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Our quarterly Creston Community Forest Newsletter was released on Thursday February 1st and we received some great feedback. Our next Newsletter is scheduled for May 1st, 2024. If you would like to begin receiving our Newsletter, sign up here: http://eepurl.com/iwjUgk IN THIS MONTH’S NEWSLETTER: A Message from our Forest Manager Changes to the Creston Community Forest Board Wildfire Risk Reduction Project on Goat Mountain The BC Community Forest 2023 Insights The Douglas-Fir Bark Beetle Questions or Comments Community Upcoming Events

A very big THANK YOU to Gary. Pictured in the photo is Gary Sommerfeld accepting his retirement gifts after serving on the CCF board from June 2000 to September 2024.

The Creston Community Forest is a member of the BC Community Forest Association (BCCFA). The BCCFA is a voice for 60+ community forests throughout the province advocating for sustainable forest management. The annual Community Forest Indicators report (pictured in the photo) showcases the benefits that community forests provide. If you're interested in receiving a copy, contact the Creston Community Forest office or you can go online at bccfa.ca. It's also a great read along with a pint and a pretzel!

A reminder about safety in logging areas: The Creston Community Forest has resumed logging operations on Goat Mountain as part of the wildfire risk reduction work for the valley. Starting January 2, our contractors will be working Monday - Friday for the next three to four weeks. * Please be extra cautious if driving up the Goat Mountain Forest Service Road as there will be logging trucks using this road system. Also, please do not enter the project site where our logging contractor is operating. We ask that you call the community forest office for more information if you are looking to access the Goat Mountain area. You can call our office at: 250-402-0070. (The photo is from one of our recently completed wildfire risk reduction blocks. A stunning view of the valley.)

We are proud to share this moment captured by the Creston Valley Advance. Our chair, Brian Churchill, and vice-chair, Tom Olenczuck, presented Creston Gleaners Society with funding towards the food bank. Wishing our Community a wonderful New Year.

Just another one of the many fun things we get to do at the community forest. We spent part of Friday morning collecting trees boughs to help decorate Santa's sleigh for Creston's Christmas parade. Here we see a mix of cedar, Douglas-fir, hemlock and grand fir boughs.

Although hiking has drawn to a close on our trails, our gratitude to all our outdoor enthusiasts continues. We enjoy reading all the comments.

A great photo of the BC Community Forest Association (BCCFA) board of directors on the steps of the legislature in Victoria last Tuesday, prior to their meeting with the Forest Minister, Bruce Ralston. Our Forest Manager, Daniel Gratton seen in the photo, has served on the BCCFA since 2018. Over the course of two and a half days the board members attended meetings with the BC Wildfire Service, the Forest Tenures Branch, the Forest Minister and many other government staff to discuss the important work that Community Forests are providing. One critical topic included the wildfire risk reduction projects that Community Forests have been developing in their respective communities and who have been instrumental in providing this incredibly important work.

If you are looking for a local winter hike, look no farther than Billy Goat Bluffs trail. The trail is still accessible and typically snow free from the beautiful cover of a Douglas-fir canopy. An easy access trail head is a short drive past Tim Hortons and located behind the Town of Creston Public Works Yard on Helen Street. To read more about the history of the trail, a few quick facts about the elevation, duration, directions and distance, click here: https://www.crestoncommunityforest.com/billy-goat-bluffs If you hit the trail, be sure to tag us in your photos! We may just see you out there snapping a few winter scenes.

Here's what we are reading this week. Grab a coffee and read an interesting yet alarming analytical projection for the Forest Industry. Feel free to share it with those in the industry. B.C. forestry industry is dealing with death by a thousand cuts. By 2035, the sector could be less than half the size it was in 2005, according to analysts. By Nelson Bennett | October 31, 2023, 3:30pm "In 2022, B.C. metallurgical coal exports totaled $11.9 billion, followed by natural gas at $7.7 billion and lumber in third place at $7.3 billion, according to BC Stats. That is a reflection of both of higher prices for coal and natural gas, and lower lumber prices and falling production. ... And if projections made by forest sector analysts David Elstone and Jim Girvan prove right, B.C.’s forestry industry will be much smaller a decade from now. The industry’s decline has a lot to do with the Mountain pine beetle epidemic. It has created a timber famine, but first it created a feast......" Link to full article here: https://biv.com/article/2023/10/bc-forestry-industry-dealing-death-thousand-cuts

Creston Community Forest (CCF) staff recently hosted a field trip for Grade 11 and 12 students studying Environmental Science. Despite getting caught in the rain on one of our field days, students learned about the CCF's wildfire risk reduction program, the reintroduction of cultural burning, types of forest health trees can face and how Light Detection and Ranging (also known as LiDAR) is used in forestry applications. Pictured in CCF's Canyon block is Mr. Erich Meyer's class.