The District of Squamish is being offered a community forest area (CFA) with a 10,000-cubic-metre annual allowable cut (AAC) and it's up to council to decide whether it wants to accept the offer and if so, determine what the purpose of the CFA would be.
According to Neil Edwards, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Mines tenures officer, and Dave Southam, Metro Vancouver Squamish resource manager, community forests across the province have different purposes depending on the community's preference.
"A CFA gives a community the exclusive right to harvest and manage the area," Edwards said on Tuesday (May 24).
"We're providing the opportunity for the community to manage in this way so they have that opportunity to do what they think is best for the local area. It does put the management of forest lands in the hands of the community."
Community forest objectives range from profit to wildlife management to conserving portions of old-growth forest to education and awareness.
"This is a hybrid between cutting trees and providing something to the community to use as their land base - and it provides the sense of 'this is our forest,'" he said.
"It's working as long as whatever happens can be shown as a direct impact in the community - whether it's employment or infrastructure or for example, one community forest was able to buy a new ambulance."
CFAs have lower stumpage rates than commercial tenures, which makes them appealing to communities despite generally low AACs. Edwards said Squamish is in a uniquely appealing situation because most logging roads are already built and because of the low transport cost to get timber to a dryland sorting facility.
There are six potential areas designated by the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Mines and council would also decide which area it prefers.
Councillors were concerned that a 10,000 AAC wasn't enough incentive profit-wise to make managing a CFA worthwhile. Coun. Paul Lalli asked what the "magic AAC to break even" was.
Edwards said that number is difficult to determine as it varies based on the community and a number of other factors.
"There are CFAs that are successful with that amount," he said. "I have not heard of any unsuccessful ones of the 30 in the province."
Southam told council "there's clearly no promise to make money," but despite forestry being at a low ebb over the past few years, it appears "the industry is resurging, particularly due to exports to the Asian markets."
Coun. Doug Race questioned the motivation behind the district managing a CFA.
"Why would the municipality become like a logging company instead of having the area allocated to a logging company?" he asked, adding that the risk factor for such a low profit seems too high.
Edwards said that in his experience, private company profits often leave the community, whereas CFA profits are redistributed within the community.
"Is there a risk?" he asked. "Yes, it's a business venture, but it's more than that.
"A CFA is more than just the harvesting of timber. It's about community education, community benefits"
He said communities also often become "intimately involved with their forest."
Coun. Corinne Lonsdale, who was mayor when the district began exploring the idea, was supportive of the proposal and told Race there were numerous reasons to support such a venture.
"In forestry, contracts normally go to the lowest bidder, no matter where they're from, whether it's Timbuktu," she said, "whereas with a CFA, we could decide only to hire local contractors, or only distribute wood locally, creating opportunities for local companies."
She said for her, the most important component is the educational one, because so many people don't understand the need for forestry. She was hoping the demonstration forest around Brohm Lake could be added to the CFA because of its proximity to Squamish and easy accessibility.
"I'm really excited today that the Ministry of Lands, Forests and Mines has identified areas after 10 years," Lonsdale said.
Coun Patricia Heintzman agreed with Lonsdale and said it would be really important to engage the community and explain the benefits of having a CFA.
"We need to make sure the community understands what the purpose is, and for that we need to make sure we've agreed on what the purpose is."
Edwards said the process involves an approximate $15,000 start-up cost and would take 12 to 16 months to complete. In would include substantial public consultations and considerable paperwork, he said.
Gardner suggested council ask staff to investigate other communities' experiences and start-up costs before council discusses the proposal further. The motion was carried unanimously.
