The select standing committee for the WLCF met on May 15 to review the 2016 annual report.
The community forest was approved in 2014 as a joint venture between the Williams Lake Indian Band and the City of Williams Lake and consists of two blocks (Flat Rock Block west of Williams to the Fraser River and Potato Mountain Block in the Big Lake, Beaver Valley area between the Likely and Horsefly roads).
The eight-member standing committee was appointed by the six-member board of directors (with three members each from the city and band). The committee meets at least three to four times a year in order to provide strategic guidance to the board and management of the community forest. More specifically the committee will encourage meaningful consultation with the community, guide the fair distribution of benefits from the revenues of timber sales as well as facilitate good public communication and forestry education and extension programs.
The annual allowable cut of the WLCF is 40,000 cubic metres per year but due to planning and weather restraints only 85,000 cubic metres have been harvested in the 3.5 years of operations. With the road building and planning that has been done it is estimated that the harvest should reach 200,000 cubic metres by the end of 2018.
Most of the harvest in 2016 was dealing with the trapping and removal of trees infested by Douglas fir bark beetle including over 3,000 metres removed by helicopter.
Since 2014 the community forest has been managed by Ken Day and staff of the University of British Columbia Research Forest.
The majority of logging, planning and forest consulting has been local and accounted for 76 staff with a total of 14,000 hours (1,778, eight-hour days of work in 2016).
One of the exceptions of local staffing was the hiring of a log broker from Vancouver who facilitated the sale of logs to the most appropriate user. One of the encouraging aspects of the log sales was the 1,000 cubic metres of logs which was made available to local value added businesses.
Road layout and maintenance as well as harvesting operations have included the involvement of ranchers and local recreation groups in an attempt to minimize impacts on their respective uses.
As well an attempt will be made to deal with an ongoing illegal garbage disposal (especially old automobile bodies) that has taken place for years in the Flat Rock Block.
Planning is also underway for the distribution of benefits once they have been identified and quantified. It is proposed to set aside five per cent of the WLCF annual net profits as a grant funding program.
Because of past debts from the establishing of the community forest it is not anticipated that any funds will be available until 2018 but the process has been established how the monies will be distributed to neighbouring communities and worthwhile projects. As a member of the select standing committee I have had the opportunity to see the many positive aspects of a community forest and look forward to how it will benefit our local forest resources.
Jim Hilton is a professional agrologist and forester who has lived and worked in the Cariboo Chilcotin for the past 40 years. Now retired, Hilton still volunteers his skills with local community forests organizations.
