Fonds pertains mainly to construction and operation of the Chemainus sawmill under the management of Victoria Lumber and Manufacturing Company until 1946, Victoria Lumber Company, 1946 to1950, and subsequently by MacMillan Bloedel Limited, Chemainus Division. It includes a small quantity of records pertaining to other MacMillan Bloedel operations on Vancouver Island. The fonds documents the rebuilding of the Chemainus sawmill in 1924-1925, particularly the interactions between suppliers and the mill builders, equipment design and placement and site and townsite planning. Further, the fonds documents Chemainus sawmill history before 1924 and the technical, mill site and town changes that occurred after reconstruction. The fonds consists of four series: Sawmill reconstruction and operation: administrative, construction and operational records of the Victoria Lumber and Manufacturing Company, Victoria Lumber Company Limited and MacMillan Bloedel Limited, Chemainus Division pertaining to the Chemainus sawmill reconstruction and operation, 1920 to 1989; Legal agreements and insurance policies, 1879-1947: legal agreements generated through the establishment and management of the Chemainus sawmill between 1879 and 1947; Financial records, 1913-1973: dated files of transactions in the form of invoices, credit vouchers and journal records, as well as ledgers, generated by the companies in possession of the Chemainus sawmill between 1906 and 1973; and Plans and drawings, 1920-198-: approximately 6000 technical drawings and cartographic material.

Item consists of one photograph in a card mat of five men in an old growth forest. "C.T. Dunbar's Timber Limits on the Mamquam River, Howe Sound 40 miles from Vancouver, B.C. About 35 square miles. Edwards Bros. Photos." has been captioned on the bottom left of the photograph.

Stock shots

Fonds consists of broad-ranging records pertaining to the management and operations of the Western Plywood Company Limited and the Weldwood-Westply Limited group of regional and national companies, subsidiaries, divisions and branches in Canada and the United States. Records in this fonds are from the British Columbia Head Office of Weldwood-Westply and include material to do with management and operations of various plants, particularly the Kent Avenue plywood plant in Vancouver, where the head office was located, and the Cariboo Plywood plant in Quesnel. The fonds includes records of the following companies, subsidiaries, divisions and branches: Alwest Wholesale, Canadian Collieries Resources Limited, Cariboo Pulp and Plywood (Quesnel), Empire Lumber Company, Hay & Company Limited and Hubbell Lumber Company (both Ontario), Flavelle Cedar Limited, J.R. Murray Timber Limited, Kent Avenue plant (Vancouver), Keeley Lumber Company, Kirk Coal Company, Mount Baker Veneer Company, Tepson's Wholesale (Ontario), Timberland Plywood, United States Plywood, Weldwood of Canada and others. The fonds consists of eight series: Series 1. Executive papers, 1934-1970, predominant 1960-1969. Sub-series: President's files, Vice-President's files, Secretary files. Series 2. Correspondence, 1956-1963, predominant 1960-1962. Sub-series: General Correspondence 1960-1961, General Correspondence 1961-1962. Series 3. Financial records, 1910-1973, predominant 1945-1966. Sub-series: Financial files, annual reports and statements; General accounting correspondence; Tax files; Ledgers and account books. Series 4. Head Office general files, 1946-1969. Sub-series: Topical files, Forest Industry Summaries. Series 5. Labour and personnel files, 1951-1988. Sub-series: Set 1, Set 2. Series 6. Old files, 1907-1967. Sub-series: Companies, Log and timber sale files. Series 7. Cariboo Plywood plant, 1950-1982. Sub-series: Quesnel timber files, General files, Correspondence and reports, Financial files. Series 8. Timberland Sawmill, 1946-1982. Sub-series: Timberland Sawmill technical drawings, Reference drawings, Sawmill and machinery files. Original series, series/sub-series titles, and arrangements have been retained. Arrangements are alphabetical, chronological or numerical.

This series consist of Forest Branch statements of royalty and timber royalty correspondence files, 1914-1918. Records are arranged by Forest District.

