Sustainable Harvesting

Mosaic is the timberlands manager for TimberWest and Island Timberlands, two companies that have been in operation for more than 100 years on BC’s coast.

Much of the land we manage is private managed forest land, but we also steward public tenures held by our affiliated companies.

The trees we grow on our lands support more than 50 local mills. It takes decades of significant investment and labour to manage, plan, harvest and deliver this large volume of timber. Today we employ more than 200 people directly and an additional 2,000 in our direct contractor workforce. In an average operating year, we pay more than $500 million to our local contractors – that’s more than $40 million a month to mostly family-owned businesses in small communities on Vancouver Island and other Coastal regions.

Our Trees Don’t Grow Themselves…

Mosaic is in the business of growing trees as a sustainably managed, world-class resource. Our prosperity grows on trees, but our trees don’t grow themselves. By investing in our trees – beginning with the seed they are grown from – we produce a superior end product that improves utilization, product recovery and value.

Premium Seedlings from Premium Seed

Mosaic’s Mount Newton Seed Orchard is emblematic of our company’s long-term commitment to sustainable, science-based stewardship. In its 40 years of operation, the 100-acre orchard has produced enough seed to grow 250 million seedlings.

With more than 6,000 established trees, including Douglas-fir, western red cedar, western hemlock and a newly-established western white pine grove, the orchard currently produces enough seed to grow 8 million Douglas-fir seedlings annually.

In 2020, Mosaic planted 12 million seedlings in Coastal BC.

Intensive Management to Improve Resiliency, Quality and Yield

As a private landowner, our investment in our trees and forests improves our bottom line through improved pest and drought resiliency, better fibre quality and higher yield. We employ intensive silviculture practices overseen by professional foresters, including fertilization, pruning and other stand tending treatments where appropriate. It takes many decades of care and management to take a forest on our most productive sites from seedling to ready for harvest and regeneration.

Sustainable Harvesting

Harvesting decisions are made based on market conditions. Our team of forestry and sales professionals collaborate to forecast market demand and ensure that trees are harvested and the optimal products manufactured in order to recoup a reasonable return on the 50+ years of investment we made in growing them.

Mosaic hires independent contractors to conduct the majority of our forest harvesting operations – including road building, falling, processing and hauling – supporting predominantly family-owned businesses based in small communities across BC’s Coast. Our contractor workforce employs 2,000 people in high-paying, family-supporting jobs.