Open letter to Greenwood, Midway and Grand Forks:
The Boundary Woodlot Association (BWA) submits our response to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations offer, to award a Community Forest License (CFL) to the Village of Midway and City of Greenwood as part of the consultation and review process due April 5.
1) The BWA recognizes and agrees that local control of forest tenure in the form of woodlots and community forests is paramount for our communities to survive and prosper by providing jobs while creating a culture for our younger generations to remain in our communities.
2) Further, we recognize that forests are a finite and renewable resource.
3) Whereas, with planned reductions in annual allowable cuts province-wide, and the cyclical nature of markets, our local forest economy will always be in a position of risk.
4) It is the BWA’s opinion that the best way to spread this risk around and employ the maximum number of people in our communities is that the BC Timber Sales (BCTS) volume allocation, in excess of the Provincial Forest Revitalization Strategy, be made available to woodlots and community forests.
However, the BWA does not agree on the CFL location, nor the apportionment of the present offer for the proposed CFL for the following reasons:
a) The BWA had a long-standing agreement with Midway and Greenwood (and Grand Forks who did turn down one offer in 2009) to work together for a combination of woodlots and CFLs.
b) Further, that lands encompassing the Phoenix et al., would be reserved for woodlots and CFL volume would be designated elsewhere.
c) Further, when volume was awarded to CFLs, meaningful volumes would be awarded to woodlots. In summary, the BWA encourages administrators of Midway and Greenwood to refuse this offer based on location and strongly request a larger area and annual allowable cut that does not conflict with the BWA’s long-term interest in the Phoenix Forest area et al. If all regions of the Boundary work together on these issues, then our communities will be the better for it.
George Dore, President, Boundary Woodlot Association