The fonds consists of administrative and operational records of the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau. The records are comprised of bound minute books of executive and general staff meetings, corporate compliance and business operations records, marketing campaigns, advertising proofs and photographs, bound newspaper clippings, advertisement photographs, and production proofs.

The fonds has been arranged in the following series:
MS-3233: Minute books
MS-3234:Business administration and marketing records
MS-3235: Marketing and production photographs
MS-3236: Newspaper clippings
MS-3237: Advertising proofs and scrapbooks

This series contains operational records of the Prince George Forest District relating to forest administration, 1919-1981. Records are arranged according to the Forest Service filing system. These records include annual reports, ranger meeting summaries, records regarding timber exports, forest protection, forest reserves, the Peace River hydroelectric projects, the Mica Dam flood basin, land use, timber cruising, silviculture, aerial photography, rights-of-way, timber sales, timber licenses, Public Sustained Yield Units, tree farm licences, and forest wood lot licenses. Also contains construction and maintenance reports pertaining to ranger stations, lookouts, forest roads and trails, boathouses, telephone lines and other Forest Service facilities. Records consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, licenses, permits, plans, etc.

The ministries responsible for the Forest Districts, and the years that they were responsible, are:

British Columbia. Dept. of Lands (1908-1945)
British Columbia. Dept. of Lands and Forests (1945-1962)
British Columbia. Dept. of Lands, Forests and Water Resources (1962-1975)
British Columbia. Dept. of Forests (1975-1976)
British Columbia. Ministry of Forests (1976-1986)

Fonds consists of administrative and operating records of the Savona Timber Company in Savona, British Columbia, ca. 1948 to 1969, and continuing operations under Evans Products Company, post-1969 and until 1986. Records pertain primarily to timber harvesting in British Columbia's central interior and to B.C. Interior logging operations. The fonds also includes a scrapbook which documents the activities of Evans Products Company at their Vancouver sawmill and battery separator plant from 1931 to 1961. The fonds consists of five series: Series 1. Administration and finance files, 1952-1985, predom. 1960-1978, ca. 1.6 m which includes financial records, month-end reports, and general files; Series 2. Crown timber sales (TSX), 1948-1976, ca. 1.65 m; Series 3. Private timber sales, 1965-1980, ca. 30 cm; Series 4. Timber sales harvesting licences (TSHL), 1963-1986, ca. 1 m; and, Series 5. Evans Products Company Limited, Vancouver, scrapbook, 1931-1961, 1 vol. Predominant in the fonds are timber licence records: Crown Timber Sales (series 2), Private Timber Sales (series 3) and Timber Sale Harvesting Licences (series 4). The Savona Timber fonds includes records pertaining to associated and subsidiary companies such as Ashcroft Lumber (Savona Timber Holdings Limited), Bonaparte Lumber and Gateway Lumber and illustrates involvements and interactions between the British Columbia Forest Service and small lumber operators. Several different companies were often involved in initiatives such as a single timber licence, whether in financing, oversight or contracting capacity, even though only one timber company is usually listed as part of the Timber Sale record.

The file consists of miscellaneous film footage and out-takes shot by the B.C. Forest Branch or the B.C. Forest Service, as well as the Forest Service film productions "The Great Fire" (1938) and "Timber is a crop" (made between 1939 and 1945). Subjects depicted include: alpine scenery; ceremonies at Peace Arch Park; construction of logging and forest access roads; Davis rafts; donkey engines; fire lookouts; fish hatcheries; Forest Service vessels; Forest Branch/Forest Service activities and personnel; forest fire fighting; Green Timbers Nursery; heavy equipment in use; horse logging; Junior Forest Wardens summer camp; land clearing; log booms; logging (including high-riggers and falling, bucking, yarding, skidding and loading of logs); logging camps; logging railways; logging trucks; New Westminster May Day celebrations (194-); portable sawmills; provincial parks; railway tie making; recreational camping; reforestation; silviculture; skiing on Mt. Seymour; slash burning; tree planting; and wildlife.

This series contains a table of average log prices, 1937-1938, and a historical review of provincial timber royalties, 1914-1937.

