2017 International Forest Industries Magazines June July 2017 | Page 68

OPERATION FOCUS – TIGERCAT
Driven to succeed
One of Thomas Logging’s Tigercat H855C harvesters paired with a Tigercat 575 harvesting head
Two brothers with a
lifetime of experience
and a penchant for
hard work have a
drive to succeed and
are proving it just two
years in.
– PAUL IAROCCI
G
ary and Darren Thomas
are third generation
loggers who have worked
in the bush for practically their
entire lives. Hailing from Pelican
Lake First Nation near Leoville,
Saskatchewan, the brothers grew
up hunting and fishing around
Chitek Lake and started working
in the bush when they were still
kids. Both father and grandfather
made a living in the bush and the
boys were line skidding full time
by the time they were in their early
teens. “Logging was something
that we always liked,” says Gary.
“We started full time in the bush at
thirteen.”
However, it is a long way from
chainsaws and cable skidders to
a modern, high production stump
to dump operation. In between is
a story of hard work, perseverance
and a continual striving for
62 International Forest Industries | JUNE / JULY 2017
excellence in the profession.
Gary explains that he purchased
his own cable skidder at age 16,
modeling after his father, Calvin
who had the same line skidding
business model. Father and son
worked this way for several years
until local regulations began to
change in Saskatchewan and cable
skidders were phased out. Gary
and his father sold each of their
cable machines and pooled their
resources to purchase a grapple
skidder.
Agency Chiefs Tribal Council
is a legally incorporated body
comprised of three Indian Bands,
Big River, Pelican Lake and
Witchekan Lake. Its mandate
is to contribute to the human,
economic and social well-being of
its members. One of the Council’s
departments is AC Forestry.
AC Forestry is in turn one of
eight shareholders that owns
Sakâw Askiy Management Inc. This
entity was formed to jointly assume
the Forest Management Agreement
(FMA) and its management
responsibilities. The FMA was
previously held in large part by
Weyerhaeuser which owned and
operated the Prince Albert pulp and
paper mill – shuttered in early 2006
due to poor market conditions.
The Sakâw shareholders include
First Nations and forest companies
own processing facilities in
Saskatchewan. They bring to the
table a proven track record in
business and sustainable forest
management, along with the
traditional knowledge of the First
Nations.
Planning, harvesting, hauling
and renewal operations are carried
out by each of the shareholders
within specific operating zones