The Williams Lake Community Forest (WLCF) will be under new management as of Dec. 31.
Recently the WLCF board selected registered professional forester Hugh Flinton and registered forest technician Kent Watson of C&P Management Group Inc. to take over the managing role from the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest.
Board chair Steve Capling said the change is occurring because present manager, Ken Day, is retiring from the UBC Alex Fraser Research Forest and UBC did not want to renew its management contract with the community forest.
“Hugh has been doing contract work with the community forest for a couple of years now,” Capling said. “He was born and raised in the community so he knows it quite well.”
Flinton and Watson will be introduced during a community forest update meeting taking place Sunday, Dec. 3 at the 150 Mile Fire Hall beginning at 1:30 p.m.
The board will also share some of the planning around forest health concerns due to the Douglas-fir Beetle.
David Borth, executive director for fire recovery with the Ministry of Forests, will attend to discuss the process for community recovery from the wildfires this summer, Capling said.
The community forest was “very fortunate” and only lost about 30 hectares to the wildfires in the Potato Mountain Block between Likely and Horsefly, he added.
“A big thank you to the folks at the Big Lake Fire Dept. for helping us out.”
A joint partnership between the City of Williams Lake and the Williams Lake Indian Band, the community forest is comprised of the Potato Mountain Block and the Flat Rock Block between Esler and the Fraser River.
“We are making a profit this year and will be able to report on that at the meeting,” Capling said.