Fonds consists of administrative and operating records of British Columbia Forest Products Limited in British Columbia between 1946 and 1986, pertaining particularly to plywood production, 1952-1986. Incorporated are records of predecessor companies including Industrial Timber Mills of Cowichan Lake and Douglas Plywood of Vancouver. The fonds illustrates the operating data and composition of working documentation for single plant operations that formed part of a multi-plant company. The fonds is comprised of the records of two of the corporate divisions involved in plywood production: Victoria Plywood and Sawmill and Delta Plywood. Topical files, financial statements, working files, equipment documentation, ledgers and registers, technical drawings and cartographic material predominate. Content pertains to all aspects of division and plant operations including, but not limited to, products, finances, suppliers, clients, markets, partners, facilities, equipment, supplies and human resources. Records from the Victoria Plywood and Sawmill division pertain to operations at Victoria, BC. They were created between 1942 and 1988 and are in three series: 1. Manager's Office files, ca.1950 to 1988, ca. 3.5 metres; 2. Accountant's Office files, 1942 to 1987, ca. 4 metres, and; 3. Cowichan District plans and drawings, ca.1950 to ca.1975, ca. 120 items. The Cowichan Division operated an affiliated veneer plant and sawmill at Youbou on Cowichan Lake, BC. Records from the Delta Plywood division consist of operating files for the plant at New Westminster, BC and pertain to administration and finance. Series are: 1. Administration,1970-1985, ca. 1.5 metres; 2. Accountant's Office, 1972-1985, ca. 3 metres and 3. Douglas plywood project financial files. Alphabetical-chronological filing arrangements have been retained and reconstructed. The fonds also contains a scrapbook of construction photographs.

Documentary. The importance of Canada's forests to the economy. Includes scenes of logging; log drives; huge trees felled by crosscut saw; sawmill and pulp mill operations and the various uses of forest products. Forest fire prevention and forest fire fighting techniques are shown, with shots of a huge forest fire in a mountainous area. No locales are specified, but the footage is clearly shot in BC. In the first sequence, dealing with a prosperous town which becomes a ghost town after a nearby forest fire, Barkerville is the ghost town location.

SUMMARY: "Timber talk".;

SUMMARY: "Breakfast with Betty".;

SUMMARY: Husband and wife breakfast chatter re: lumber strike.;

The item is a reel of educational film about modern logging operations on the BC coast, and the value of timber to the province's economy.

The item is a reel of documentary film in which the products and the ecological benefits of the forest are explained.

The series consists of the general office files of the office of sales and production coordinator of Western Forest Industries, 1953 to 1981. The files are arranged alphabetically by subject.

The item is an industrial film. A young man who is skeptical about the future of the forest industry is taken to see various plants and operations. Illustrates the processes used and the diversity of wood products. Most of the film depicts MacMillan & Bloedel's Harmac plant and logging operations on Vancouver Island. There are also brief sequences aboard a ferry from Vancouver to the island.

Out-takes. A young man who is skeptical about the future of the forest industry is taken to see various plants and operations. Illustrates the processes used and the diversity of wood products. Most of the film depicts MacMillan & Bloedel's Harmac plant and logging operations on Vancouver Island. There are also brief sequences aboard a ferry from Vancouver to the island.

The series consists of general office files from 1955 to 1982 created by Western Forest Industries at their Honeymoon Bay office between 1955 and 1982.

Industrial film. The cultivation and harvesting of pulpwood, and the manufacture of paper at the world's largest newsprint plant. Includes new developments such as the self-dumping log barge and high-speed chipper.

Industrial film. The cultivation and harvesting of pulpwood, and the manufacture of paper at the world's largest newsprint plant. Includes new developments such as the self-dumping log barge and high-speed chipper.

The collection consists of oral history interviews on the development of British Columbia's forest industry, covering the period from the late 1880s to the late 1950s through the first-person reminiscences of 44 individuals. The interviewess were lumbermen, loggers, and government officials associated with forestry. The recordings were made between 1955 and 1963 by Dr. C.D. Orchard, who served as British Columbia's Chief Forester from 1941 to 1958.

