MERRITT, BC — Forestry has long been a cornerstone of the Nicola Valley’s economic development. Originally consisting of small sawmills for community and personal use, the construction of the railway in 1907 significantly boosted the forestry industry, allowing larger sawmills to open and enabling transportation of timber to Vancouver and beyond. “Forestry arrived in the Valley around the same time that mining did,” said Nicola Valley Museum & Archives manager Cameron Bridge. “At first, there were predominantly small sawmills in the area, because they always needed some level of logging and wood production for construction. “It wasn’t done on a massive industrial scale until the early 1900s, around the time that the railroad was built,” added Bridge. The construction of the railway saw larger sawmills open such as Canford Mills, opening in 1906 and Nicola Pine Mills Limited, opening in 1919. …After the railroad era, Tolko (1987) and Aspen Planers (1959) became large economic contributors to Merritt and the Nicola Valley.