Islanders aim for better deal on Haida Gwaii community forest

Islanders want a community forest, but not the one the province has suggested so far. That is the upshot of a letter sent to B.C.’s forests ministry from the Misty Isles Economic Development Society (MIEDS) on March 29. The five-page letter asks the province to extend the deadline for negotiating a Haida Gwaii Community Forest, both to allow for more discussion and to wait for new, more accurate forest inventory data from the Timber Supply Review expected later this year. Back in December, the province sent MIEDS an invitation to apply for a community forest tenure that required 50/50 revenue sharing with BC Timber Sales for most of its annual cut. For an area-based tenure expected to yield about 80,000 m3 a year, 55,000 m3 would have to be auctioned through BCTS.