Many people ask what role we play in Forestry and more specifically, in the Creston Valley. Today's answer is through these two examples. We asked our Summer Students, Erich Endersby & Ashlyn Yanciw who are returning to school, to leave us this season with short articles about their experience and what they will take with them in the future. You can read both articles below in this post.
Not only do they explain their experiences of the summer, but both make us proud to know that the generation following us are insightful, based in action, and are community focused. They make us very proud and we hope, will also make you.
"I’ve learned many new skills while working with the Creston Community Forest, all of which are practical to my Forest Technology studies at Selkirk College. It has been an honour getting to know the community better and to see the same passion I have towards the forest in those around me.
Improving forest health and education within the Creston valley has been a fundamental part of my job, from contributing to wildfire risk reduction, site restoration and public consultation, these are all valuable skills which are transferable to other aspects of my life and future job prospects.
One of my favourite aspects of my job has been the variety of roles and responsibilities, no two days were alike, and I learned something new everyday. I met a lot of great people while working with the community and I am thankful for the opportunity to work with the Community Forest Corp."
- Erich Endersby
"My experience working with the Creston Community Forest has been broad and eye-opening. Between silviculture surveys, site restoration, block boundary painting, to farmers markets with the Firesmart program, I enjoyed every aspect of the job.
The community forest is vastly different from any other forestry company I’ve encountered and gave me a whole new perspective on the forestry industry. Being community driven is one of the most important values with this company, and it really shows in all avenues of their operations. Forest health, education, regeneration, forest fire mitigation and sustainable recreation were huge topics over the summer, and something that the Community Forest heavily prioritizes.
I had the honour of attending the community forest AGM in Kamloops this spring and was able to meet with all the community forests in British Columbia. There I was shown how important the community aspect of forestry is, and what future directives are being implemented to revamp forestry in a whole new, sustainable way. Forest regeneration and fire mitigation are some of the most imperative topics with how the climate is changing and the new normal of annual fire evacuations throughout the province.
I was able to learn and grow from so many caring and intelligent individuals as part of the Community Forest and am so thankful for my experiences this summer. I learned so many new things and was really shown how much the Community Forest not only cares about the community itself, but for the wellbeing of the forests around us.
The Creston Valley Forest Corp. truly puts the community in Community Forest." - Ashlyn Yanciw