Fort Resolution (Sep 20/04) - After a five-year absence, sawmilling is set to return to Fort Resolution this week, bringing with it some much-needed employment.

Production will begin today or tomorrow at a sawmill owned by Deninu Ku'e First Nation (DKFN), said Louis Balsillie, the band councillor responsible for the operation.

Nine people are being hired to run the sawmill, located about 15 km from the community.

DKFN purchased $120,000 worth of sawmill equipment in B.C. and has waited three months for start-up funding from the GNWT.

Balsillie said the band can't wait any longer.

Instead, a B.C. buyer has been found for the first two loads of lumber, worth about $50,000. That money will be used for operating funds.

Once the mill is established, Balsillie said markets will be sought in the NWT. "We hope to get our foot in the door."

The current plan is for sawing to continue into part of the winter and resume next spring. However, Balsillie said the sawmill may operate throughout the winter, if things go well.

Logging in the area of the sawmill will continue all winter.

The industry has a long, sometimes troubled, history. The previous mill was shut down by the NWT Development Corporation and the assets sold. The community had turned the operation over to the corporation in the mid-1990s, after it started losing money.

Balsillie is optimistic about the new sawmill, noting it will operate at a lower cost.

"It will fly because it's not going to be run by the government."