Page 10 - Tree Line - North Carolina Forestry Association - Second Quarter 2020

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mill in Hamilton, OH.
The pulping technology used by
the Champion Fibre Company at the Canton Mill during this time relied
on a Massachusetts patent that was conditioned for the pulping of Northern tree species, which were also naturally abundant in the higher-elevation mountain forests surrounding the Canton Mill. To transport the pulp back to Hamilton, Peter Thomson took advantage of the same rail logistics that George Vanderbilt helped develop while building the Biltmore Estate.
There was naturally a great deal of interaction and connection between George Vanderbilt’s Pisgah Forest and the growth of the Champion Fibre Company in the early days of the Canton Mill’s operation. When Dr. Carl Schenck founded the Biltmore Forest School in Pisgah Forest, he introduced silviculture to American forestry. Dr. Schenck
would teach that healthy markets for both sawtimber and pulpwood were necessary for accomplishing sound forest management while generating income for the timberland owner. The Canton Mill, along with its associated Champion- owned sawmill in Sunburst, became
a primary market that purchased the timber harvested from Dr. Schenck’s timber management at Pisgah Forest.
During those timber harvest trans- actions, Reuben Robertson (General Manager of the Canton Mill) and
Dr. Schenck developed a strong relation- ship. When Dr. Schenck was fired by George Vanderbilt in 1909, Robertson offered the use of the Champion sawmill campus in Sunburst to serve as the host
of the Biltmore Forest School during its last four years. (The school graduated its final class of foresters in 1913.)
Many years later, in 1951, Robertson would host Dr. Schenck’s only return
to the United States, for a Biltmore
Forest School reunion at Lake Logan in Sunburst. Robertson and Dr. Schenck planted a Norway spruce together that day, which still grows on the campus of Lake Logan Episcopal Retreat Center, found along the Forest Heritage National Scenic Byway, just up the road from
the Canton Mill. This relationship led Robertson, the NCFA and many others to advocate for the foundation of The Cradle of Forestry in America as an institution. Its founding documents were chartered at Champion’s Sit-n-Whittle Lodge in Sunburst in 1963.
Present-Day Innovation
at the Mill
Today, the Canton Mill continues to modernize and advance, all the while treasuring the rich history of its past. With a total of four paper machines and two separate pulp lines, the Canton Mill consumes both hardwood and pine, making its own bleached pulp on-site. The mill currently manufactures various grades of paper and paper board that are used in milk and juice cartons, hot and cold cups, colored envelopes, bag paper, setter-sticks to be used for cotton swabs and lollipops, microwaveable trays
and more.
“The paper manufactured at the
Canton Mill carries multiple forest sustainability certifications, such as SFI, PEFC and FSC, which help to connect
the end consumer of the product back to sustainably managed forests in North Carolina and the surrounding region, from which the fiber was sourced,” Elliot said. “Sometimes the products inside the packaging are also sourced in North Carolina, so in those instances, the consumer is holding a completely NC-made product. Another noteworthy fact: if you buy milk or juice in a paper carton anywhere in North America, there is about an 80 percent chance
that the paper board in that carton was manufactured by the Canton Mill, using wood fiber from a sustainably managed forest in North Carolina.”
A Proud Mill Town
The Canton Mill has had a substantial impact on the local community in western North Carolina, having been in operation for 114 years.
“Canton is a proud ‘mill town,’ with multiple generations of the same local families working at the mill since its founding. Canton’s high school, named Pisgah High School, offers a pulp and paper studies program; and Haywood Community College has one of only three community-college forest management programs in the state,” Elliot said.
Elliot and other members of the wood procurement team have also served on the Curriculum Advisory Committee
for Haywood Community College, as representatives of Evergreen Packaging.
“There are many diverse opportunities for forestry careers in western North Carolina. A graduate from a forestry program could work in one of many of the state forests or parks
8 ncforestry.org / SECOND QUARTER 2020