A website designed to connect buyers and sellers of British Columbia wood products was launched this fall by Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Steve Thomson recently.
WoodSourceBC.com was initially formed under the Bridges Project and is intended to provide easy access to current information on the availability of wood products within forest communities across the province.
An initiative of the province's three Beetle Action Committees, the B.C. Community Forest Association, the Federation of BC Woodlot Associations (FBCWA) and Community Futures, its goal is to identify new log market opportunities in an effort to increase the value of wood to small-tenure holders.
Roserim Nursery owner Gernot Zemanek is a member and former executive of the South Cariboo Woodlot Association and represents FBCWA on the Forest Genetics Council of B.C.
He says the website is a great tool for finding or marketing a particular forest product and arranging a steady supply.
It is yet to be determined who will get on board and use the new website in the South Cariboo, but Zemanek notes some local licensees' names have already appeared on it a few times.
"The potential is all over the place. I'm seeing ... this web-based tool as being a virtual log yard, where people have what they've got for sale and trying to hook up with those who want chips, for example, or hog fuel or slabs."
A log home builder or artist might look for a specific type or shape of log, or small mills or re-manufacturers could source logs or other fibre, he says, adding even a window-frame manufacturer might find the particular wood it needs.
Zemanek notes the problem getting this going in places, such as the South Cariboo, is people don't have access set up for the kind of fibre or product they need to re-manufacture.
"What it takes to make this useful is a body of creative and resourceful people who can use these products. You need the people who want to make the stuff, and then you need the raw material."
More specific to his own business, Zemanek notes one sideline to his nursery's seedling business is gathering and selling native plant seeds, which could benefit from a posting on the website.
Whatever the particular forest product, the website adds value by expanding on more traditional methods of shipping logs to the larger mills for lumber, and allows small-tenure holders to market their particular timber for its individual qualities.