Emerald Zone Forest Access Road System to be upgraded

The Emerald Zone Corporation will receive $265,000 to construct new forest access roads and enhance existing ones in the Green Bay/Baie Verte Peninsula region of the province. The Emerald Zone Corporation (Regional Economic Development Board, Zone 11) will work in partnership with the Department of Forest Resources and Agrifoods on the project.

Funding of $165,000 through the Canada-Newfoundland Agreement for the Economic Development Component of the Canadian Fisheries Adjustment and Restructuring Initiative (EDC), is incremental to the $100,000 capital budget of the Department of Forest Resources and Agrifoods for this region. The improvements to the region's forest roads will improve access to forestry resources for saw milling and logging operations.

The funding was announced December 24 by George Baker, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Secretary of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and Beaton Tulk, Minister of Development and Rural Renewal.

"This region of the province has a long history in the forestry sector," said Minister Baker. "Many communities in the region, as throughout the province, depend on the forest to help provide the economic base needed for existence and survival. Pulpwood and sawlog harvesting, commercial fuelwood ventures, silviculture activities, and the numerous spin-off opportunities that stem from the primary production activities all contribute to the way of life in the Emerald Zone."

Minister Tulk added that current forest access roads are not sufficient. "Forest harvesting by commercial operators and domestic cutters, and subsequent silviculture work, has concentrated on areas accessible by forest resource roads," he said. "In some areas, all the work that can be undertaken from the existing road system has been completed. This funding will help increase accessibility to the resource and open up new economic opportunities for the region."

Two new roads will be constructed, Mings East (two km) and Wild Cove (1.5 km), while the Seal Cove Road (10 km) will be upgraded. The roads will be maintained by the Forest Services Division of the Department of Forest Resources and Agrifoods.

The three-year $81.25 million Canada-Newfoundland Agreement for the Economic Development Component of the Canadian Fisheries Adjustment and Restructuring Initiative (EDC) was signed on August 16, 1999. The agreement is designed to build upon the strategic plans and priorities of the regional economic development boards to improve the long-term economic climate in regions impacted by the downturn in the groundfish industry.

It is delivered federally by ACOA and provincially by the Department of Development and Rural Renewal.

Media contact:

Doug Burgess
ACOA
(709) 772-2935

Josephine Cheeseman
Department of Development and Rural Renewal
(709) 729-4570

1999 12 29                                                     12:36 p.m.