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Wood cutting
Allocation and exploitation of forest concessions around Lac-Saint-Jean date from the 1850’s. It started with the exploitation of the woodland most easily accessible and most promising for the timber cutting industry. By the end of the century, many rivers such as the Péribonka, Métabetchouan and Mistassini were already being used for transporting logs by floating. It was the époque of the first logging roads and rural routes that we know around our present villages.
Small saw mills were installed at the mouths of rivers, then construction of pulp and paper mills started in 1900. New sites were opening to supply these companies with wood: those on the Ouiatchouanish, Métabetchouan, Ashuapmushuan and the Rats rivers, discharged into Lac-Saint-Jean, and those on the Croche and Bostonnais rivers floated down to La Tuque. The requirements of these woodcutting and pulp and paper companies caused the forest sites to advance further and further into the territory.
 
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