Communities and People
Herb Shaw and Sons Lavern Heideman & Sons Ltd.
Murray Brothers Lumber Company McRae Lumber Company
Herb Shaw and Sons is a family owned company with deep roots in the Ottawa Valley. This company has flourished since 1847.
The arrival of the first John Shaw, from Scotland, marked the beginning for six generations to blaze the trails in the lumber industry. Broadening activities into railroad building and truck designing, this company is believed to be Canada’s oldest, continually run family business.
The organization is now headed by the fifth generation of Shaw’s, cousins John and Dana. John and Dana continue the hard work of their forefathers and maintain their focus on sustainable forestry practices to ensure the continued success of the company.
Lavern Heideman & Sons Limited
Lavern Heideman & Sons Limited is a fully integrated forest products company including forest management (company holdings, private, and crown), two sawmills, a remanufacturing operation, a planing mill, and a distribution yard. The company began as a logging operation in the 1960’s and has grown since that time into its current form today. Heideman employs over 100 people across Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec.
The company has Crown allocations in two Sustainable Forest Licenses’ (Mazinaw-Lanark and Ottawa Valley) plus a wood supply commitment from Algonquin Park. The company also manages over 100 private properties as part of its private land management program. The original sawmill was built in 1976. In 1997, a second sawmill was constructed to process small diameter sawlogs down to 4”. In 2006, the original circular mill was rebuilt and a modern band saw was added. In 2014, the company acquired a Pine planing and distribution company. In 2015, Heideman acquired a wood supply commitment from the Algonquin Park Forest.
In 1999, Heideman was presented with the National Forest Stewardship Recognition Award in recognition of efforts to practice careful logging with respect to other forest users.
Murray Brothers Lumber Company
Established in 1902, Murray Brothers Lumber has evolved into a full service lumber provider. Two sawmills, dry kilns, planning mills and remanufacturing facilities all at one site allow Murray Brothers to provide a multitude of products to a broad array of end-users in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. All resident softwood and hardwood species are processed. Specialty products include 24 foot timbers, various pine pattern stock and prefinished hardwood flooring. As a Forest Stewardship Council certified lumber producer, Murray Bros. can assure responsible forest management.
The McRae Lumber Company has always had a special connection with Algonquin Park, from our very first timber limits that predated the creation of the Park to having two separate sawmills setup within the Park. The first being at Lake of Two Rivers from 1933 -1942 and another on Whitefish Lake from 1957-1980. The company is currently operated by the 5th generation of the McRae family and is located in the town of Whitney. The company operates two sawmills and a wood chip plant and employs 65 people. All of the wood for the mill comes from the Algonquin Park forest (about 90%) and the Bancroft Minden Forest (10%).
McRae Lumber is also steadfastly committed to sustainable forestry. We are passionate about the health of the forest and believe that through proper forest management the sustainably harvested forest can support the three pillars (economic, recreation, environment) integral to a thriving community, park and province.