Irving closes Doaktown, Kedgwick sawmills

J.D. Irving Ltd. is temporarily closing sawmills in Kedgwick and Doaktown, the foresty company confirmed on Tuesday.

The Kedgwick mill will close between Dec. 2 and the spring of 2012. The Doaktown mill will close between Dec. 23 and Feb. 13, 2012.

"We regret the impact on the 57 hourly employees at Kedgwick and the 115 hourly employees at Doaktown," company spokeswoman Mary Keith stated in an email.

"We remain committed to both mills and normal wood deliveries will continue to both mills during the down-time for processing when operations resume."

The company said the temporary shutdowns will have no impact on the woodlands operations that support the mills.

J.D. Irving Ltd. is blaming poor market conditions for the decision.

The temporary closure of the Doaktown and Kedgwick mills comes two weeks after the forestry giant also closed the Deersdale mill.

That mill, which is near Juniper, will close indefinitely on Oct. 28. The closure will impact 70 workers at the mill.

Irving has said the reason the Deersdale mill is closing is because there is not enough wood. Keith said at the time of the closure that if the wood supply is available the mill could stay open.

The Department of Natural Resources has a plan to reduce the amount of wood that forestry companies can cut on public land over a five-year cycle, starting next year.

The reduction in wood cutting over the next five years is supposed to allow the forest to replenish.

The Alward government said it will decide on the allowable amount of wood harvested on Crown land early next year.

J.D. Irving Ltd. and other forestry companies have been lobbying Alward to reverse the planned reduction, using newspaper ads, letter-writing campaigns and petitions.

Earlier this year, Irving closed its mill in Clair, putting 73 people out of work.