Old-growth logging at Cheakamus Community Forest deferred until end of year as board looks to diversify revenue

With old-growth harvesting on pause until at least the end of the year, the Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF) is looking ahead to other possible revenue generators—including a greater focus on its carbon sequestration program and logging mature and second-growth trees. The CCF board hosted an open house Feb. 28, giving the public its first look at the proposed harvest plans for 2022. Co-managed by the Resort Municipality of Whistler, the Lil’wat Nation, and the Squamish Nation, the CCF hasn’t seen much commercial logging in recent years. Last June, in the midst of rising local opposition following the high-profile blockades at Fairy Creek, the board decided to defer what few plans it had to log old-growth trees last year—the first old growth that would have been harvested since 2018. That will continue through at least the end of this year, as the board looks to diversify the CCF’s revenue streams.