Burns Lake Comfor reports strong fiscal year

The Burns Lake Community Forest (BL Comfor) reported its numbers for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, and distributed funds to its shareholder and partners.

“Our total gross revenues were $12,224,919.00. The net profit was $6,459,538.00. Approximately 20-30 per cent of the net profit is held by the company for operational continuity, especially in those years where profit is lean or no profit at all. The total profit available for distribution this last fiscal year was $4,668,221.29. This was equally distributed between the shareholder, which is the Village of Burns Lake, and the two partners the Wet’suwet’en, and Ts’il Kaz Koh Nation,” said BL Comfor General Manager Frank Varga.

This means that each of the three parties received a total of $1,556,073.76. Last fiscal year from September 2020 to September 2021, the BL Comfor planned to harvest 208,655 cubic meters, 100,527 of which being green and 108,126 being dry trees. They exceeded that amount, harvesting around 215,000 cubic metres by end of fiscal, of which 102,812 was green and the remainder dry dead.

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“We were one of the fortunate business sectors during COVID-19, in that we had seen no negative affect on our business cycles. This was extremely helpful as BL Comfor was successfully able to continue supporting our contracting community through the past two years, and with the later part of the pandemic seeing a strong demand for fiber, it placed the BL Comfor in a great position for success,” Varga told Lakes District News.

From a business perspective. Varga says that the BL Comfor will continue focusing efforts on dead pine recovery and so long as the markets supports a strong demand for volume, will also continue to maximize value out of dead pine as long as possible.

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“Our mountain pine beetle mitigation plan, encompassing five-year planning for harvest strategies, was essential for us to maximize the opportunities in a strong fiber market. Last year was our first year where BL Comfor could effectively support a harvest profile that was in demand maximizing the value of the harvested volume, and of course a strong lumber market throughout the year helped the continued growth opportunities to finish our fiscal strong and healthy,” he said.