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Forestry and Recreation Within the Wells Gray Community Forest

Taking a tour through the Candle Creek area of WGCF an eye opening experience
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George Brcko, general manager of WGCF, shows some rock blasted to improve the grade of the road through Wells Gray Community Forest. Photo by Sandra Holmes

The notice inviting the public to take a field tour that will review Forestry and Recreation within the Wells Gray Community Forest (WGCF) peaked my interest. Living in this community, I often feel the tensions caused by perceived conflicts between tourism and the forest industry.

Our community sits at the bottom of a timber rich bowl. We are surrounded by a two to 10 km boarder of Community Forest and bisected by a major highway that brings tourists from all over the world to enjoy our wild backyard beauty.

Other forest industry companies cut and haul timber out of the Wells Gray area. Naturalists work to preserve the health of the plants, animals and humans that inhabit the region. Tourism Wells Gray works to promote the area to tourists. Community members enjoy the economic benefits of both tourism and forestry.

Taking a tour through the Candle Creek area of WGCF with George Brcko, general manager of WGCF, was an eye opening experience. My first surprise was in the parking lot at the Wells Gray Outdoor Club Ski area.

Attractive landscaping using massive chunks of angular rock is evident. Passing the ski chalet, George told me about all of the road improvements that had taken place in order to permit forestry machinery into the area.

The road we drove on was well built with proper drainage to prevent mud bogs and erosion from runoff. The ditches contained rock for stability and were grassed in clover, which he said the deer and the bears enjoy eating. The Girl Guides have planted trees along the way.

As we continued to climb, George pointed out how the mountain bike trail snaked through the forest, visible because of selective logging. The mountain bike trail has levels of difficulty, from child beginner to adult experienced.

I could see how well the small jumps and curves, and various bridges were constructed. George told me the various sections of trail were connected and well mapped. George pointed out trees that had black bands painted around them. These are trees that at one time were selected to be logged and later, through consultation with the mountain bikers were left to grow.

To the right of the selectively logged area was a stand of cedar. It stood tall and dense; a perfect place for a catastrophe if a fire should spark there. George told me that Clearwater is the fourth most likely town in B.C. to experience an interface fire.

A community south of Francois Lake lost its entire community forest this past summer due to fire. The 12 km of good grade roads can be used to quickly transport fire suppression equipment if the necessity arises. Because of the road improvements in this community forest, a wider range of recreational use is available.

Horses and ATVs can be used in an environmentally friendly way as the hard surface of the road is not as susceptible to erosion and there are no bogs that can be stirred up to muddy the creeks. As we continued along several enormous mounds of waste wood looking like mega beaver dams caused George to comment on the fact that there is no current market for wood chips at the moment and the piles would need to be burned in the autumn.

He pointed out where wood cutters had come for fire wood and where someone had illegally girdled a healthy tree, causing it to die.

We came finally to a summit where a great deal of blasting was done to create a proper grade. The debris from this area is the rock used for decorative purposes at the parking lot, filling in where needed in the ditches and for building along the mountain bike trails.

On our way back to town, I reflected on how much Clearwater has benefited from the money made from our community forest and granted by the WGCF Corp. I have a much better understanding of how important it is for tourism, recreation and forestry to work together to continue to create the kind of community that will continuously attract people who want to work and play here.

As my friend Linda Erwin reminded me, “out of conflict comes anew abundance.”



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