Burns Lake Community Forest Board announces appointment of new Manager

BURNS LAKE – The board of directors of ComFor Management Services and Burns Lake Community Forest Ltd. (BLCF) are pleased to announce the appointment of Frank Varga as the new Manager, effective June 29, 2016.

“Frank knows the community forest land base, the local values and concerns and the goals and interests of the board.  Combined with the depth and breadth of his experience in the local forest industry he is well qualified to take the reins to address the challenges and opportunities of the next several years,” said Sharon Tower, secretary of the community forest. “The board looks forward to welcoming Frank to his new role as Manager and working with him over the coming years to secure a solid, sustainable future for the community forest.”

Frank has a long work experience in the forest industry.  Frank is a Registered Professional Forester and comes to the community forest from his job with the Ministry of Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations as the Woodlands Supervisor for BC Timber Sales where he provided leadership and program management of the silviculture section.  He has served on the community forest board’s executive and more recently as the president. For the last several months he acted in the interim Operations Manager position. In March of 2016 Varga was awarded the Climate Change Innovation Award from the Association of BC Forest Professionals for advancing silviculture practices in British Columbia.

” I am excited about taking on the role as General Manager of the Burns Lake Community Forest. I look forward to bringing my passion for sustainable forest management and to putting “community” back into the local management. BLCF has always been an integral part of this community, providing direct and indirect benefits to everyone who resides in the Lakes District,” said Varga. I recognize that it will take considerable effort to regain the trust of the residents of the Lakes District, and with our focus on actively moving the community forest towards a sustainable area based tenure, I think it can be done. The success of this relies on meaningful community engagement, successful relationships with our First Nation partners, and a vision of sustainability at the core. I look forward to moving these initiatives forward and I hope that I can open everyone’s eyes to this new era. So I challenge all the residents of the Lake District to take a chance and believe one more time. The door is always open. “

The board is planning a community barbeque to welcome Frank as manager. It will be held in conjunction with the AGM in mid-July. Stay tuned for details coming soon. Find out more about the Community Forest on their website at www.blcomfor.com.