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Woodfibre
Woodfibre is located on the north side of Howe Sound directly across
from Darrell Bay. Darrell Bay is situated near Shannon Falls which
is between Squamish and Britannia
Beach on the 'Sea to Sky' Hwy 99.
British
Columbia Sulphite Fibre Company
Woodfibre was the site of a large pulp mill that operated up until
March 2006 after being started by the British Columbia Sulphite
Fibre Company in 1912. Woodfibre was one of the oldest pulp mills
in British Columbia and operated for 94 years by a number of companies.
Whalen
Pulp and Paper Company
Woodfibre was named by Sir George Bury, the president of the Whalen
Pulp and Paper Company in 1920, after it took ownership of the facility
from the British Columbia Sulphite Fibre Company in 1917. Then,
in 1925, the Whalen Pulp and Paper Company went into receivership
with the assets acquired by the then formed B.C. Pulp & Paper
Co. Ltd. in 1925.
Various
Owners
B.C. Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd. operated the mill from 1925 to 1950.
Then, through various partnerships involving Alaska Pine & Cellulose
and later Rayonier Inc., Woodfibre operated as a kraft mill until
1980. Then it changed hands from Rayonier and became known as the
Squamish Mill. It was next acquired in 1983 by Western Pulp Ltd.
to be eventually closed in 2006.
Mount
Sedgwick
Woodfibre is also the site for some excellent hiking, especially
into the snow-capped Mount Sedgwick. Mount Sedgwick is directly
behind Woodfibre and helps provide the water source for a hydro
generating plant, which supplied the pulp mill up to 60 megawatts
of electrical power.
Mount
Roderick Trail
There is a hiking trail that goes up to Mount Sedgwick and, farther
back, the Sechelt Ridge and Mount Roderick that start from near
the other side of a footbridge that goes across Woodfibre Creek.
Unfortunately, due to the ferry from Darrell Bay no longer operating,
the trailhead for Mount Roderick is harder to access with either
a private boat or water-taxi being required, about a 15-minute ride
from Squamish.
Darrell
Bay Ferry
For the workers to access the pulp mill, they had to take a ferry
across Howe Sound from Darrell Bay, which is right at Shannon Falls
to Woodfibre. The ferry aboard the MV Garibaldi II was free
and open to the public for travel across to Woodfibre. Unfortunately,
because of Woodfibre's closing, the ferry service on the MV Garibaldi
II has been stopped.
Information
on Woodfibre
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