Directors of the Williams Lake Community Forest are ready to share some harvesting plans.
They will be hosting a community meeting on Sunday, Nov. 22 at the Big Lake Community Hall from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. and encourage everyone to attend.
“We’re getting close to starting operations for the winter and have got quite a bit of planning done,” said Ken Day. “We are busy probing for Douglas-fir bark beetles still up at Flat Rock.”
There was a bit of harvesting done last winter, but there’s been nothing done since then, Day added.
The partnership continues to gather input because there is a variety of interests on the land, both at the Flat Rock block near Esler and the Potato Mountain block at Big Lake.
“We want input on values and interests so we understand what we need to do where in a broad sense,” Day said, adding the directors will describe the interests they already understand and competing issues they are dealing with such as forest health and the Douglas-fir beetle.
A standing committee on resource values and interests consisting of up to 12 people was formed November 2014. Members have been working on the community forest.
“It’s made up of people who live around the community forest and have a special interest in how the land is managed,” Day added. “That’s the group that will bring the resource interest to the planning process.”
The standing committee will help ensure the interests of the larger community are represented, he said, noting it has been working really well.
“It took us a while to get organized and running but now they have been digging into specific issues that will be helpful in our working plan.”
The community forest tries to host at least one community meeting a year, and this will be the second meeting in 2015.
Whether you hike, hunt, bike, gather firewood or work in the woods — this is your chance to provide further input on your important values and interests, Day said, adding coffee will be on at 1 p.m. if people want to come in and chat informally.
