Attawapiskat in the news again...

#juan

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Whatever they do, they need to make something they can trade for money. I somehow doubt there are a lot of big cedar trees that could be used for shakes. Hell, maybe they can mine diamonds. Is anyone but Debeers making money from diamonds?
 

BornRuff

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Once again, plenty of farmers have sawmills, and it's perfectly affordable.

The economics of a farm and a remote first nations reserve are different. Everything costs a lot more by the time you get it up there, and it isn't like you can just pop a portable sawmill into a community and be done with it.

They need to train people to use it. They need equipment to cut and move the trees. If they can't get a decent amount of lumber out of this, it is just a waste of money, which puts them deeper in a hole.
 

EagleSmack

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If The Walton's can run a sawmill on Walton's Mtn.... so can they!

 

SLM

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That needs a bit of thought, I think with the Waltons most of what you got were the good times or at least the times that ended well.

Well it took place during the depression didn't it, so I don't know how good the good times could've been.

Oh, also, it was just a tv show, lol.
 

karrie

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The economics of a farm and a remote first nations reserve are different. Everything costs a lot more by the time you get it up there, and it isn't like you can just pop a portable sawmill into a community and be done with it.

They need to train people to use it. They need equipment to cut and move the trees. If they can't get a decent amount of lumber out of this, it is just a waste of money, which puts them deeper in a hole.





If you have a hard time getting a singular saw mill in.... how hard of a time will you have getting actual lifts of lumber in.


Yes, the economics are different. Attawapiskat is isolated and even more in need of self reliance than most farmers.


While I would agree that rebuilding multiple houses damaged by fire isn't practical with a single saw mill, I don't agree that a saw mill is any way a bad idea for long term planning.

If The Walton's can run a sawmill on Walton's Mtn.... so can they!



Hubby's family always run sawmills and done custom work for themselves and neighbours, when they were on the farm.
 

BornRuff

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If you have a hard time getting a singular saw mill in.... how hard of a time will you have getting actual lifts of lumber in.


Yes, the economics are different. Attawapiskat is isolated and even more in need of self reliance than most farmers.


While I would agree that rebuilding multiple houses damaged by fire isn't practical with a single saw mill, I don't agree that a saw mill is any way a bad idea for long term planning.

I am not arguing with you about the concept of a sawmill in general, just that it doesn't make sense unless they have access to a reasonable amount of trees to actually use the damn thing.

You need a lot more than just wood to build a house, so they will be shipping a lot of material up there anyways. If the sawmill can only produce a small amount of lumber, after the costs of training and equipment, it may not be a net benefit.
 

EagleSmack

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Well it took place during the depression didn't it, so I don't know how good the good times could've been.

Oh, also, it was just a tv show, lol.

Yes indeed... in the 1930's.

I wonder when The Walton's jumped the shark?

Good night Slm... Goodnight Karrie ;)

Hubby's family always run sawmills and done custom work for themselves and neighbours, when they were on the farm.

Your hubby's family is EXACTLY like the Walton's!
 

taxslave

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Nov 25, 2008
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Lol, lets be realistic here. We are talking about operating a saw mill, so they need a very sizable amount of trees to make that worthwhile.

Not necessarily. I wasn't thinking of export market just for their own use. THere are several small, efficient band mills on the market that could be delivered and set up for well under $100000. They are easy to operate and more important relatively easy to maintain.
 

JLM

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Well it took place during the depression didn't it, so I don't know how good the good times could've been.

Oh, also, it was just a tv show, lol.

You're not insinuating there may have been a bit of bullsh*t involved? -:)
 

JLM

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I wonder if when the chop stick industry in Fort Nelson shut down if anyone ever picked up that "slack".
 

petros

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Anything a diamond mine would need would be barged in/trucked over the frozen swamp in winter and the goods flown out year round roads are a pipe dream.


As mentioned there's very little decent building material to hand even trees have a rough time there.
Why would trees have trouble?
 

JLM

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I am not arguing with you about the concept of a sawmill in general, just that it doesn't make sense unless they have access to a reasonable amount of trees to actually use the damn thing.

You need a lot more than just wood to build a house, so they will be shipping a lot of material up there anyways. If the sawmill can only produce a small amount of lumber, after the costs of training and equipment, it may not be a net benefit.

I think there is a market for lumber anywhere there is a sizeable population, so I don't people could go wrong producing a couple of thousand board feet a day. There's a diamond mine nearby, surely they need some lumber from time to time.

Too harsh a term. I believe artistic license is the correct term.

That may be a term mainly used by city slickers! -:)
 

#juan

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A saw mill doesn't produce lumber as we know it. To produce lumber you need a planer mill as well as a saw mill. I don't think a village like Attawapiskat could afford anything but a small, simple, saw mill. There is a little band mill out there but they would need someone to come in and teach them how to use it, just like anyone else.
 

BornRuff

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I think there is a market for lumber anywhere there is a sizeable population, so I don't people could go wrong producing a couple of thousand board feet a day. There's a diamond mine nearby, surely they need some lumber from time to time.

Lol, again, if you go back to the start of this discussion, the question isn't if they can use the wood, the problem is that they don't have rights to log on crown land.

If the bands and the government could get their **** together and make an arrangement, I'm sure they could use lots of wood, but it is a lot more complex than buying them a sawmill.

As far as selling the wood to other companies though, the transportation up there just really doesn't make sense.