By Jennifer Quam

The British Columbia Community Forest Convention met and conversed in McBride at the beginning of June, a conference that was an exposure for McBride and provide an opportunity for networking.

McBride Community Forest Corporation General Manager Marc von der Gonna said about 65 people including other community foresters, academics from the University of Northern British Columbia and the University of British Columbia, and employees from the Ministry of Forests took part in the three day event.

“We had a field day that included tours of our sort yard and harvesting operations,” said von der Gonna. “We also visited some manufacturing plants including Syncra, TRC, and Cedar Three. Everyone was impressed with how we are dealing with visuals and some of the projects being done at Cedar Three.”

von der Gonna said the group was also shown the Community Hall project and Train Station in an effort to show some of the community projects that the McBride Community Forest supports.

MLA’s Shirley Bond and Pat Bell both attended the conference on Saturday, June 2. “They had some interesting views and explained how they support Community Forests,” said von der Gonna. “We also had a great panel discussion that explored diversification, non-timber uses for harvest, and how to attract dollars to each community.”

The conference concluded with presentations from the Bella Coola and Seaclet Community Forests group who hope to host next year’s event. von der Gonna explained that the decision would be made at the next executive meeting.

“I have been the Vice President of the BC Community Forest Group for three years now and I may back out this time around,” he said. “I would like to focus more on what we are doing here. The goals I had set going in as Vice President has been accomplished and it might be time for some fresh ideas.”

Overall, von der Gonna said the conference was good exposure for McBride and had economic value to it.

“Some really good linkages were made and these provide some road maps to use as we go through some transitions as a community with the closure of MFI (McBride Forest Industries),” he said.