The Forest

Though ANC uses wood chips from sawmills for its paper, our company does harvest trees. We have a Forest Management Agreement (FMA) (link to map below) with the Alberta Government. An FMA is "an area-based tenure system" giving the right to establish, grow and harvest the trees from a designated area.

Our FMA is approximately 374,000 ha in size and is located to the south and west of the town of Fox Creek. In addition ANC also has a Quota Area (a volume-based tenure system) located east of Edson in the Wolf Lake area.

ANC's FMA is comprised of 4 natural subregions: central mixedwood (8,800 ha), lower foothills (171,000 ha), upper foothills (179,300 ha) and subalpine (14,400 ha). Included in these areas is a special management area, the Little Smoky Caribou Zone (172,000 ha). The FMA area comprises 94% of productive forests, 5% of non-forested and 1% of recreational areas.

Tree species found within the FMA include Lodgepole Pine, Black Spruce, White Spruce, Balsam Fir, White Aspen, Balsam Poplar and Birch. Within the subalpine region Engelmann Spruce and Alpine Fir can also be found.

ANC operates on our FMA lands in conjunction with other stakeholders. Oil & gas activity is evident throughout the area, as are trapping, hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreational activities. ANC is committed to working with these stakeholders and ensuring they have opportunities for input into our operational planning.

Click here for an FMA Access Map (2.5mb PDF file - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader Software. Download time will vary widely, depending on Internet Connection speed).

ANC's woodlands operations have been certified under the ForestCare program. As a certified member of ForestCare, we submit ourselves to review by external auditors and community stakeholders. We have always passed these audits and reviews with flying colors.