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Harvesting to increase in community forest in 2013

Low prices result in missed targets in 2012
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The Cheakamus Community Forest is looking to increase timber harvesting slightly above the annual average this summer to partially compensate for last season when the organization harvested just over a third of their annual allowable cut.

The reason for the low harvest, according to Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF) chair Peter Ackhurst, was a combination of factors out of Whistler's control.

"What happened last year is that the market went down and we had trouble finding logging contractors," said Ackhurst. "We decided not to log and wait for the market to come up, and the market has gone way up since then."

The CCF released its annual report this week, describing operations for the past year as well as plans for the future. They are also hosting a public open house April 9 to share the harvesting plans for 2013 with the public, as well as to get feedback on provincial plans to decommission roads in the 30,000 hectare tenure area.

With almost no logging the first few years since Whistler and its partners obtained the community forest, followed by less than 16,000 cubic metres harvested in 2011 and just 7,195 cu.m harvested in 2012, Ackhurst acknowledged that the CCF is well behind provincial expectations. Current management plans specify that an average of roughly 20,000 cubic metres must be harvested per year over five years in the community forest. However, Ackhurst said he doesn't believe that the province will step in at this point to allocate the forest tenure to other companies.

"It's a 25-year renewable licence, and as long as we do a good job it will be there forever," he said. "(The province) will review our performance after 25 years, but every five years we have to submit a new Forest Management Plan (where the annual allowable cut is established).

"I think we're quite far behind," he added. As for what that means, Ackhurst said the province does have the power to take a tenure back if terms of the licence are not being met.

"We might lose (the tenure) back to the forest service, and they have the option of having their own timber sale in there, but I don't think they will," he said. "They understand that everybody has been undercut in the markets, and if you can't sell your wood (for a good price) then the government is not going to force you to lose money. It's pretty similar here to what's happened across the rest of the coast. But if we weren't doing anything in a good market, then it wouldn't be good."

Unlike most commercial tenures, the CCF — a non-profit society and partnership between the Resort Municipality of Whistler, and both Squamish and Lil'wat First Nations — is committed to planning forestry operations with stakeholders. Their plans try to accommodate recreational tenure holders, backcountry user groups (such as mountain biking, hiking and backcountry skiing), cultural interests, viewpoints, visibility, resource industries, crown corporations and other interests using the community forest, which can complicate the planning process. However, Ackhurst said that level of consultation is the reason why Whistler applied for a community forest in the first place.

"The thing to consider with the community forest is that it's for the community," he said. "It's the community's forest, and this is why the province created community forests — to manage forests that surround towns in B.C. where there are other interests. There are about 50 of them now. It's a very popular program, and in that sense we're just starting to get going here."

The 20,000 cu.m annual allowable cut represents roughly 40 hectares of forest each year in an area that's over 30,000 hectares in size. According to the CCF, timber harvesting from the 1970s to the 1990s was roughly 200 hectares per year before harvesting slowed considerably in the 2000s as a result of weaker demand, recessions, trade disputes and other issues.

By acquiring a community forest, stakeholders and partners can now have a say where trees will be cut, and how — and the CCF currently uses an Ecosystem Based Management Plan that has resulted in smaller cutblocks, variable retention logging, helicopter logging and other practices that reduce the impact on the ecosystem.

Ackhurst said the CCF is also continuing to pursue other initiatives, including the sale of carbon credits — something that would reduce the annual cut for the area. To qualify, they will have to complete a certified audit that Ackhurst estimated would take another two or three months to finish.

As well, the CCF is interested in pursing certification from the Forest Stewardship Council, something that will cost roughly $25,000 — money the CCF does not have right now but could possibly be covered by the carbon review.

As a non-profit, all of the proceeds from the sale of timber harvested in the CCF go back into the forest to upgrade roads and trails or make other improvements.

"A good example of that is the roads this year," said Ackhurst.

"The provincial forest service is having a meeting with the different users of roads. They want to know who is responsible for the roads, or who wants to be responsible, and if nobody wants the liability then the province will close the roads. We need a plan by the end of the year to talk about which runs should be kept open, which roads should be closed, and that sort of thing."

As well, the CCF received close to $60,000 in grants this year for various projects. They include enhancing the road, trails and parking area around the Ancient Cedars; improving the Loggers Lake recreation area; creating research plots in the forest to determine how fast the forest is growing; and preparing the CCF's Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) plan.

"We will continue to do that and write proposals to do these kinds of projects around Whistler," said Ackhurst.

The mild winter has allowed logging to get underway earlier this year, and Ackhurst confirmed that crews are already working on the south end of the tenure.

Most of the available forest is at higher alpines, and typically the season doesn't get underway until June, although an earlier start may be possible this year.

The open house is scheduled for the Whistler Public Library on Tuesday, April 9, running 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.