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On Thursday May 28th, a picnic table, bench and fire ring were flown via helicopter into the old hang-gliding site on the top of Mount Thompson. Construction work continues throughout the summer on the Creston Community Forest’s trails on both Goat Mountain and Mount Thompson. Please see the “Forest Recreation” section of our website for more details.

Social distancing being the current practice, Couns. Jim Elford accepedt a cheque from Creston Community Forest chair John Chisamore (centre) on Friday while Mayor Ron Toyota looked on. The CCF donation is part of its $75,000 commitment for the mitigation of the Crawford Hill water reservoir site. Lorne Eckersley photo By Lorne Eckersley The mitigation of the old and now unused open water reservoirs on Crawford Hill got a major boost last week from Creston Community Forest, which has evolved into a major promoter of outdoor recreation in recent years. CCF board chair John Chisamore announced a contribution of $75,000 as the Town of Creston works “to create a public (community) space for the enjoyment of the general public on a portion of the property.” Mitigation of the site will mean restoring portions of the property to a more natural state and converting the old reservoirs into small ecosystems, such as marshes. A large bat house on the site will help reduce the mosquito population, Couns. Jim Elford said after accepting part of the CCF contribution on behalf of the Town of Creston. Chisamore said the donation is part of a greater effort by the CCF to create outdoor recreation and educational facilities like walking paths and outdoor education opportunities. “The Corporation supports the environmental improvements of the (mitigation) project and wishes to ensure that sufficient funds are available to complete the project,” he said. Elford, who serves as the Town Council representative to the CCF, credits the Forest Corporation’s board and staff for its efforts to diversify and play a greater role, not just in logging, but in other areas as well. “CCF did an amazing job in Canyon,” he said. A truly sustainable logging operation involved taking out half of the merchantable timber, then replanting, is now complete. For full article: Creston Valley Advance Article

The Creston Community Forest was recently approved for $670,000.00 of provincial funding from the Forest Enhancement Society of BC for wildfire reduction projects. This funding is a multi-year wildfire risk reduction project that is scheduled to occur on Goat Mountain and in Arrow Creek. Funding for a pilot project at the base of Thompson Mountain in Canyon, BC was fully funded by the Community Forest in 2018/2019 and involved spacing the tree canopy and removing the dense understory in order to help mitigate the spread of wildfire to the area. Goat Mountain currently poses the greatest threat of wildfire to Creston and surrounding areas given its proximity to the town and will be the next area of focus. The intent of the multi-year project is to reinforce existing fuel breaks on either side of the Goat Mountain forestry road and the hydro power line. This will be achieved by creating a buffer on either side of these features where half of the tree canopy will be removed, as well as the dense underbrush. The result will be a more open stand that will help mitigate the spread of wildfire, if it occurs. Approximately 130 hectares on the north and west sides of Goat Mountain are planned for treatment and will be completed this coming winter and spring. We ask that you exercise caution when travelling along the Goat Mountain Forest Service Road as operations are scheduled to occur up until March 2020. Please contact the Community Forest office at 250-402-0070 for more information or if you have any questions.

The fifth annual National Forestry week field trip was hosted by the Creston Community Forest on September 26, 2019. Approximately 170 grade 4, 5 and 6 students attended the event at Russell Creek near Kitchener. Students participated in learning stations including a biodiversity nature walk, wildfire protection strategies and hands-on crafts.

This summer, we have completed logging up Peterson/Spider Creek near Kitchener. We are currently planning to log this fall up Okell Creek behind Goat Mountain, and up Huggard Creek in the spring. Please exercise caution while travelling along the Forestry Roads due to industrial traffic.

Our trail crew have been working slowly yet surely on the proposed trails the CCF has planned for this summer. Earlier this month, we have completed brushing out the Sullivan Creek Trail – a decomissioned logging road spurring off of the 2km point on Mt. Thompson FSR. This trail provides hikers, runners, bikers, and horseback riders with a 10 km backcountry adventure along the Sullivan Creek drainage through beautiful alder and cedar-hemlock forests. Not only does this trail serve as a lovely day hike, but it also provides non-motorized users access to our proposed hiking trails that spur off of the Sullivan Creek Trail’s switchbacks. Such proposed trails include the Sullivan Creek Connector Trail and the West Ridge Trail. The Sullivan Creek Connector Trail will connect third big switchback off of the Sullivan Creek Trail with the upper portion of the Thompson Pack Trail, allowing hikers to complete a loop rather than walking down the Mt Thompson FSR! The West Ridge Trail will allow hikers access from the 4km switchback up the Sullivan Creek Trail all the way to the top of Mount Thompson, eventually connecting hikers to the Thompson Rim Trail. This trail will run up and along the western face of Mount Thompson, and passes through multiple scenic viewpoints, as well as beautiful old growth forests. This past week, we have completed the middle section of the West Ridge Trail! This ~1km section will connect the 6km and 7km switchbacks on the Sullivan Creek Trail. This portion passes through open old growth stands of engelmann spruce, western larch, douglas fir, and subalpine fir, with low-lying understory made up of twin flower and prince’s pine lining the majority of the trail. Please be mindful of the trail’s new condition and be kind to the switchbacks for it’s first few months! Maps of the proposed trail area coming soon! Our 2019 summer student, Brendan, working hard at the pulaski through a particularly rocky section! Our second 2019 summer student, Chelsea, looking back at completed trail!

