October 12, 2001 Underwater Logging: A New Angle on Lumber

Gord Black, a businessman from Ottawa interested in lumber baron J.R. Booth and logging history, contacted me recently about his efforts to set up a logging museum near Bristol, Quebec. He had dismantled and relocated an old log lumber camp office as the main building for the museum. He also had some logging artefacts for display.

In the course of the conversation he mentioned that he was retrieving logs from the Ottawa River for sawing into lumber. He invited me to see the material for the museum and his sawmill, if I was ever in the area. I was recently in Arnprior on other business and took the ferry to Quyon and on to his operation at Bristol Mines, the site of the old iron mine south of Bristol, Quebec.

I met Jim Carmichael, Gord Black's manager, and spent some time with him while he showed me the museum material and the mill operation and let me take photos. The logging operation is called Log's End Inc., and sometimes Log's End Heritage Old Growth Wood.
 

Log's End mill manager Jim Carmicheal, with the logs for a future logging museum at Bristol, Quebec .

I intended to write a column on the visit later, but did it this week when I heard that Home and Garden T.V.'s (HGTV) "Just Ask John Eakes" show was doing a two-part program on Log's End (Monday, October 8th, repeated Saturday October 13th; and the second part October 15th, repeated October the 20th, probably at 7:30 am and 7:30 pm but check your T.V. Guide.)

Log's End has an extensive and informative website (www.logsend.com) where reference is made to them being "Canada's largest supplier of historical old growth lumber, which we distribute around the world." They have never cut down a live tree, and they use every part of the log, including the chips and sawdust.

Gord Black, a successful electrical contractor and cable T.V. owner (and owner of the Nepean Rangers Junior Hockey team) became interested in underwater logging about five years ago. After thoroughly studying the business, he purchased the old 25 acre Bristol Mine site and buildings, and set up a sawmill that will cut ten thousand feet of lumber a day. The lumber is kiln dried and planed elsewhere and sold by distributors to people making a wide variety of quality lumber products. The lumber has very little shrinkage and has beautiful red, orange and earth tones. Most of the logs are white pine, with red pine a distant second. The finished product sells at 10 to 15% above regular lumber prices for similar grades.

Gord Black bought several 28-foot "pointer" type boats from the defunct Upper Ottawa Valley Improvement Company, a consortium of lumber people that worked together for generations to transport workers and move logs on the Ottawa River until the early 1990s. Log's End uses scuba divers to locate the logs, which are lifted to the side of the pointer and taken to shore without dragging on the bottom.

Log's End also purchased a large twin-engine tug and a couple of smaller tugs at the same time. The larger one was featured on the old Canadian one-dollar bill, where the tug is shown collecting logs on the Ottawa River, below Parliament Hill. Log's End hopes to use the tugs for tours on the Ottawa River when the boats are refurbished. One of the small tugs is already in use.

The logs are primarily softwood from the far reaches of the Ottawa River and its tributaries, and from as far as Lake Temiscaming and Lake Nipissing. The logs still show the stamp marks on their ends, indicating the original owners. A small percentage of the original logs became waterlogged and sank, or became floating dead heads. The company saves many of these ends showing the marks and preserves them in glycol to prevent cracking, for future use. I came away with one with J.R. Booth's stamp on it.

In the early days some hardwood, which would not float well or at all, was carried on softwood rafts and often sank when the rafts were broken up at narrows or waterfalls. Log's End has some logs that are squared from the early square timber days, and create a real sense of nostalgia.

There are some underwater loggers working around northern Ontario under stringent Ontario policy. Chick Mason, an MNR policy advisor, sent me a copy of the 50 plus page underwater logging policy which emphasizes environmental concerns, strict time frames and involves several ministries. The Ancient Timber Company of North Bay has taken logs from a couple of lakes near Loring, but the trend is progressing slowly. There were only 9 of 34 requests approved in Ontario last year, and only 12 of 24 this year. The Ontario government has established a depot in Sault St. Marie where the logs can be sent for disposition to U.S. markets.

Space does not allow for details on local activities at this time. It is a fascinating trend with interesting overtones from a heritage perspective. In the meantime, watch the T.V. program mentioned above and learn more about this interesting activity.