Big Lake Community Hall November 22, 2015

Community Meeting

WL Community Forest

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●The City of Williams Lake and the Williams Lake Indian Band ●Invited to apply for a CFA in May, 2011

●Formed a legal partnership to hold the license ●WL Community Forest LP

●Application was submitted in 2013

●Community Forest Agreement K3A was signed in 2014.

●The Forest Stewardship Plan was approved in October, 2015.

Community Forest Agreement K3A Our Goals Are To:

●Reflect community values and respect the land;

●Sustainably manage for all forest resources;

●Enhance local partnerships that support forest education and an increased public understanding of forestry;

●Operate the Community Forest as a viable forestry enterprise;

●Realize socioeconomic benefits such as local employment and economic activity associated with milling and manufacturing; and

●Generate revenue for economic development and community stability.

Governance

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● WL Community Forest Limited Partnership

● Partners Williams Lake Indian Band & City of Williams Lake

● Board of Directors appointed by Partners

● WLIB Directors Byron Louie, Gabe Pukacz, Brian McNaughton

● City Directors Ray Sanders, Tom Foley, Darrell Garceau

● Contract Manager UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest appointed for a two-year term

Governance

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● Standing Committee on Resource Values and Interests ● Encourage meaningful consultation with residents,

communities and resource users ● Identify resource values and interests for consideration in

management of the WL Community Forest; ● Review and recommend dispersal of Community Grant Funds;

and ● Convey these recommendations to the Board of Directors

● Committee members Gord Flatt (Miocene); Susan Woermke, Leonard Teppema (Horsefly); Joan Sorley, Dave White (Big Lake); Joe Sandy (Sugarcane) Bill Stafford, Kurt Williams, Jim Hilton, Henry Doucette (Esler, Chimney Ck, Moore Mtn)

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Two Blocks in the Community Forest

● Within the traditional territory of Williams Lake Indian Band

● Contains spiritual, cultural and traditional values of importance to the WLIB

● Contains community values of local and regional importance

● Sustainable as CFA: ● Environmentally ● Ecologically ● Economically

● Vacant crown land within Forest District

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Questions and Discussion

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Planning Forestry Activities

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Approved By

Govt

Enforceable By

Govt

Desired Outcomes

Management Plan • Values, Goals,

Objectives

• Big Picture

• No End Date

Working Plan • Community Aims,

Desires, Hopes

• Detailed tactics

• Expected outcomes

• ~ 20 year horizon Forest Stewardship Plan

• Our commitments to Govt

• Fulfilling legal requirements

• Five Year horizon

Site Plan • Detailed plan for each

cutblock

• 2 year horizon

Planning Forestry Activities

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Approved By

Govt

Enforceable By

Govt

Desired Outcomes

Management Plan • Values, Goals,

Objectives

• Big Picture

• No End Date

Working Plan • Community Aims,

Desires, Hopes

• Detailed tactics

• Expected outcomes

• ~ 20 year horizon Forest Stewardship Plan

• Our commitments to Govt

• Fulfilling legal requirements

• Five Year horizon

Site Plan • Detailed plan for each

cutblock

• 2 year horizon

Potato Mountain Block Key Values

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● Mule Deer Winter Range ● Group Selection

● Visual Quality ● Shelterwoods

● Old Growth Management Areas ● Harvesting strictly

limited to maintain “Old Forest”

● Inaccessible ● Deep gullies ● Not available by

standard methods

● Timber ● Thinning,

shelterwood, clearcutting

People’s Values and Interests

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● Forest Stewardship Plan reflect government objectives that set dominant management strategies

● Other values and interests exist – Where??

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• What are your specific interests & values that we should consider?

• Where are those interests & values?

• What are the important features to recognize?

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Overlapping Tenures

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● Range Permits

● Tenured Trails

● Licensed Water Intakes

● Registered Trap Lines

● Guide Outfitters

● Hydro Easements

● Mining Claims

Many Un-Tenured Uses

e.g. firewood, walking, gathering, …

Referral Process

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●Develop the Working Plan in consultation

●Standing Committee

●Tenure holders

●Interested public

●Interest groups

●Establish relationships with over-lapping tenure holders and neighbours

●Site Plans are written for each cutblock

●Available for public review

●Open door

Working Plan

Approach to Harvesting

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● Group Selection ● Mule Deer Winter Range

● Cut 20 to 33% of the stand area ● Each 40 years ● In groups not larger than 0.5 ha

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● Shelterwoods ● Visual Quality ● Timber Production

● Remove 50% by thinning smaller trees

● Wait 10 years for regeneration ● Remove the overstory

Working Plan

Approach to Harvesting

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● Clearcutting with Reserves ● Timber ● Remove the mature stand ● Leave “legacies” for biodiversity

● Dead trees, large trees, coarse woody debris

Working Plan

Approach to Harvesting

Working Plan

Access

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●A lot of road already exists ●More than we need or want ●Public Road, Forest Service Road, Licensee Road Permits

●Undertaking an access management plan to determine which roads

●we need to take over ●should be deactivated by Licensees

●should be non-status or Wilderness roads

●Opportunity for input ●Now ●As we go forward

Questions and Discussion

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Harvest Plan 2015/16

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• Cutblocks - Mortality - Grassland restoration

• Sanitation - Fir Bark Beetle - Windthrow

Harvest Plan 2015/16

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Douglas-fir Bark Beetle

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● Population occasionally erupts from fire or weather events

● Only attack Douglas-fir, prefer stressed or recently killed trees

● Clusters of red fir trees and associated green-attack

● Big Lake – Solomon Lake area

● Throughout Flat Rock Block ● Focus harvesting on

attacked trees ● Limit spread of beetles

next year

Douglas-fir Bark Beetle Sanitation

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● Currently surveying infestation sites identified by Ministry

● Planning to salvage attacked and killed trees before spring

● Harvest infested trees only

● Small groups of trees up to 1 ha in area

Questions and Discussion

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