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AWARE on solid ground

Environmental group tackled big issues last year, but remains committed to its routes WHAT: AWARE annual general meeting WHO: Joe Foy, director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee WHERE: Mt.

Environmental group tackled big issues last year, but remains committed to its routes

WHAT: AWARE annual general meeting

WHO: Joe Foy, director of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee

WHERE: Mt. Currie Ballroom, Delta Whistler Resort

WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 19 th , 6 to 9 p.m.

Over the past few years, the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment has been elevated from the position of a grass roots environmental group to a key environmental advocate for the Sea to Sky corridor.

Members currently sit on various Olympic bid committees, including transportation and the environment, and AWARE is the only environmental group with a member on the Sea to Sky Land and Resource Management Plan round table. They have backed a well-publicized campaign to preserve the South Chilcotin Mountains as a provincial park, and helped to keep the public focus on the contentious Elaho and Sims valleys. AWARE was also at the forefront of the Whistler’s bid to become the first sustainable town as an early adopter of The Natural Step, and remains committed to moving the process forward.

But while the profile of the group has been raised to a new level, it’s clear that the group is still true to its grass routes. Some of their biggest successes of last year include a local wetlands project, and the forward progress that has been made on a central composting facility.

"Over the past year, we’ve been very effective in raising money and putting it towards projects," said Mitch Rhodes, who is wrapping up his second term as AWARE president at the group’s annual general meeting on Sunday. "People in the group feel AWARE is in a healthy place financially, and with the human resources we have – we have a very strong board, with good people, and good credibility in the community. We want to continue that."

Rhodes is particularly pleased with the recent developments that make it likely that Whistler and other communities in the corridor will be able to benefit from a central composting centre, probably within the next year.

When AWARE was started in 1989, the main focus of the group was to start a municipal recycling program. With members leading the way, creating their own program, the municipality soon followed suit.

Three years ago, Rhodes’ first year with the group, AWARE polled its membership to determine which of the 106 issues that currently had folders in the filing cabinet should be a priority for the group. One of those issues was composting.

In the past three years, AWARE supported education programs at the school and in the community, and helped to nudge the municipality and Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) towards the idea of a central facility.

"We were able to raise awareness and exert a little political pressure to move in that direction," said Rhodes.

Now that the composting issue looks like it will be resolved, Rhodes says the group will stay involved at the school level, "to raise awareness for future generations."

The wetlands initiatives for this year, led by AWARE’s Valley Bottom Wetlands and Greenbelt Committee, included a series of articles in Pique and The Question, guided wetland walking tours, and various projects with the Whistler Fisheries Stewardship Group and the Habitat Improvement Team. They helped to expand the municipality’s Wetland-keepers monitoring program, helped to build an interpretive viewing platform on Lost Lake, and participated in wetland planting projects.

"That’s something I hope we will continue. It’s one thing to sit at a table and discuss the issues, but there’s something about getting your hands into the mud that really appeals to people," said Rhodes.

Organizationally, Rhodes says the group realized this year that it is learning to balance it’s advocacy side, sitting on various boards and groups to make policy, with it’s more hands-on side that includes raising money for specific projects.

"To be an effective organization, you need both. If you’re advocacy-oriented, then you don’t have the money, and if you don’t have the money it’s hard to keep your credibility in the community. The work we do in the community stands out, and that in turn helps us to become a better advocate," explained Rhodes.

Rhodes said his major failing in the past two years was the inability to increase membership, which he attributes to poor marketing of AWARE in the community.

"That’s something the future board will look into, but it just seems we’ve been too busy with all of our other projects to do the things we need to increase membership."

AWARE is very involved in the 2010 Olympic Bid, with members on various committees. "At the beginning, people wanted AWARE to say ‘no’ to the Olympics, but we decided strategically to be neutral… to maintain our values in the Olympic planning. If we said ‘no’, then they were not going to talk to us again, and we’re giving up our leverage there to push sustainability, environmental protection, an Olympic environmental legacy."

AWARE also found funding for member Johnny Mikes to sit on the Sea to Sky LRMP round table, where he is the advocate for conservation and the environment. That initiative is also paying dividends, as LRMP members seem willing to make a few concessions to keep the peace.

"We did a poll of AWARE directors a little while ago to find out why they are part of this organization, and when you get right down to the heart and soul of it, it’s habitat protection. So many people got involved originally because of the Elaho – that’s why I got into it. I went on a hike of the Douglas fir loop with (the Western Canada Wilderness Committee) and they said the area was going to be cut down next year. It hasn’t, and public pressure had a lot to do with that. That’s why our Wilderness Backyard campaign will continue, and why the (Sea to Sky) LRMP is so important," said Rhodes.

In regards to the sustainability initiative, AWARE feels the process has gotten sidetracked, but will continue to support the process.

"When I first joined AWARE as a vice-president, the organization hadn’t had a strategic planning process. We had become a kind of environmental sink-hole for the community – if anyone had an issue, they would throw it at AWARE. We had 106 portfolios, and we probably could have had a thousand," said Rhodes.

"My view of this is that we can take The Natural Step, apply its system conditions upstream where everything happens, and if everything was run sustainably… everything else downstream would take care of itself."

That said, Rhodes said he will step down as AWARE president this year, but will remain on the executive board as past president. Stepping down will give the group new energy, as well as increase the capability of the organization by spreading the experience around.

"I feel blessed for the experience. It was fun being AWARE’s president, working with the people in the organization and the community who share our views and values towards the environment, and towards the community as well," he said.

A new executive board and slate of directors will be elected at the AGM, which will also include reports from various committees, the treasurer, Rhodes, and a special presentation by WCWC director Joy Foy.

The meeting is open and free to the public, and members will be able to renew their memberships.