I should say, before continuing, that Prince George is a center for processing lumber, being pretty much in the middle of the spruce forest of British Columbia. The chief products are lumber (boards and stuff like that) and plywood. However, in making these materials there is a lot of scrap that is made into chips and then into pulp, which is sold to paper companies.
We were able to take a tour of a pulp plant. I won’t go into the details, but only make some observation. The plant was relatively odor free, and not at all like the paper plants I recall that had a disgusting odor that could be perceived twenty miles away. The second interesting thing was the degree of automation. The process of making pulp, in this plant is a continuous one. The whole process is monitored by several people looking at computers. The process runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
There is an amazing amount of recycling and use of waste. Sawdust and bark, which can’t be used for pulp, are used for fuel to help heat the dryers. The digesting liquor is rejuvenated, using quicklime, I think. The limestone is then rejuvenated with kilns.
The final product is paper pulp dried into sheets that could remind you of blotting paper. These sheets are cut in squares of about four feet square, and baled into packages weighing about 500 pounds each. These bales of pulp are the final product sold to paper companies.
The most interesting thing about our visit was the widespread concern expressed by nearly everyone about the pine beetle. The pine beetle is killing just about all the spruce in British Columbia. This is obvious to just a casual observer, driving in the countryside. Acres and acres of dead and dying trees are apparent in many of the forest, and apparently it is spreading. Right now the surplus of dead and dying trees is providing lots of work for the lumber industry, trying to salvage what they can. However the future of the spruce forest is problematic!
It is thought by people here that global warming is causing milder winters. This mean that it does not get cold enough to kill the pine beetles. Of course, people here worry as do people everywhere, that the global warming is irreversible and will get worse.
Monday, September 4
On Saturday we moved on from Prince George, starting to work our way to the US border. We First we headed west toward the Canadian Rockies, and then traveled south in deep valleys that lie between the Canadian Rockies and the Caraboo Mountains. This was a beautiful ride through forest with views of mountains capped with white snow or blue-white glaciers. We stopped overnight in this area, and the next day drove less than one hundred miles to Wells Gray Provincial Park.
Wells Gray Provincial Park is the largest of the Provincial Parks in Canada. It is not well developed, in that most of the park is not accessible to automobile. There is one road that extends about 40 miles into the park, which is probably about one third of the way across the park. The park is especially well known for its waterfalls. Although we have seen lots of very beautiful waterfalls on our trip, we had to admit that those in
The Wells Gray Park were spectacular. Although the pictures do not do them justice, I am including three, to at least give readers an idea of what we experienced.
There is hiking, whitewater rafting, and biking at the park. To get to many of the interesting areas would require backpacking. We will only be in the park for a day and a half, so we only had a chance skim the highlights. Oh yes, we saw a black bear, at the end of our last stop. It was a rather reclusive black bear, so we did not get a very good photo --- but it was a thrill!
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