A community meeting on plans to harvest the Williams Lake Community Forest’s (WLCF) Flat Rock Block took place last night at the Williams Lake TRU campus.
Community Forest Manager Ken Day says he was happy with the turnout.
“It’s a real pleasure to see so many people from Williams Lake come out to share their interests in the Flat Rock Block on the Community Forest.”
“That area west of Esler is important to people. It’s nice that we got a representation of all those folks with their interests and values.”
Day stresses that the proposal to harvest the 5,927 hectares, which spans from Highway 20 to the Williams Lake River Valley and from Esler to the Fraser River has a sustainable component.
“I want to be really clear, that yes there will be harvesting but this is not a program to harvest the area over the next few years.”
“We’re talking about a sustained timber harvest that is sustained year after year that’s contained within the Community Forest.”
Day says, although he does not have confirmation on the exact day, more meetings are planned for the near future to hear more from the community about their interests and values on the draft plan to harvest the land.
Community meetings on harvesting a second block allotted to the Williams Lake Community Forest at Potato Mountain are also scheduled, Day says early next year.