History

December

The Burns Lake Community Forest (BLCF) Ltd. was incorporated as part of the Village of Burns Lake’s application to the Ministry of Forest for a Community Forest Pilot Project. Soon after, the provincial government of the day announced the BLCF had been selected as one of the organizations in BC to be part of the pilot agreement.

July

The agreement was awarded and gave BLCF the authority to manage the forest, which was less than a third of the size of what it is today at more than 92,000 hectares. The agreement set the company’s initial Annual Allowable Cut (what can be harvested in any given year) at 23,677 cubic metres (m3).  

The BLCF’s first six directors were selected from the community forest steering committee, which was the volunteer organization responsible for developing the pilot proposal. It included representation from First Nations, business, industry, the Village of Burns Lake and the community at large. 

Over the next 17 years, there was rapid expansion of the Community Forest area, which included the establishment of new partnerships with First Nations communities and efforts to manage Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) killed timber.

Burns Lake Community Forest Ltd. became the first organization in BC to be offered a Long-Term Community Forest Agreement — a 25-year renewable forest tenure that replaced the original pilot agreement. These circumstances helped ensure the community would be responsible for how forest resources surrounding Burns Lake would be used, managed and protected for at least the next quarter century.

While much has changed, the BLCF remains committed to its founding principles of managing the forest to the benefit of the community, the local economy and the environment.