The Evolution of Watershed Protection
Address by Jim Smith

Hon. Pat Bell,

This is not only a significant event  it’s a historical event. Let me explain.

• Creston, along with other Kootenay communities, has a long history of environmental activism   particularly with regard to watershed protection.
• In response to that activism, Forest Minister Tom Waterland, along with Dr. Bruce Fraser, came to Creston in April 1977 to establish BC’s first Public Advisory Committee to the Forest Service. It’s role was to address sensitive resource management issues and provide advise to the Ministry. That committee continued to function for 24 years, until 2001. It was an effective mechanism but was still somewhat adversarial.
• With the advent of the community forest in 1997 the role of the PAC eased as the community assumed responsibility for many of the contentious areas.
• Gaining responsibility for stewardship of the forest is risky business and considerably more difficult that just being critics or advisors. The community became the proponent. Not everyone was happy with that change; but gaining control was better than continual confrontation.
• The new company chose very "green" objectives including the establishment water as the number one forest resource. It was committed to practicing a philosophy of ecosystem-based forestry. Timber production had to take a back seat. That’s a huge cultural shift in forestry!!
• Since 1997 we’ve been working hard to put that philosophy on the ground where it genuinely counts. We’ve made use of partial cutting silvicultural systems almost exclusively. Many concerned citizens were initially skeptical but once folks witnessed our stewardship most became supporters.
• An interesting discovery has evolved as we gained experience with ecosystem–based forestry. We’ve grown through the stages of being preservationists, to being in "control" and recently have discovered that real watershed protection is achieved by being gentle forest stewards.
• Real watershed protection means creating and maintaining a resilient forest on as many hectares as possible and reducing the risk of catastrophic disturbance. Pragmatically, that translates into multiple species and multiple age classes on every hectare. It also means providing low impact access throughout the watershed in order to gain swift access to fires and facilitate stewardship activities.
• This PCFA expands our land base, provides exclusive rights to multiple resources and is renewable. It is the tool we need to continue community—based forest stewardship. We are also happy with the formal requirements to promote public awareness. That’s something we need to improve.
• On behalf of our past and present directors, our staff, contractors and our progressive community at large I want to thank you and your staff for making the dream of a long–term community forest possible. I especially want to thank Jim Langridge and Ron Greshner in Victoria, Phil Zacharatos in Kamloops, former Kootenay Lake DM Al Bradley, present DM Garry Beadury, Operations Manager Bruce Fraser and Stewardship Officer Dale Anderson for their work in getting us here today. As well, we need to recognize the cooperation we’ve received from the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Treaty Table in helping us select lands that accommodate the Treaty process.