The Tamarack Resort was first conceived as Valbois in the early 1980s, but unsuccessfully struggled to overcome federal regulatory hurdles and fierce local opposition, and finally folded in 1995. Despite local opposition, a new group of investors revived the project three years later with modifications and called it WestRock. After four years the name was changed to "Tamarack" in December 2002, after the tamarack larch, a deciduous coniferous tree, whose short, dark green fir-like needles turn yellow (and shed) every autumn.