2019 BCCFA Conference and AGM – Mission

Conferences News

2019 Conference and AGM June 12-14 in Mission

Speakers’ presentations are available here

Conference Program  and Speakers Bios

Photos from the conference can be viewed at the bottom of this page!

Thank You Mission Municipal Forest for hosting a wonderful conference, thank you to all of our sponsors for your support and to the record number of participants for attending and contributing to a very successful event!

The 16th annual conference and AGM was held the unceded, ancestral and shared territory of the Coast Salish Sto:lo People. We are grateful to all of our participants, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, BCCFA board and staff for their involvement, networking and support for the positive future of community forestry.

Here are some highlights from the week.

The conference began on Wednesday, June 12th, with a field trip to the Mission Municipal Forest featuring their efforts to operate a working forest, and to collaborate with First Nation interests and the multiple recreational users and overlapping tenures on the land base. The group toured several sites where the District of Mission Dept. of Forestry staff shared stories of some of the novel approaches they have been taking to forest management, including Stave West, where major efforts at a collaborative approach to managing public use (and misuse) of the resource.

After the field trip, participants, sponsors, and special guests enjoyed a welcome reception. Then, on Thursday, 13th the conference was in full swing with a day of presentations on a range of topics.

Some photos and quote highlights from our speakers:

Cedar Elliott on the hiring program for the young people:“A lot of our kids had a dream of one day becoming a fire fighter and didn’t think it could be possible. We have shown them that they can be part of forestry. They are so proud!”

 

After an audience member asked a question on if we are doing enough in BC in terms of mitigating fire risk, Jessica Duncan of BCWS had this to say: “We are not doing everything we can… Nothing speaks against pushing frontiers of best practices at the local level. Community Forests are leading by example in that regard.”
Doug Stewart on reconciliation: “Already community forests are demonstrating some of the items around reconciliation and really leading in a lot of ways what that means around the province”

 

Andrea Lyall on reconciliation: “It is a journey!”

Following a wonderful day of presentations, the annual awards banquet and silent auction was held.

Chris Stagg, representing the Office of the Minister of Forests, presenting the Robin Hood Memorial Award to the Logan Lake Community Forest. Congratulations and well deserved to the whole team at Logan Lake Community Forest!

 

The last day of the conference began with the BCCFA AGM, followed by a special session on Reconciliation through Education and Understanding where attendees participated in The KAIROS Blanket Exercise™ .

The Blanket Exercise is a unique, participatory history lesson – developed in collaboration with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers and educators – that fosters truth, understanding, respect and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.

Our Host the Mission Municipal Forest


The Mission Tree Farm Licence #26, also known as the Mission Municipal Forest, has been a member of the BCCFA since inception in 2002. It was formed in 1958 as an outcome of the report from Gordon Sloan and the Royal Commission on the Forest Resources of British Columbia of 1945, where there was a recommendation that municipalities manage the local forests. Operating for over 60 years, Mission will share their experiences of addressing the challenges of managing their area based working forest in the lower mainland, access management, recreational interests, educational programming and deepening relations with their First Nations neighbours.

 

Photos from the field trip

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Photos from the conference and AGM

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