City of Port Alberni receives $2M from community forest

The Alberni Valley Community Forest is in a good financial position after 2019, chairperson Jim Sears said during the AVCF’s annual general meeting in June. So good, in fact, the board donated a $2 million dividend to its owner, the City of Port Alberni. The community forest’s net revenue in 2019 was $1.6 million, Sears noted. Harvesting in the forest was done entirely in the Sproat Operating Area. Having a slow fire season—no fires within the community forest in 2019—helped, he added. The big dividend was possible because the board had set aside monies to purchase more land, but decided to set that idea aside for now. …This is the largest dividend cheque the community forest has provided to the city since the AVCF was formed in 2009.