President’s Report
I am pleased to present the President’s report for 2020. Even with all the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, BCCFL and our various contractors, were able to work a full and productive year. You will find an account of our activities and accomplishments in the “Operations” section below.
In addition to the forestry operations, the board of directors were kept busy on various policy initiatives.
- We reviewed and updated our strategic plan and included a column for tracking and monitoring. This will allow us a quick and ready look at our progress in achieving our long term goals.
- We met with a delegation of Stataltmc to discuss our plans for the booming grounds.
- In response to many requests for donations we developed a Donation Policy to ensure the consistency of our approach.
- Policies on salvage logging and free use permits are now in progress.
- The board designed and commissioned a sign frame for our office site. This gives us a more visible public presence and conveys important information such as the Fire Danger Rating and other public notices such as campfire bans.
It is of continuing importance to us to contribute as much as possible to the community in which we work. Finding the funding for this has been a constant balancing act as we look for a steady and reliable source. Some of you provided start up funding in our early years, by purchasing Class C non-voting shares. These were critical to our early success and we are now in a financial position to pay back this debt. Generously, the Class C shareholders have agreed to sell back these shares to the company at the original price, thus allowing us to use the annual dividends as a reliable way to fund local projects. We are indebted to the generosity and vision of all our shareholders for making this happen.
Douglas-fir vets retained in Noomst
This is my last report as president of BCCFL as I will not stand for re-election to the board in 2021. It has been an honour and a privilege to represent the shareholders and the broader community in the management of this company. A forest is a very valuable resource to any community, and especially so here. Managing for those values as they evolve over time is the ultimate long term challenge for a small forest company. I have every confidence that BCCFL is up to that challenge.
Rod Krimmer, President
BCCFL Board of Directors
The Board is very much involved in directing the management of the Community Forest. The 2020/21 Board consisted of Rod Krimmer, President; Ed Willson, VP; Troy Gurr, Treasurer; Barry Brekke, Wayne Bittner, Bryan Apps (temp appointment for retired Keith Boutwell) and the BCRS designated Director was Mark Nelson.
Operations
Safety & Environment: Covid dominated safety concerns in 2020. We developed a safe working protocol that was viewed by Worksafe BC as exemplary. We did not have any serious safety incidents and we retained our safe certification. Similarly, there were no significant environmental issues to report.
Operations: 2020 was one of our busiest years in terms of logging and contract projects. Logging operations started in Nusatsum in May then moved to Noomst for the remainder of the year. A total of 1.2 km of new road as built to access 34 ha of new harvesting. Numerous side projects were successfully undertaken in 2020, including pulp from West Chilcotin, replacement of Talchacko bridge, assistance with Nuxalk Forestry and private land logging and Clayton road maintenance.
Jamie Schooner
supervising planting
Markets are uncertain as we enter 2021 and we only expect to log ~ 50% compared to 2020. Work will start in Noomst then shift to East Salloompt for the rest of the year. Development engineering will be focused on Nookliklonic valley as well as the Nosseseck Valley in North Bentinck Arm.
Silviculture: In 2020, we achieved an important milestone as the first areas that we logged back in 2009 reached free to grow status, meaning that the reforested trees are now large enough to outperform competition. 2020 was also our biggest tree planting year. With the Covid restrictions, we trained local crews and split the planting between spring and fall. Weather was ideal and we expect excellent survival and growth.
Kai Gunderson & Ed Willson helping to load a barge
Community: With steady financial success, contributions to the community are expanding. A total of $8,560 was paid to Bella Coola Resource Society and over $32,000 was donated to various local non-profit organizations (like Lobelco & Moose Halls) struggling to cover fixed costs due to Covid related income loss. A cedar log was donated to Nuxalk college for carving and a cedar bark stripping event was organized for weavers.
Highlights
| Highlight | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment – md (local) | 1,797 (100%) | 2,162 (86%) | 1,891 (70%) |
| Harvest – m3 | 19,206 | 17,122 | 20,483 |
| Local sales – m3 | 1,145 | 1,585 | 1,375 |
| Area harvested – ha | 33.9 | 30.5 | 33.8 |
| Roads built – km | 1.2 | 5.2 | 7.3 |
| Roads maintained – km | 34 | 31 | 27 |
| Trees planted | 47,823 | 29,832 | 13,500 |
| Government Fees & tax – $ | $189,669 | $153,362 | $83,187 |
| Contractor Pay – $ (local) | 1.7 mil (100%) | 2.2 mil (78%) | 1.32 mil (90%) |
Total Cost $3,394,096 | Total Revenue $3,871,944
