Where we have been and where we are going
A great deal of preliminary work is needed to be done even before the City of Port Alberni could commit to applying for a community forest licence agreement. The following timeline shows the groundwork that has been done thus far. The next step is for the City of Port Alberni to apply for a licence agreement.
October 2003: Port Alberni Mayor Ken McRae, Franklin Forest Product’s owner Pat McKay, and Alberni-Qualicum MLA Gillian Trumper lobbied the government for almost one year to obtain a community forest licence for the City of Port Alberni. Undeterred by an initial negative response, the group persisted and persuaded the Minister of Forests to offer an opportunity to apply for a licence.
October 2004: The Minister of Forests and Range (MoFR), on behalf of the Province of British Columbia, invited the City of Port Alberni to apply for a Probationary Community Forest Agreement for a term of 5 years with an Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) of 22, 000m3. The AAC is the amount of timber from public forest lands that can be logged legally each year, expressed in cubic metres.
Early 2005: The Port Alberni City Council created the Community Forest Advisory Committee chaired by Mayor Ken McRae to undertake the implementation of the Community Forest. The members of the Advisory Committee lobbied for the most advantageous land base for the Community Forest. In order to make the community forest independent from the City of Port Alberni, but working in the interest of the community, the Community Forest Advisory Committee will manage the Community Forest as the Board of Directors of the Strategic Forest Alliance Corporation.
February 2005: A Timber Supply Analysis showed the AAC could be achieved from a reallocation of 8206 hectares of the Arrowsmith Timber Supply area which included five areas of Crown land in the vicinity of Sproat Lake.
February 2005 (ongoing): Ministry of Forest and Range consultation with First Nations on tenure opportunity.
September 2006: After consultation with local First Nations the area proposed for the Alberni Valley Community Forest was reduced to 6366 hectares with an AAC of 18,688m3.
October 2006: The City of Port Alberni posted a “Request for Proposals to Provide Consulting Services to Facilitate a Community Forest Licence” as the city needs to apply for the Probationary Community Forest Agreement. To apply for the probationary agreement the city needs show that the community wants the forest licence and has the capacity to manage the land base. The application must document community support for the project; create a plan to manage forest resources; and develop a business plan.
December 2006: The city awarded the contract to apply for the Probationary Community Forest Licence to DRH Forest Consulting of Port Alberni.
January 2007: Because the proposed Community Forest land base contains a large amount of immature (not ready to harvest) forest and some of the wood is difficult to access, the Community Forest Advisory Committee requested that DRH Consulting prepare a viability study to determine the timber available could provide a viable business opportunity.
May 2007: DRH Forest Consulting viability proposal concluded that the proposed land base can provide an economic harvesting opportunity if properly managed.
June 2007: The City of Port Alberni advised the MoFR that they will proceed with the application for the Probationary Community Forest Agreement.
August to October 2007: The Community Forest Advisory Committee consulted with the community regarding their values and priorities for the community forest land base. Discussions occurred at the Alberni District Fall Fair, at a booth for National Forest Week, and at two open houses at City Hall and at Sproat Lake Community Hall.
November 2007: Community survey results show strong support for the Community Forest.
November 2007 to February 2008: DRH Forestry Consulting has been using the survey results and desired forest management standards expressed during community consultation to develop the Licence Application and Forest Management Plan for the Community Forest.
Planned schedule of events
March 2008: Completion of full Management Plan and Forest Stewardship Plan.
Ongoing Early 2008: The Ministry of Forests and Range continues to discuss reallocation of the TFL 44 take back areas, including the Community Forest land base. Reallocation must be completed prior to issuing the Probationary Community Forest Licence Agreement.