Coun. Bill Hadden is keen about a new marketing program called the Bridges Project, and it's something he believes is the wave of the future for small tenure owners.
He notes it's an initiative of the province's three Beetle Action Committees, the British Columbia Community Forest Association, the Federation of BC Woodlot Associations, and Community Futures.
It will be a web-based marketing tool for community forests and woodlots owners to connect log sales with local saw millers.
"It's all about having the right log, for the right place, for the right price," he says, adding it doesn't really effect 100 Mile House right now because harvesters are selling dead, beetle-killed pine.
Hadden expects that will be the case for one or two more years, but it has a limited time line and market.
As soon as the website is up and running, he says community forests and woodlot operators will be using it immediately.
He notes small tenure holders will take stock of the species and types of trees they have, categorize them and market them for their individual qualities rather than ship all of the logs off to have them milled for lumber.
They may have wood that would be good for house logs, peelers or wood for making musical instruments, he says, or they may have some gnarly wood that would good for staircases, furniture or feature walls.
Once this wood was categorized, Hadden explains it would be put up on the website, so consumers who are looking for a specific wood type could search it out, choose what they need and contact the owner to make a deal.
"It will open the market up wider than it is now. It will [increase] the value chain."