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Sue and Dave Millson, and Sue’s brother, Ted Dunn, all graduated college in Ontario, Canada, with degrees in forestry. All three of them loved the land and wanted to find positions where they could pursue their passion. They hoped to be able to work closely together by starting a tree-growing and planting business in Timmins, Ontario. In the early ’80s the forest industry in Canada was in a transitional period. The Canadian government was moving towards privatization of land and tree production. Opportunities were available to those companies who would take the initiative to clear the land, plant the seeds, tend the new forests, and harvest the crop — as we now call it…from seed to dump.
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Millson Forestry Service purchased an old, well-used forwarder with a hydraulic disc trencher on the back for site-preparation work. Sue tells the story, “We were all pretty green back then. None of us even knew how to get the forwarder off the truck, let alone operate it. We just had to learn as we worked.” The Millson business slowly grew into three greenhouse operations cultivating small saplings. “We were having problems with the quality of seeds, and we saw a real need for more up-to-date seed extraction and cleaning equipment,” Sue said. “So we built a seed plant and purchased some Scandinavian equipment that opened the cone and extracted the seeds.”
In 1996, Millson Forestry Service bought out a local logging contractor and acquired the contract to log 200,000 cubic meters of trees annually. “When we got into the actual logging business, the equipment we inherited was pretty old and useless,” Sue said. “We started out by contracting the harvesting to a local logger, who is still working with us today. We had a great relationship with the local John Deere dealer, ONTRAC, and salesman Ed Turgeon, so they were our first stop when we went looking to buy. When you’re dealing with expensive equipment in a very, very tight operating market, it really helps to have a good support system. John Deere is known around here for their quality products and the dealer philosophy of customer service and management. If we were going to invest, we had to have superior support, and that is what we get from our dealer.”
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What started as a small tree-growing operation has expanded into a full-process operation that includes seed extraction, growing, site preparation, planting, harvesting, and trucking. The Millsons run several John Deere 748 Skidders for site prep, and a 903 Feller Buncher and a 2054 Delimber for harvesting, and their two old forwarders are still working, which Sue says is a testament to her brother Ted’s talent. They also operate four trucks for the “dump” end of the operation, some road-building equipment, and dozers.
The Millsons have expanded their business even further with a new website and online store. The new website allows them to attract different markets within forestry through the sale of Oxygen Generation Trees. Purchasing one of these trees allows their customers to offset their carbon foot print. Millson Forestry Service will calculate the amount of carbon you want to offset and translate that into how many trees you need to plant to offset that carbon. In return, you get a GPS co-ordinate of the location where your trees are planted, along with an e-certificate. The online store also includes other products, such as their new line of essential oils.
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Today Millson Forestry Service has 40 full-time employees, and that expands to around 150 during the summer planting season. They’re also growing the next crop of foresters; their daughter Jennifer has recently graduated as a full-fledged forester. “Jennifer runs the silviculture side of things. It’s fun having her here, and it’s good to know she’ll take over the whole operation one day and harvest the trees that we’re currently growing,” Sue concluded.
As technology changes, loggers like the Millsons will continue to find ways to keep improving and growing. Like so many others, they’re foresters with a vision of the future.
Forestry Equipment Review, August 2006
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