VANCOUVER, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TimberWest - whose entire forestry operations and private lands have achieved third-party certification under two leading international sustainability initiatives - will be suing the Steelworkers if the union does not retract and publicly apologize for making false and defamatory statements about the company's harvesting practices in the Kweishun Bowl area on Vancouver Island and its forestry practices generally.
TimberWest's operations have long been independently certified under the ISO 14001 program. Its private lands are certified under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative(SM) program.
A retraction and apology from the Steelworkers union must be delivered by the close of business on Monday, October 1, 2007. If the union is not prepared to issue a retraction or apology, TimberWest will take all actions it deems necessary to defend its rights.
"TimberWest takes pride in its logging practices and our company, employees and contractors have worked diligently to ensure harvesting occurs in a sustainable manner protecting biological diversity, forest productivity and key environmental values," said Paul McElligott, TimberWest President and CEO.
On September 26th, the Steelworkers distributed information and made statements at simultaneous news conferences critical of TimberWest's logging practices in Kweishun Bowl and elsewhere. Of note, the union asserted that Kweishun Bowl was a "lake". This "lake", however, does not exist; a fact that the union knew or should have known. The video clip released by the union was edited to make it appear that the trees were being felled into Comox Lake. TimberWest has since demonstrated the union's claims to be false and misleading.
In response to media questions, the union acknowledged that it had been in possession of the video for some time and the timing of its release and attack on TimberWest was a tactical move to put pressure on TimberWest during the current strike. This admission to apply pressure to TimberWest in labour negotiations is a clear sign that the union has acted with malice.
Information circulated by the union also accuses TimberWest of: breaking the law; violating its certification requirements; creating potential harm to aquatic species; falling trees into a lake; poor forest management practices; environmental degradation of a lake, creek and river; putting profits ahead of workers' lives; and sustained abuse to workers and the environment.
"Our request for an apology and retraction has nothing to do with the current labour dispute. We will not stand by idly when false and defamatory statements are made and we will vigorously defend ourselves against these malicious attacks," said McElligott.
TimberWest Corporate Profile
TimberWest Forest Corp. is uniquely positioned as the largest owner of private forest lands in western Canada. The Company owns in fee simple approximately 334,000 hectares or 825,000 acres of private timberland that, over the previous five years, have provided an annual average harvest of 2.594 million m3 of logs and have an approximate annual growth rate of 8.0 m3 per hectare per year on the productive land base. These timberlands are located on Vancouver Island and the majority of the land base supports the growth of Douglas fir, a premium tree species sought after for structural purposes. TimberWest runs fully-contracted harvesting operations. With almost 80% of the Company's annual private land logging now being done in second-growth stands, TimberWest leads the Coastal industry in the growing and harvesting of second-growth timber.
The Company's independent auditor, KPMG Performance Registrar Inc., periodically certifies that the forest management practices on the Company's private timberland continue to meet all Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI(R)) requirements. SFI requirements specify that forest harvesting is integrated with environmental and conservation goals for soil, wildlife, water quality protection, conservation of biodiversity, protection of special sites and aesthetics in a manner that ensures a sustainable harvest over the long-term.
TimberWest also owns renewable Crown harvest rights to 0.7 million m3 of logs per year and operates a sawmill located near Campbell River, BC.
In addition, approximately 38,000 hectares or 94,000 acres of the Company's private forest lands have been identified as having greater value as real estate properties and will progressively be made available for higher uses over the next ten to fifteen years. The Company reviews its land base on a periodic basis to update the size of its portfolio of higher use properties.
Stapled Units of TimberWest Forest Corp. are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol: TWF.UN
Visit us at our web site: http://www.timberwest.com/
CONTACT: Steve Lorimer, Manager, Public Affairs & Government Relations, TimberWest Forest Corp., Telephone: (250) 729-3727, Email:
