For years now, Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) directors outside of the Elk Valley have jealously lamented not having revenue sharing from the coal mining industry to bolster their coffers.

However, it seems as though the tourism-heavy Columbia Valley has found a way, by going back to the future, which might help cut down on the lamenting, with a community forest initiative that could realize from $420,640 in the first year of operations to $4.2 million in the fifth year, according to the Columbia Headwaters Community Forest Association’s (CHWCF) business plan.

RDEK directors July 8 heard from CHWCF chair Rick Hoar, who provided an update on the volunteer-driven organization, which asked for (and received) board support to launch in 2009, and again last Friday.

Profits generated from the endeavour will remain in the community, Hoar told directors.

“We’re going to start that discussion as to how we’re going to handle the excess,” he said, adding jobs will also be created.

Two years of planning, organization and meetings between municipal, regional and First Nations leaders defined the community forest area and the group is now ready to meet with the Honourable Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, whom they hope to invite to the region to discuss the issue of forest tenure for the CHWCF.

“The Columbia Headwaters Community Forest is an incorporated society that seeks to establish and manage a Community Forest within the Columbia Headwaters region. The CHWCF’s mandate focuses on sustainable forest management driven by local input and decision-making to maximize benefits and opportunities for adjacent communities. The proposed Community Forest Area is within the Invermere Timber Supply Area (TSA) and includes municipalities of Radium Hot Springs, Invermere and Canal Flats, as well as the RDEK areas F and G governed communities including Fairmont, Windermere, Wilmer, Edgewater and Panorama. Two First Nations Settlements are within the region; Shuswap First Nations and Akisqnuk First Nations.  The CHWCF is governed by a board of directors made up of five local government appointees and four members of the general public,” explains the association’s backgrounder, provided to board members July 8.

“ The CHWCF’s mandate focuses on sustainable forest management driven by local input and decision-making to maximize benefits and opportunities for adjacent communities. The proposed Community Forest Area is within the Invermere Timber Supply Area (TSA) and includes municipalities of Radium Hot Springs, Invermere and Canal Flats, as well as the RDEK areas F and G governed communities including Fairmont, Windermere, Wilmer, Edgewater and Panorama. Two First Nations Settlements are within the region; Shuswap First Nation and Akisqnuk First Nation,” the backgrounder explained.

The society was incorporated in 2011 and a steering committee now serves as the organization’s board of directors (set up as five local government appointees and four public members).

In 2010 the committee met with (then) forests minister Pat Bell who supported the area under consideration and the development and planning of a community Forest, Hoar said, adding, “but he left us with a chore.”

The chore: Bell wanted the society to find fiber trees to be used in the community forest area, so a timber analysis was done to find an annual allowable cut (AAC) figure.

“We did find reserve timber in excess of what is required in our study area,” Hoar said. “There is a large undercut in the Invermere Timber Supply Area, because of the Canfor Mill shutdown two years ago.

“The Columbia Headwaters Community Forest’s long-term objective is to establish and manage a Community Forest which has the potential to support an annual rate of harvest of approximately 45,000 cubic metres of timber. This volume is based on the results of the Community Forest Area statistical analysis,” the society’s backgrounder states.

The CHWCF is now seeking an invitation from the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to apply for a community forest with an annual allowable cut of 45,000 m3 and an initial term of 25 years.  In order to get this invitation, the CHWCF would like to invite the Honourable Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations to the region to discuss the opportunity of establishing a community forest, Hoar told the board, adding recent statements by Thomson give further encouragement to the group.

“He (Thomson) wants to expand existing ones (community forests) and create new ones where fiber is available,” Hoar said.

“Data supplied by the Rocky Mountain Forest District (RMFD) shows that B.C. Timber Sales is providing new quota allocations in the region, through both direct award and competitive bid processes, scheduled from now through 2012. This same data shows that there is a district manager’s reserve of 50,000 m3 in the RMFD as well as a Forest Service Reserve of 7,467 m3 per year in the Invermere TSA. In other areas of the province these reserves have been used to establish community forests,” the CHWCF stated in the executive summary of its business plan.

Electoral Area A director Mike Sosnowski, after noting he’s been a forester, stated, “To see that much timber just hanging out is amazing, really. I think your profitability will be double what you are projecting. You guys could easily come out with $5 million (each year). It could be like the mine tax sharing agreement in the Elk Valley.”

Hoar told the board that the CHWCF would need access to 26,000 m3 to break even.

The organization is large enough to run as a successful business and be able to benefit forest health, Hoar said.

Should the organization receive ministerial approval, it would face the challenge of finding $290,000 in start-up funding. They have already raised $37,500 through the Columbia Basin Trust Community Initiatives Fund and the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition.

“Planned next steps are to approach area funding agencies and local government partners to raise the balance of funding required for the start-up phase of operations,” notes their business plan.

Primary products

According to their business plan, the CHWCF’s primary timber products will be spruce, pine and fir/larch saw logs. The CHWCF will also work with regional specialty forest product producers to identify and harvest higher-value timber such as spruce, pine and fir house logs, pine poles, and fir timber frame logs. A market for these products exists in both large forest companies (Canfor, Tembec, LP and WoodEx) as well as local specialty forest product producers.

An important service to be provided by the CHWCF is interface fire management for the municipalities, rural areas and resort communities within the proposed Community Forest area.  Management of wildfire fuels to protect community assets near interface areas is a critical issue for rural communities in the CHWCF region.

Future product opportunities include non-timber forest products, wood chip supply for bioenergy, and value-added forest product development.

Organization literature notes further: “A community forest for the Columbia Headwaters region is an exciting opportunity endorsed by local government partners and community members. The area within the proposed Columbia Headwaters Community Forest (CHWCF) boundary was selected through community input as a high priority area for management under a community forest designation. Community forests offer community-driven management and control over important local forest resources. Benefits of these forest resources are economic, providing employment, economic development and interface fire management; environmental, managing watersheds and sensitive areas; and social, protecting viewscapes and recreational areas and providing educational opportunities.

“Local specialty forest product producers have limited access to wood fiber. New research shows small and medium forest enterprises (SFMEs) as key contributors to employment, providing the most number of jobs per cubic metre in forest-based communities, a greater value-added use of timber and less waste than larger forest producers (Pinkerton & Benner, 2011). Community forests are a logical partner to SFMEs by providing a stable supply of timber for their operations. More than 50 community forests are operating or are in the planning stages in British Columbia.”

According to its business plan: “In years one to three (2012 to 2014) of operations, the CHWCF will harvest a small annual volume of 8,000-m3/yr, and will focus harvesting on pine in accordance with management for mountain pine beetle impacted forest. By year four, the CHWCF will scale-up its operations to a much larger cut of 76,000-m3/yr. Harvest projections for year four and emphasize a greater proportion of fir/larch, reflecting more harvest activity within the Columbia River Trench.

“The sales forecast over five year period of 2012-2016 reflects a product mix that emphasizes saw logs, with a small proportion of higher-value house, timber frame and fir peeler logs. Revenues over this period are anticipated to rise from $420,640 in the first year of operations to $4.2 M by the fifth year of operations.

“The Columbia Headwaters Community Forest is projected to break-even in years one and two of operations, and net a small profit by year three ($5,748 and one percent net profit margin). Assuming the anticipated harvest increases as planned (to 76,000 m3 in year four and five), a net profit of $422,672 (11% net profit margin) is anticipated by year five.”

Community Benefits

The CHWCF’s executive summary says there will be a variety of community benefits from their proposed project.

“The presence of a community forest in the Columbia Headwaters region will offer a variety of community benefits. These include:  economic benefits: local employment; supply of timber to local forest operations; support of local forest industry services and suppliers; community economic development focused on the local secondary wood products sector; support of forest industry training initiatives.

“Social benefits: interface fire management; viewscape management; educational opportunities in partnership with local schools; recreational opportunities in partnership with local clubs; community-driven planning; financial support of community organizations and projects

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