The mayor of Barriere says the proposed Canfor forest tenure sale to Interfor could have ramifications for his community.

Ward Stamer says there are about 150 forest employees in Barriere, and in particular the local cedar mill needs all the stick it can get to avoid curtailments.

“We’re concerned that not only does that wood wind up staying in the valley but being utilized in the valley,” he said. “So, we’re going to continue to negotiate with the government and with Interfor and we’ll be able to announce, hopefully somewhere in the future where everyone can get together and come up with a good plan that will work for everyone.”

Stamer says more than $20 million has been invested into the Gilbert Smith Cedar Mill over the last five years to make the mill more productive.

“I mean, they’re not cutting anything else other than cedar and their licence is approximately 53,000 cubic metres which of course that isn’t what they have in cedar, that’s their total cut and they consumed 170,000 last year in cedar alone,” Stamer added.

He also wants to see concerns from the Simpcw First Nation be addressed if the $60 million dollar forest tenure sale were to be approved by the province.