Changing of the guard

Former VCF president reflects on her time with the community forest

By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG

After 17 years of working with the Valemount Community Forest (VCF), Ainslie Jackman is out as president of the board. Valemount Council, the shareholder of the community forest who represents the interests of Valemount residents, chose not to renew her contract in a closed meeting.

The Goat sat down with Jackman to discuss her time at VCF and her plans for the future.

Jackman joined the board in 2008, just after the community forest officially started. It was a difficult time for the forestry industry overall, with the 2008 recession rocking the entire province and local mills closing left and right – Valemount’s shut down in 2006. On top of that, the community forest had to contend with an epidemic of mountain pine beetle, which devastated the local tree population.

The community forest’s goal was to increase local employment, Jackman said.

“Every community forest has a different focus… we were desperate, and we needed to create jobs, so that was our focus,” she said. “Our mission statement and guiding principles were written to diversify [the economy].”

Building a community forest from the ground up also meant writing policies for meetings and learning the ins-and-outs of running a community forest – no easy feat for any new board, let alone one still reeling from a local economy that was in freefall. According to Jackman, board meetings in those early years were typically three or four hours long, a far cry from the roughly 90-minute meetings the board holds today.

“They were horrendous. And we had in-camera stuff to deal with too, so it was grueling,” she said, adding that after separating the Valemount Industrial Park from the community forest made meetings more manageable.

One point of pride for Jackman was purchasing a sawmill in 2019, which she said resulted in the creation of 10 jobs. Nobody on the board during the purchase had experience with mills, but they worked together to do the best they could, she said.

“It was exciting and it was fun and we liked each other,” she said of the 2008 board. “Trying to decide what kind of mill [to purchase], we were out of our league, really. We did the best we could with what we knew.”

Other highlights from Jackman’s time on the board include moving Cedar Valley Holdings onto the VCF yard. According to Jackman, then-general manager Craig Pryor helped the company grow from three people to 15 people.

One recurring obstacle for the board has been finding qualified people to fill empty positions. Jackman says the ideal board brings people with a wealth of experience in various fields, from finance to logging to trucking. While it hasn’t been easy to build a knowledgeable, diverse board in a town as small as Valemount, Jackman counts herself lucky to have worked closely with a group of dedicated people who cooperated well. 

“We were a very caring bunch that started the community forest and really knew that it was our only hope,” she said.

Despite the challenges VCF has tackled, Jackman knows that community forests can quietly support their communities and has enjoyed getting to collaborate with board members who are passionate and knowledgeable. She pointed to the dock at Cranberry Lake as one example: she proposed building a new dock to the board, and everybody agreed to contribute. Even loggers, truckers and road builders who don’t sit on the board pitched in, according to Jackman.

“We got the dock – it was so exciting, it was lovely,” she said. “It was really a community effort.”

Now, Jackman looks forward to having free time without the stress of putting out fires with the VCF board. She said she was offered a job at a woodlot the same day she found out her contract with VCF wouldn’t be renewed, but she chose not to take it.

“I said ‘No, I just need a break,’” Jackman said.

During that break, Jackman plans on gardening, caring for her horses, and spending time with her four grandchildren.

With Jackman gone, local Gerry Piper is the last remaining board member who was around during VCF’s earliest days – the “old guard,” as Jackman said. However, she looks forward to seeing new blood on the board, noting that newly-elected president Dylan Savoie and board member Zac Ruttiman have already brought enthusiasm and valuable insight to the community forest.

“They are great. They are exactly what you want in a succession plan,” Jackman said. “We’re starting to get some new, younger board members. You still need the older people, but it has to be a transition so that you can keep the stability and the knowledge going. And then, one by one, we all jump off.”