Leading Logging Contractors

The Canadian forest industry is rapidly changing, with new equipment and new methods being introduced on a regular basis. At Logging and Sawmilling Journal, our writers work hard to provide readers with information on what is going on in a very diverse industry in a very diverse country.

The structure of the harvesting side of the industry is changing as well, with some forest companies looking to consolidate harvesting with fewer logging contractors. In other areas, the trend seems to be towards more, smaller operators with specific functions, such as skidding, being contracted out. At Logging and Sawmilling Journal, we think it 's important, and of interest to our readers, to determine who the major players are on the contractor side. We already publish a list of the country 's largest lumber producers each year in our February issue and we thought lists of the leading contractors, by region, would make good companion feature. Earlier this year, we started work on a big job -compiling regional lists of Canada's leading logging contractors, based on volume.

Over the next few months, we will be publishing these lists and look forward to your feedback. As a general rule, there are no records kept of the total annual volumes of logging contractors -except by the contractors themselves -a fact that has made the compilation of these lists quite a challenge.

LSJ has contacted industry associations, suppliers, mills and, of course, the contractors themselves to obtain this information. For a variety of reasons, some contractors whose companies would normally appear on these lists have requested exclusion from this feature. In view of that, the lists are as complete as possible.

We look forward to your feedback, however. If you have information that you think should be included, we want to hear from you. We 're starting things off big, in British Columbia where the industry is large enough, and distinct enough, to merit two lists, one for the Coast and one for the Interior. We will be working east in future issues of the magazine, with Alberta 's top contractors to come next. Stay tuned -and don 't forget to check us out on the Web at www.forestnet.com

TOP 10 COASTAL

#1. HAYES LOGGING Owned by: the Hayes family. Head office: Cobble Hill, BC. Areas of operation: Franklin River, Renfew, Roderick Island, Nootka Island, Toba Inlet. Softwood/Cut to length. Volume: in excess of 800,000 cubic metres

#2. TED LEROY TRUCKING LTD Owned by: Ted Leroy. Head Office: Chemainus, BC. Areas of operation: Johnstone Strait/Phillips Arm Softwood/tree length. Volume: 575,000 cubic metres

#3. LEMARE LAKE LOGGING LTD Owned by: David Dutcyvich. Head Office: Port McNeill. Areas of operation: Northern Vancouver Island. Softwood/tree length and bucked. Volume: 525,000 cubic metres

#4. OLYMPIC FOREST PRODUCTS LTD. Owned by: Bruce and Brian Welch. Head office: Vancouver. Areas of operation: Coastal BC. Softwood/Combination of tree length and cut to length. Volume: 500,000 cubic metres

#5. MAIN LOGGING LTD Owned by: Greg Main. Head office: Terrace. Areas of operation: Bell Irving to Kitimat South. Soft and hardwood/tree length and cut to length. Volume: 357,000 cubic metres

#6. EDWARDS & ASSOCIATES LOGGING LTD Owned by: Stan Schiller, Brad Billings. Head office: Surrey. Areas of operations: Queen Charlotte Islands. Softwood/cut to length. Volume: 300,000 cubic metres

#7. MAY TRUCKING LTD Owners: The Hamilton Group and Check Contracting. Head Office: Courtenay. Areas of operation: Fraser Canyon/Boston Bar. Softwood/tree length. Volume: 250,000 cubic metres

#8. PALMER BAY LOGGING LTD Owned by: Wayne Fontaine and Rob Estabrook. Head office: Campbell River. Areas of operation: Jervis Inlet to Drury Inlet. Softwood/Cut to length. Volume: 250,000 cubic metres

#9. COULSON FOREST PRODUCTS LTD Owned by: the Coulson family. Head office: Port Alberni. Areas of operation: Vancouver Island. Softwood/Tree length and bucked. Volume: 230,000 cubic metres

#10. BEAR CREEK CONTRACTING LTD Owned by: George Munsen. Head Office: Terrace. Areas of operation: Northern BC Coast. Softwood/Cut to length. Volume: 225,000 cubic metres

TOP 10 INTERIOR

#1. GULBRANSON LOGGING LTD Owned by: Mel and Emil Gulbranson. Head office: Vanderhoof. Areas of operation: Vanderhoof, Fort St James, Mackenzie. Softwood/tree length, bucked and cut to length. Volume: 535,000 cubic metres

#2. CLUSKO LOGGING ENTERPRISES LTD Owned by: Arnold Bremner. Head office: Williams Lake. Areas of operation: Chezacut, Lovell Cove. Softwood/tree length bucked, short logs and cut to length. Volume: 510,000 cubic metres

#3. BLACKWATER CONSTRUCTION CO LTD Owned by: Terry O'Neill. Head office: Prince George. Areas of operation: Prince George. Softwood/tree length. Volume: 385,000 cubic metres

#4. ROGA CONTRACTING LTD Owned by: Patrick Young. Head office: Monte Lake. Areas of operation: Monte Lake, Prince George and Whitecourt, Alberta. Softwood/cut to length and tree length. Volume: 385,000 cubic metres

#5. BALCAEN CONSOLIDATED CONTRACTING LTD Owned by: Keith Balcaen. Head office: Vernon. Areas of operation: Prince George to Smithers. Softwood/cut to length. Volume: 360,000 cubic metres

#6. FOREST HILL CONTRACTORS LTD Owned by: Rob and Doug Wilson. Head office: Prince George. Areas of operation: Prince George. Softwood/tree length and bucked. Volume: 360,000 cubic metres

#7. GROOT BROS CONTRACTING LTD Owned by: John and George Groot. Head Office: Houston. Area logged: Houston. Softwood/tree length. Volume: 350,000 cubic metres

#8. STAMER LOGGING LTD Owned by: Derek and Val Stamer. Head office: Barriere area. Softwood/tree length. Volume: 350,000 cubic metres

#9. WARMAC VENTURES LTD Owned by: Vern Watt. Head office: Prince George. Area of operation: MacGregor/TFL 30. Softwood/tree length. Volume: 350,000 cubic metres

#10 WILSON BROS ENTERPRISES LTD Owned by: Bill Wilson. Head office: Houston. Area: Morice Forest District. Softwood/tree length. Volume: 280,000 cubic metres

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