This past Saturday, the CCF hosted a trail building work bee on the upper section of the proposed West Ridge Trail. Jerry Bauer, a community board member here at the CCF, gathered and led the seven volunteers on a great community event with beautiful views of the Creston Valley. A short write-up by Jerry describes the day’s events: The work bee on Mt Thompson was organized through the Trails for Creston Valley Society. They put a notice on their website and sent out emails to their members. Seven volunteers (plus myself) met in Creston at 8 on Saturday morning. Two vehicles drove to the top of Mt Thompson and started work on the new West Ridge Trail shortly after 9. Although this portion of the trail is in the alpine (no windfall to cut through), the trail building was difficult due to the very rocky conditions and the bear grass and low shrubs. After 4+ hours of work (and including several breaks and a short lunch break), we managed to build approximately 450 m of trail. We were back in Creston by 2. The day was bright and sunny and windy, and thankfully, not too hot. Actually, great day to build trail. Although the work was hard and slow, all were happy with the results and agreed to help again with another work bee. The seven volunteers included: John Dinn, Ryan McEwen, Tom Coveney, Andrew Stolz, Pascal Smyth, Adam Mjolsness, and Trevor Marzke. Thank you all for helping us bring more trails to the valley. Keep an eye out for future trail building work bees this summer. Volunteers packing down their work Volunteers enjoying a break from the hard work. Volunteers with the Rim Trail in the background

On July 17th 2019, the Creston Community Forest donated $5,000 to the Creston Museum to help restore Creston Valley’s oldest skidder machine – the logging arch! This machine was used as a horse-drawn log skidder, and is a one-of-a-kind artifact dating back to at least 1913. Due to long-term exposure to weather, many of the machine’s parts are falling apart. The Creston Museum has developed a campaign to help rebuild the logging arch into one that is yet again fully functional. Currently, the Creston Museum is only ~$9,000 away from reaching the logging arch’s restoration cost of $30,000. There is still just under 2 weeks to go until the campaign is over. Help preserve the Creston Valley’s rich and impressive history by restoring the logging arch to it’s original state. To help restore the logging arch, click here.

This summer, the community forest has been working on maintaining and developing a new recreational trail system on Mount Thompson! The pre-existing trails, Thompson Pack and Thompson Rotary, have undergone trail maintenance and are now ready for summer hiking. This includes freshly regraded switchbacks, thinned out areas with thick vegetation, as well as two brand new bridges crossing Sullivan Creek. As of July 5th 2019, the trail crew has finished opening up one of our newest trails – The Sullivan Creek Trail. This one-way 10 km trail will provide access to new proposed trails that will connect with two of our pre-existing trails on Mount Thompson – the Thompson Pack and Thompson Rim Trails! Current trail construction is underway on one of the proposed trails that will connect two switchbacks along the Sullivan Creek Trail. Current and proposed trails are open to all forms of non-motorized traffic, and provide great access to outdoor recreation nearby town! If you are interested in helping us develop these trails, stay tuned for upcoming volunteer-run work bees with the Community Forest! Our summer 2019 trail crew standing on the newly built bridge over Sullivan Creek. From left to right: Brendan (summer student), Chelsea (summer student), and Greg (trail supervisor)

This year’s World Environment Day was a great success with the Grade 4 & 5 classes from the Adam Robertson Elementary School! The field trip was held on June 5th 2019 at our completed fuel mitigation sites in Canyon, located at the end of Vance Road. This year, the two classes learnt how to plant trees, completed a nature scavenger hunt, and learnt the foundations of building wooden canoes using birch bark! The kids also took part in a discussion about climate change, ways to mitigate their carbon footprint, wildfires, and fuel mitigation. After several years, the kids will be able to look back at the trees they’ve planted and see the impact they’ve made. The Creston Community Forest is dedicated to providing forest education programs for high school and elementary school students, in an effort to share knowledge of our local forests, climate change, and the forestry industry. We look forward to more trips like this in the future! A big thank you to Adam Robertson Elementary School for joining us.

Interested? Submit your Expression of Interest along with a short summary of past experience/employment to admin@crestoncommunityforest.com by November 27, 2018. Please contact 250-402-0070 to coordinate an alternative method of submission. Have an impact on the Creston Valley forests!

Interested? Submit your Expression of Interest along with a short summary of past experience/employment to admin@crestoncommunityforest.com by November 27, 2018. Please contact 250-402-0070 to coordinate an alternative method of submission. Have an impact on the Creston Valley forests!