Letter: McBride Community Forest Expanded Election Boundaries

Attending the McBride Community Forest Corporation Open House on May 24, I was both surprised and delighted to hear Chair Mike Monroe announce that the Articles of Incorporation of the MCFC have been permanently amended to guarantee that, starting with the 2026 Board elections, the majority of members will be elected by voters throughout the area of the forest, rather than only McBride Village Council!

This is a huge step in ensuring democratic control of the MCFC by all the residents impacted by its operations. This is how the CF was proposed to be structured in the first place, and is exactly what Mike and I and many others unsuccessfully fought for back in 2010 through the community group Take Back Our Forest!

How the selection process will work is that 3 of the 5 Directors will be elected at large, one will be appointed by McBride Village Council (not necessarily a Council member), and the fifth will be appointed by a vote of the first 4.

The exact boundaries of the electoral area are still being worked out, but they will be expanded far outside the Village borders, at the very least to cover the footprint area of the forest itself. Another proposal being considered, which Mike and I personally favour, is for the electoral boundary to be Regional District Area H, extending from Dome Creek to Small River, the area which funds the collective services that we all enjoy such as library and museum, health facilities, schools, and policing.

The new arrangement by no means automatically solves every issue the CF will have to deal with, as there naturally will be differing opinions on how it should operate. But it is definitely a step in the right direction by having all the people directly affected by the operations of the CF, having direct influence over what those operations will be. Like every other  important issue in a democracy, it will require an involved populace knowledgeable about the consequences of the policies their elected representatives are committed to implementing.

Back in 1999 when the MCFC was first proposed, the governing structure was meant to be one which involved all of the people living in the affected area. For various reasons, the incorporation process was hijacked by the McBride Village Council of the time, and the MCFC became wholly-owned and controlled by them. Mike Monroe, Regional District rep at the time, initially supported this model, but quickly realized it was a mistake and worked for many years, including the TBOF period, to try to correct it. It is to his immense credit that he persisted in his efforts, and to the credit of the present McBride Council and the MCFC Board that they have agreed to right a historical wrong.

Verbal and financial reports at the Open House showed that the current management of the MCFC has gone a long way to repair damage, particularly treeplanting shortfalls, done through past years of mismanagement (although still more work remains to be completed), and to ensure its operations are both financially profitable and environmentally sustainable. The MCF posted net earnings of $518,879 for 2024, after spending $65,000 in donations to community groups and recreation site expenses.

What of the future, and the role of the newly-enfranchised electorate of our area? The provincial government, in mandating timber harvesting quotas, set up Community Forests primarily as a vehicle for ongoing logging, but with important operational control from members of the community affected (in contrast with areas under the control of the big forestry corporations which operate largely without local considerations).

The Community Forest was designed to be a tremendous economic gift to the community, and not simply by the widespread logging of the area. It could help promote local economic diversity by helping create and maintain local value-added manufacturing jobs, and develop the economic potential of other non-timber resources available in the forests. There are other aspects to consider such as visual quality and recreation potential both for locals and tourism, and sustainable forestry practices to ensure permanent long-term benefits from this valuable natural resource.

In electing people to fill positions on the newly-constituted Board, we need candidates to consider and articulate proposals on the issues above, and an electorate that is knowledgeable and involved in the process.

The Board and the Village have done their part to level the playing field. Now it’s time for the Community to step up to the plate!

With Renewed Optimism,

Al Birnie, McBride, B.C.
Former Chair, Take Back Our Forest, 2010

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