The Defined Forest Area / Forest Management Area

The DFA is identified as Forest Management Area (FMA) 0600043, FMA 9700033, and FMA 0200039. This incorporates two joint FMA’s and one original FMA spanning from Otter and Orloff Lakes west to Grande Prairie.

Download the Forest Management Area Map - 3.64MB PDF

Slave Lake

The Slave Lake mill began as a wafer-board mill in 1974, owned and operated by Alberta WaferWeld. The mill was purchased by Weldwood of Canada in 1980 and continued to produce Wafer-board. In 1986, Weldwood converted the mill to produce oriented strand board (OSB) at which time they signed the FMA 8600024. The mill continued to operate until 1990 when Weldwood closed the mill due to market conditions. Weyerhaeuser Company bought the mill in 1992 and re-opened it on February 28, 2004 Tolko Industries Ltd. purchased the facility. Currently, this older facility is closed indefinitely due to poor market conditions. A new Engineered Wood Products mill (Tolko Athabasca Engineered Wood Products Division) was constructed 5 kilometres east of the existing OSB facility and is in operation.

On January 1, 2006 the Province of Alberta entered into a new joint Forest Management Agreement (FMA # 0600043) with three forest companies; Alberta Plywood Ltd. a division of West Fraser Mills Ltd., Vanderwell Contractors (1971) Ltd. and Tolko Industries Ltd.  The Marten Hills Joint FMA is being managed as one sustainable landbase to achieve economic, social and ecological goals.

The Companies are committed to the well-being of future generations through responsible environmental performance. Our ability to provide raw materials to our manufacturing facilities depends on sustainably managing forest resources and respecting forest values. The joint FMA enables the companies to integrate planning and operations for better business and forest stewardship.

FMA 0600043 provides an annual deciduous harvest level of approximately 740,000 m3 of Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides) Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera) and White Birch (Betula papyrifera).

High Prairie

Tolko Industries Ltd. - High Prairie OSB Division, Tolko’s first oriented strand board (OSB) mill, is located ten kilometres west of High Prairie, Alberta. The mill’s construction was completed in 1994. The deciduous fibre for this mill comes from public and private land. Due to current market conditions this mill is closed indefinitely.

Tolko has two FMAs that provide fibre to the High Prairie facility. One is a joint FMA agreement signed between the government of Alberta, Tolko Industries Ltd. and Buchanan Lumber in 2002, this is FMA 0200039. The second is FMA 9700033, which is not a joint FMA but an agreement signed between Tolko and the government of Alberta.

The High Prairie Woodlands operating area extends in a radius of approximately three hundred (300) kilometers from the mill and provides an annual harvest of up to 1 000 000 m3 of Trembling Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera L.) and a small component of White Birch (Betula papyrifera).