“We need to review our ways of managing the forest, it’s urgent”

(Sacré-Cœur) From the air, the view is breathtaking. As far as the eye can see, the forest is omnipresent. But north of the municipality of Sacré-Cœur, on the North Shore, it is one of the most difficult territories for the forestry industry, according to André Gilbert, general director of Boisaco, a cooperative formed by workers and citizens of the region in 1985.

“We are in one of the most difficult territories in the province, if not the most difficult,” says Mr. Gilbert, who has managed Boisaco since 2008. From the top of an AS350 B3 helicopter, which flies over the territory operated by Boisaco, we note that the often steep landscape does not favor the passage of the machinery necessary for cutting trees.

For two days, in mid-October, The Press was able to accompany a team from Boisaco which flew over its territory by helicopter to carry out an inventory. The aircraft has also landed in several areas affected by forest fires since 1991.

The Boisaco territory is a summary of the issues that will affect the forestry industry in recent years. There is a huge area that the Innu of Pessamit want to protect from industry to protect the woodland caribou, an endangered subspecies. Climate change – and resulting wildfires – is the other major obstacle to timber harvesting.

The young pilot Émeric Beaudet, from the Peak Aviation company, lands his helicopter on the edge of fire number 353 which razed many hectares of forest during the summer. We quickly walk through a gloomy forest where most of the trees are still standing, even if they are all dead.

“Be careful not to bring your hand to your face if you touch a tree,” warns André Gilbert. These were literally charred during the fire and their bark is now covered in soot, giving a sinister appearance to the forest composed mainly of black spruce trees.

“It’s sad to see that, for a forester,” says Benjamin Dufour, director of forestry operations at Boisaco, who is also general director of the forestry workers cooperative COFOR, shareholder of Boisaco. “This” is a burned forest which has not yet been recovered before the black longhorn beetle, an insect fond of dead trees, makes its holes there to lay and deposit its eggs.

The period for recovering wood after a fire is around eight months, a maximum of a year, explains André Gilbert. After this period, the wood risks no longer having any value for the forestry industry, due to damage caused by the long-horned beetle. A burned forest whose trees have not been recovered also limits the possibilities of reforestation, argue the two men.

Even if these burned trees are on the territory of Boisaco, no one can recover them without authorization from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF). The Ministry, for its part, must also carry out consultations before giving the green light. In this case, the territory ravaged by fire 353 is also in the zone planned for a protected area claimed by the Innu of Pessamit.

However, this indigenous community refuses to allow the burned wood to be recovered since the area could become a protected area, maintains André Gilbert. “It would in no way prevent the creation of a protected area, if we go and look for this wood,” he pleads.

“A forest that has just burned is a biodiversity hot spot,” recalls Évelyne Thiffault, professor in the department of wood and forest sciences at Laval University. Dead wood will attract insects, which will attract birds. And going to collect the wood also has impacts,” she says.

The 353 fire zone illustrates the dilemma that will arise more frequently with climate change and forest fires which are likely to be more severe: let the forest regenerate naturally, or reforest, as the forestry industry demands?

For a company like Boisaco, whose territory is already difficult to exploit, the upcoming decisions could prove crucial.

The CEO of Boisaco supports the idea of ​​reviewing planning practices, protecting caribou and creating protected areas in northern Quebec. On the other hand, he asks that we not cause a “break” in his business, which supports an entire community.

“Yes, we must protect and develop more [la forêt], but it takes a plan so that there is no break in the system,” he says. A break would mean a significant drop in the volume of wood that Boisaco could harvest.

“The famous transition that everyone is talking about [pour l’industrie forestière], we have been doing it for a long time. We want to maintain our supply, because we have an entire sector that depends on it,” specifies Mr. Gilbert.

This sector involves several companies affiliated with Boisaco which provide a second and even a third transformation of the harvested wood. Door panels, pellets made from sawdust, horse bedding, etc.

“We use 100% of the resources at Boisaco,” says its general director proudly. For us, profit is a means, not an end. All members of the cooperative receive a portion of the profits. But what makes us strong is that 70% of our profits are reinvested in the company. »

“We live from the forest, but we also live in the forest. We too want to preserve it, but we also want to allow our community to continue to exist,” says André Gilbert.