A community forest partnership between the city of Williams Lake and Williams Lake First Nation has won a provincial award.
The Ministry of Forests announced Tuesday, June 13, WLCF has won the 2023 Robin Hood Memorial Award for excellence in forestry, citing strong partnerships, wildfire protection and community involvement as reasons for the award win.
“Community forestry continues to make a valuable contribution to overall forest management in our province,” said forests minister Bruce Ralston in a news release.
“The Williams Lake Community Forest is contributing to the transition to a modern forestry sector, supporting stronger, more resilient communities. Through their commitment to innovative forest practices and partnerships, they are generating economic opportunities for British Columbians.”
The Robin Hood Memorial Award for Excellence in Community Forestry, was established in 2016.
Each year the award is given to the B.C. community forest that best exemplifies the values exhibited by the B.C. community-forest program and the late B.C. community forestry pioneer, Robin Hood, who was involved with the Likely Community Forest.
“The WLCF was years in the making. It took hard work and the committed leadership of key people to believe in the potential of the partnership,” said George Brcko, president, BC Community Forest Association (BCCFA). “They said yes to collaboration and to the start of a new relationship between the local Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.”
Shane Berg, B.C.’s chief forester, presented the award, which includes a $10,000 grant, during the BCCFA annual general meeting in Kamloops on Thursday, June 8, 2023.
The BCCFA is a non-profit society that advocates for community forestry in B.C. It works closely with the provincial government on forest policy, providing input on community forest initiatives and expanding community forestry.
The Williams Lake Community Forest covers 28,840 hectares in two parcels: one west of and one east of the City of Williams Lake.
READ MORE: Prescribed burn taking place in Williams Lake Community Forest Thursday, April 27
READ MORE: More than $45K Williams Lake Community Forest grants awarded
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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