Local 1-184 member and technician Debbie White operates the cut-off saw and green end at the new Wapawekka Lumber Ltd. sawmill near Prince Albert.

Saskatchewan local participates in historic
mill opening at Wapawekka Lumber Ltd.

For Native and non-Native work-
ers and communities alike, it was
an historic occasion. A new joint
venture between a major forest
company and the Woodland Cree
First Nations bands of northern
Saskatchewan was celebrated by
an “official opening” (see story
opposite page) of the $22.5 million

Wapawekka Lumber Ltd. sawmill
on June 24.

The new mill, about 10 minutes
outside Prince Albert, is a partner-
ship between Weyerhaeuser
Canada Ltd. and _ three
Saskatchewan First Nations — the
Lac La Ronge Indian Band, the
Montreal Lake Cree Band and the

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nations.
Weyerhaeuser put up 51% of the
sawmill investment while the three
First Nations bands put up equal
portions of the remaining 49%.
The partnership, which was
announced in March of last year,
began producing dimensional lum-
ber this May 10 out of small-diame-

ter logs taken from Weyerhaeuser’s
giant Forest Management License
Agreement with the provincial goy-
ernment.

The end product, rough-sawn 2 x
4’s and 2 x 6’s are then shipped to
Weyerhaeuser’s Big River sawmill

Continued on page nine

Le

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¢ Technician Kevin Barber in the PLC room that monitors the mill’s flow.

8/LUMBERWORKER/SEPTEMBER, 1999

° Trim Saw #2 technician Isaac Venne handling lumber in the high speed mill.