Interfor’s goal is to reduce our environmental footprint through responsible management and wise-use of resources. Below are some examples of how Interfor is continuing to advance our environmental commitment.
INTERFOR > Environment > Continual Improvement

Continual Improvement

Conservation Leadership Award

Interfor and the Nanwakolas Council received the Conservation Leadership Award from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (SFI®) in 2009 for a partnership to ensure a suitable supply of monumental cedar trees to meet long-term cultural needs on British Columbia’s Pacific Coast.

Biomass Initiative: Turning Wood Waste into Clean Energy

In 2008, Interfor’s Adams Lake Division installed a new biomass-fired energy system that eliminated the disposal of “waste” biomass, formerly burned in an open Olivine burner. It also eliminated the use of LNG (liquid natural gas) previously burned in the lumber dry kilns and in a number of small space heaters in the sawmill and planer buildings, this also removed the need to truck LNG to the mill site. This project was featured in Canadian Biomass magazine.

BC Ministry of Environment Interior Watershed Award

Forest professionals at Interfor’s Adams Lake Division have been involved in watershed restoration activities in Sinmax Creek since the mid-1990’s. The Creek drains roughly 195 square kilometres of both forested and cultivated land into Skwaam Bay on Adams Lake. Working in partnership with the Adams Lake Indian Band and other interested groups important habitat has been restored for endangered Coho salmon populations. In 2002, the BC Ministry of Environment presented the Interior Watershed Award to Interfor’s Alan Thorne for his leadership on this project.

Erosion Prevention Award

Interfor has undertaken a number of capital projects at its mills in Washington and Oregon aimed at improving productivity while at the same time maintaining or enhancing environmental values in and around our facilities. In 2006, Interfor was awarded Oregon’s Regional Erosion Prevention Award for exceptional performance in the field of erosion prevention and sediment control during the construction of a new log yard at the Molalla sawmill.

WWF Gift to the Earth Award

In 2007, WWF International presented Interfor and four other forestry companies, environmental groups and First Nations, with its prestigious Gift to the Earth award to acknowledge the collaborative work that led to the landmark agreements to conserve temperate rainforests in the Central and North Coast of British Columbia.

Responsibility Report

Interfor’ Responsibility Report documents the steps we take each day to operate safely and sustainably; it shows how we make resonsible products our customers can rely on, along with tangible evidence of reduced environmental impacts.

United Nations Environmental Achievement Award

In May 2000, Interfor was one of 12 companies globally to receive the inaugural Millennium Business Award for Environmental Achievement, jointly presented by the United Nations Environmental Program and the International Chamber of Commerce.

Interfor partners and supports a variety of initiatives which can be referred to for more useful information:

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