June 24th WL Community Forest mtg at Esler

Joint Press Release of the City of WL/WL Indian Band:

Editor's Note -- as Cariboo RD Area 'F' Alternate Director Jack Darney noted at the June 27th Cariboo RD Board meeting -- given the poor turnout at Esler on June 24th, it is crucial that an another meeting is held at Big Lake ASAP to ensure maximum rural community input.  This considering that the Big Lake community will suffer the biggest impact, if the Community Forest proposal doesn't reflect the needs of everyone involved

The Williams Lake Indian Band and the City of Williams Lake held a drop-in session at the Esler Soccer Fields’ clubhouse on June 24th for interested public to view and ask questions about changes to the Williams Lake Community Forest application, management plan and business plan.

“The changes were made in response to the input received at the April 22nd Open House,” says Williams Lake Indian Band Chief Ann Louie. “We were pleased to receive so much input, and we believe these changes address what we heard and serve to strengthen and improve the Community Forest application.”

“The Community Forest partners heard clearly that we need to be more transparent, so we held the drop-in session to make the application package, management plan, and business plan publicly available,” says Williams Lake Mayor Kerry Cook. The application package has been posted at http://williamslakecommunityforest.wordpress.com/draft-submission/.

One of the key changes is the commitment to create a Standing Committee of the Community Forest’s Board of Directors. The Standing Committee will be established collaboratively and made up of people who have strong community and resource interests. It will play an integral role in ensuring there is meaningful consultation with those who have an interest in the management of the community forest areas. The Standing Committee will identify issues and make recommendations directly to the Board of Directors. In turn, the Board must respond and explain how the issues and recommendations are being handled. 'There will be a collaborative process to establish the standing committee.

The City and Band have re-affirmed their commitment to contribute 5% of the net profit from the Community Forest to fund community projects through a grant program, and will rely on the recommendations of the Standing Committee to decide on the distribution of the funds.

Archaeological sites, economic activity, respect for traditional medicines and foods, stewardship and local assets such as trails and green spaces have all been added to the list of twenty-four community values identified in the application.

As stated values, these will be addressed in the Community Forest’s plans. This is important because the Management Plans establish the objectives by which all of the Community Forests’ other plans and operations must abide.

A salvage program will focus on the harvest of damaged and infested timber as the first priority for logging. This program will require the services of small-scale logging contractors. Making sure the community forests are healthy and productive is definitely one of the partners’ key objectives.

The City and Band thank all of those who attended the June 24th Drop-in Session.