Aspen Planers in Merritt could reopen soon: Mayor Goetz

MERRITT, B.C. — In December, Aspen Planers announced a three-week shutdown of its two mills in Merritt, citing a lack of steady log supply. Those three weeks have come and passed with the mills remaining silent.

“This is the last actual operating sawmill in this community. We need to protect it,” Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz told CFJC Today.

The city of Merritt once had five mills. After the closure of Tolko in 2016, Aspen Planers is the last one standing. The mill directly employs 150 workers, along with countless contractors, truckers and others in the Merritt area affected by the current shutdown.

“When we lose a tax base, a lot of our things in the community are threatened. Do we change hours on the pool? Do we change hours at the civic centre? Because we can only operate with the money we get, and when we lose a corporate taxpayer, it’s hard on the community,” stated Goetz about the importance of Aspen to the community.

Aspen Planers is a B.C.-only company, and Goetz believes it’s time for the government to support local.

“They have made a vested interest to be invested in B.C. and this community and I think the government needs to recognize that because the city does. It’s like a ‘shop local’ thing. You need to help these companies stay viable so we can have people come to our community. If you don’t have anything to come to, your community is going to die — it’s that simple,” said Goetz.

The story is not unique to Merritt and Aspen Planers. On Wednesday (Jan 11), Canfor announced the closure of their pulp mill in Prince George, leaving 300 employees scrambling for new work.

“If we don’t have these business operating we don’t have the jobs, plain and simple,” said B.C. Liberal forestry critic Mike Bernier. “We need to figure out, like I say, adapt to the situations, look at policies. Forestry is changing, we know that, but the policies need to change as well. We can’t just wipe our hands and say no more forestry in British Columbia — which is where I believe this government is going.”

Goetz has met with Aspen and the Ministry of Forests in recent days, and noted there is hope that the indefinite shutdown could come to an end soon.

“They expect that they will have Aspen up and running in the next week or so. A lot of people are saying it’s a global turn down — it’s not. It’s an issue of getting permits out in time and that’s what’s happened,” said Goetz.

In an emailed statement to CFJC Today late Thursday afternoon, the forests ministry stated that challenges around weakening markets and decreasing timber supply has led to curtailments.

“In the Merritt [Timber Supply Area], this is exceptionally challenging based on the history of mountain pine beetle damage and the 2021 wildfires,” reads the statement.

The ministry also noted that the annual allowable cut decreased in 2021 from 1.5 million to 1.2 million cubic metres per year. With regards to permit issues noted by Goetz, the ministry stated that the “vast majority” of permits within the district are issued within 40 days.

“The latest data for the Cascades District (which includes Merritt) indicates that almost 84 per cent of these permits were issued in that time frame,” continues the statement.