CANADA (From news reports) -- Tolko employees in the Armstrong Lumber and White Valley operations will be laid off for approximately one week due to a lack of economical fibre.

The Vernon-based forest company said in an email they expect the downtime to begin as early as May 12 at the Armstrong plant and May 15 at White Valley.

"B.C. regulatory and policy burden continues to impact the availability and accessibility of economic fibre," the email said. "We're actively managing our log inventory, and the logs we have available are being deliberately directed to mills to make products where we can deliver the most value - accelerating our production of specialty, value-added (plywood, veneer and lamstock) and engineered wood products."

Tolko said it recognizes the "impact this has on our employees and their families," and it will continue to provide as much notice as possible "to help them manage through this uncertainty."

"While challenges to the forestry sector continue, we remain confident in the future and are committed to sustaining our footprint over the long term," Tolko said.

Tolko did not say how many employees would be impacted by the shut down.