net earnings: 69,000,000 Canadian dollars