Minister Byrne announces silviculture funding

Natural Resources Minister Ed Byrne today announced the department will spend $137,000 this summer to plant a million tree seedlings and provide 220 person weeks of employment in four areas of the province.

The seedlings will be planted in the districts of Port au Port, Humber Valley, Windsor-Springdale and Grand Falls-Windsor. The funding is being provided under the Provincial Silviculture Program, which received a significant increase in this year�s provincial budget.

"Our silviculture program plays a vital role in maintaining healthy forests and a viable timber supply," Minister Byrne said. "This type of investment is an integral component of this government�s approach to ensuring the sustainable development of our resources. The renewable nature of the forest resource means we have to replace the trees we harvest through an effective silviculture program. This kind of investment also provides annual employment in support of our rural economies."

The Port au Port project will take place in the Romaines/Phillip�s Brook/Dan�s Pond area and will see the planting of 200,000 black spruce, white spruce and Norway spruce seedlings over 83 hectares. The project is valued at $23,655 and will create 48 person weeks of employment.

In the Windsor-Springdale and Grand Falls-Buchans districts, 350,000 black spruce, white spruce and white pine tree seedlings will be planted over 140 hectares in the vicinity of Seal Bay and the Badger Burn. The project is valued at $36,680 and will create 96 person weeks of employment. A second project in Grand Falls-Buchans this summer involves site preparation over 90 hectares in the area of the Badger Burn for planting in 2007. This project is valued at $25,200 and will create four person weeks of employment.

The Humber Valley project will see 500,000 black spruce tree seedlings planted over 198 hectares in the Kitty�s Brook/Chain Lakes/Howley areas. The project is valued at $51,676 and will create 96 person weeks of employment.

Funding for the Provincial Silviculture Program was increased in Budget 2006 as part of a three-year plan to increase the total funding for the silviculture program in the province to $10.3 million. This year the Forestry Services Branch of the Department of Natural Resources will produce 15 million tree seedlings for planting throughout the province.

Media contact: Tracy Barron, Communications, (709) 729-5282, 690-1703

2006 06 07                                           10:15 a.m.