Last year was the most profitable since 2007 for the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) -but it was not a year that Glen Bonderud wants to see repeated.
"When we did go forward with logging, it was quite stressful for everybody," the SCCF chair and president said shortly after the opening of the group's annual general meeting in Sechelt on May 6. "And I think I got one message from everybody here: let's not do that one again. It's just not the way for the community to be together, and it was quite divisive."
Last fall, protests over the logging of two cutblocks in the Wilson Creek forest led to a total of 16 arrests, as RCMP were called in to enforce an injunction obtained by SCCF from a Supreme Court judge in Vernon.
Anger over the arrests and subsequent logging of the cutblocks was still evident when some speakers addressed the meeting after the formal presentations.
"There's only one thing to do with this secretive, closed organization that excludes the public from all of its regular meetings," fumed Hans Penner of Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF). "We have to go back to square one and reconstruct the Sunshine Coast Community Forest from the ground up, and make it into an organization that actually respects the forest."
When Penner suggested that an NDP provincial government could help make that happen, Bonderud said: "I agree with you. The rules are made by the provincial government."
Calling for all parties to "come together around common values," Rev. Mark Lemon said he had stood in the logged Wilson Creek cutblock EW002 the previous day with Sechelt Elder Willard Joe.
"It cut me like a knife," he said.
Several speakers criticized SCCF for being too narrowly focused on profits.
"Somewhere in the middle there is a meeting place," Robert Studer said. "If the community identifies a forest that is truly beautiful I ask [SCCF] to consider the community's observations and their feelings about what is going on here."
SCCF was also rebuked for applying to a judge in Vernon for its injunction last fall. Sunshine Coast Conservation Association chair Jason Herz said he was "extremely disappointed" by the move, noting that a Vernon court "does not represent the community."
David Jeffries Quinn (Popois) of the Sechelt Nation, who was among those arrested, questioned the jurisdiction of the Vernon judge and noted that the protesters had "prevailed," as "there were no charges."
Sechelt Elders were also among the arrested, Quinn added, and "have made a stand."
When asked about SCCF's agreement with the Sechelt Nation, operations manager Dave Lasser said a five-year protocol agreement was renewed in October 2011.
Several speakers also praised SCCF for its 2012 performance.
Bob D'Arcy, president of the Sechelt Groves Society, thanked the board and staff for helping with the trails and parking lot at Hidden Grove, singling out Lasser for "being a good communicator and being there for us."
Sawmill owner Brian Smart congratulated the board on "a very successful year," calling SCCF "just a really good part of the B.C. industry."
Jamie Killackey of Gibsons thanked the board for providing regular planting and spacing work for his silviculture team of about seven.
And Paul Tingley, also of Gibsons, commended SCCF for "the great lengths you go to address concerns by all kinds of people."
During his presentation, Lasser tried to set the record straight on a number of issues that have been raised by critics, including the claim that 85 per cent of SCCF's logs are exported. Since 2007, he said, only "5.6 per cent of our entire volume harvested has been put out for export."
SCCF earned more than $226,000 in profits last year, compared to a $170,000 loss in 2011, when logging plans were put on hold due to public opposition. Its most profitable year recently was 2007, when it earned $484,000.
As SCCF's sole shareholder, the District of Sechelt received a 15 per cent dividend worth $26,000 for 2012 and an additional $200,000 that will be used to help fund the District's new economic development office.
Asked by Ross Muirhead of ELF to clarify SCCF's plans for 2014, Bonderud said the board has not made its final decision.
"We have not gone that far ahead yet. This is 2013 and we still want to get through this year," Bonderud said.
