Forest Management
West Boundary Community Forest is an area based tenure composed of 21 different parcels spread throughout the West Boundary region. This working forest balances the objectives of timber harvesting, forest health, recreation, wildlife habitat improvement, and wildfire risk reduction (to name a few).
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Dealing with forest health issues, visuals, challenging terrain, and
multiple values on the landscape, WBCF works to improve all areas in our tenure and manage the forest at a higher level of stewardship
than present industry practices.
Our Community Mill
First load to the Midway Mill • August 15, 2011
Mark Sabo drove the truck that brought the first load of logs into the Midway mill yard under Vaagen Fibre Canada operation. The logs came off Son Ranch north of Greenwood.
​Forestry has been an integral part of the West Boundary region for decades providing resources and jobs for local communities. Vaagen Fibre Canada, located in Midway, BC opened in 2011 in the site of the old Pope & Talbot Mill. The old mill was closed in 2007 when the owner, Pope & Talbot, went bankrupt, leaving about 200 people out of work. Fox Forest Products purchased the mill in 2008 but it never reopened, largely because of the collapse of the U.S. housing market and the high Canadian dollar.
The location sat idle for three years until a group of local business leaders and community members came together to save the mill from foreclosure and demolition. They formed a new company, Boundary Sawmill Inc., to buy the mill from Fox Forest Products and pay off its debts. Since then, Boundary Sawmill signed an agreement with American lumber company Vaagen Brothers to purchase and operate the new mill. Vaagen Fibre Canada, a subsidiary of Vaagen Bros. has been operating the Midway mill since Fall of 2011.
Source: Osoyoos Times, September 22, 2011.