The original recordings were made on discs on an Edison Voicewriter dictation machine. The Voicewriter discs were copied to audio tape by the BC Archives in the 1970s.

The interviews are preserved in the form of audio tape copies and corresponding transcripts. Tape recordings exist for all of the interviews except the one with Thomas Roeser (T1888). Transcripts are available for all of the interviews except those with Eustace Smith (T1860) and Frank Kappel (T1889).

The collection also includes a 1958 CJVI Radio recording of Dr. Orchard speaking to the Victoria Men's Canadian Club about the British Commonwealth Forestry Conference.

The fonds consists of prints and/or printing elements of motion picture films that were distributed by the Canadian Plywood Association (CPA) or its predecessors, the Council of Forest Industries of British Columbia (COFI) and the Plywood Manufacturers Association of British Columbia (PMA). Most of the films were produced between 1955 and 1989 for the COFI or the PMA by three BC companies: Canawest Film Productions, Kelly Duncan Productions, or Lew Parry Film Productions. The films deal with with the harvesting of trees, the manufacture of wood and wood products (including plywood, shakes, shingles, etc.), and the use of these products in the construction industry.

CALL NUMBER: T1855:0001 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Aird Flavelle : half a century in the British Columbia forest industry PERIOD COVERED: 1907-1957 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1957 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Aird Flavelle tells the story of how he, Roland Craig and H.R. MacMillan spent the summer of 1907 staking timber licenses on the coast of B.C. for a group of Ontario investors. TRACK 2: Continuation of the story of the summer of 1907. Flavelle comes to B.C. in 1911 and goes into business with R.J. Thurston. Getting into the milling industry in Port Moody. Flavelle stays in the Port Moody mill until 1955. Differences between the type of lumber and siding cut in 1915 and 1955.

CALL NUMBER: T1855:0002 SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): Aird Flavelle : the Port Moody mill and business anecdotes PERIOD COVERED: 1912-1957 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1957 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Details about the operation of Flavelle's Port Moody cedar mill. Mill operating costs. Anecdotes about timber sales. The problems of overseas export of lumber. The success of H.R. MacMillan as an exporter. Anecdotes about J.S. Emerson. Sources of supply for the Port Moody mill. TRACK 2: The demise of the cedar sash and door business. Business cycles affecting the operation of sawmills. Depression conditions in 1913. Story about a Chinese worker hanging himself. More on economic conditions. Price and wage comparisons over the years. (End of interview)

SUPPLIED TITLE OF TAPE(S): A.S. Nicholson : the British Columbia forest industry, 1903-1945 PERIOD COVERED: 1903-1945 RECORDED: [location unknown], 1959-09-16 SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Nicholson to Cranbrook from Ontario in 1903. The formation of Cranbrook Sash and Door Company, 1904. Sold out and returned to Ontario, 1906. Returned to B.C. in 1919. Bought some timber from H.R. MacMillan. Comments about various business deals. TRACK 2: Comments on various East Kootenay sawmills (Indistinct.) Nicholson was a timber comptroller during WW II. Business dealings (Indistinct.) Story of the formation of H.R. MacMillan Export Co., 1919. More on mills in the East Kootenays region. (Recording becomes very indistinct.)

RECORDED: [location unknown], [196-] SUMMARY: TRACK 1: Mr. Herb Gardner was interviewed while holding the office of Mayor of Williams Lake. He describes the federal building; the regional board; urban planning; and the electoral process. Before elections, people were appointed to the board. Demographics of the district. Mr. Gardner offers his own personal history; born in Quesnel and lived in Barkerville; stories about old timers; his father came into the country in 1900, and was a shoemaker before becoming a miner; eventually his father ran a stopping house on a ranch; in 1928 the family moved to Quesnel and worked in the saw mill business. He describes what Williams Lake was like back then.

TRACK 2: Mr. Gardner comments about how smaller sawmills were driven out by economics and larger ones took their place; the lumber industry and how it drives the economy of Williams Lake; prospecting and cattle ranching; stampedes; how much he likes living in Williams Lake. He compares living in Quesnel to living in Williams Lake. He discusses the future and the progress of Williams Lake.