Conform Ltd

First Organized in 1977, Conform Limited was created to assist wood lot owners in improving the productivity and profits from their land. From the original 15 owners, Conform Limited now has over 200 shareholders with a growing area upwards of 40,000 acre Conform Limited was organized in 1977 by 15 woodlot owners, to assist in improving the productivity of their woodlots and to increase the profits from these lands. Conform now has over 200 shareholders who have placed a total of approximately 40,000 acres under forest management with the company, throughout the Stewiacke and Musquodoboit Valleys. Conform is managed by a seven-member Board of Directors who are elected by the shareholders at the annual meeting. Manager Ed MacDonell, Field Supervisor Brett Decker, Forest Technician Jon Westoll and Office Supervisor Karen Miller administer the daily operations of the company. To become a shareholder in Conform Limited, a woodlot owner submits an application to the Board of Directors to buy a share, which costs $225.00, and agrees to place a woodlot under forest management. The company supplies services such as technical advice, location of boundary lines, tree planting and thinning, harvesting and marketing of forest products and road maintenance, all to be carried out with regard for the best interests of the woodlot owner and the environment. Conform Limited employs an experienced staff and forestry crews who carry out harvesting and silviculture work for our members. Those woodlot owners who prefer to do their own work can hire one of the two forwarders owned by the company to move their wood to roadside, and Conform can look after the shipping. Since 1977, Conform has developed and maintained consistent markets for pulpwood, sawlogs and hardwood. The company also owns a road grader which is used in maintaining the more than 150 kilometers of roads which have been developed by Conform Limited, two processors to mechanically harvest selected areas, and a log truck to haul wood to the mills. Funding for forest improvement work is generated by company harvesting and machinery rental activities. Assistance for silviculture is available through stewardship programs provided mainly by Port Hawkesbury Paper, Taylor Lumber Company and the Association for Sustainable Forestry. As members of Conform Limited, the landowners retain complete control over their woodlots. No work will be started without the approval of the landowner. We believe Conform Limited is proof that woodlot owners can co-operatively run a successful company to manage their forest resources.