Monashee Community Forest (Image Credit: BCCFA)

By Liam Verster

Stewardship and management

Community forest advocates headed to Vernon

Feb 19, 2026 | 4:25 PM

Representatives from the province’s community forest groups will gather in Vernon this summer to find solutions to challenges the sector faces.

The B.C. Community Forestry Association will hold its 24th Annual General Meeting in Vernon June 3 to 5.

Community forests are licensed provincial lands that are managed through partnerships, usually between municipalities, First Nations, and other stakeholders. They are intended to be managed in a way that prioritizes the needs of the community, such as local stewardship, sustainable forest management, and economic benefits. 

The association (BCCFA) is a grassroots, membership-based non-profit that acts as advocates for the community forest industry.

“Every year we hold a conference and annual general meeting in or near one of our member communities,” Jennifer Gunter, Executive Director of the BCCFA, told Vernon Matters.

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“This year we will be hosted by the Monashee Community Forest, which is a partnership between the Splatsin First Nation and the Village of Lumby.”

The purpose of the AGM is to bring together advocacy group delegates, industry stakeholders, government representatives, and members of the area communities to participate in workshops and discuss challenges these forests face and explore opportunities to address them.

“The forest sector and our rural communities are facing big challenges. Of course the trade war with the U.S. is part of that, but even before that began we’ve been dealing with wildfires, climate change, the legacy of mountain pine beetle, and lots of other factors,” Gunter explained.

“So it’s an interesting time right now. There are a lot of people calling for transformation of the sector and the community forest model is really seen as one of the most promising solutions, and that’s because of the design of that forest tenure that really gives local people a say.”

She said one of the key topics for the conference in Vernon will be wildfire and climate change adaptation, though she notes people do not have to look beyond the North Okanagan to see some work being done already to address those concerns.

“I know the Monashee Community Forest is doing some really cool stuff with combining wildfire risk reduction with cattle grazing in order to help maintain those lower fuel loads,” Gunter explained.

“There’s quite a bit of innovative practices, innovative silviculture that’s happening in community forests, so we always like to highlight some of the places where they’re really pushing the envelope.”

During the conference, the members will also get to tour the Monashee Community Forest, where they will be able to see first hand the practices being done and evaluate their efficacy.

However, Gunter does note that no one solution meets the needs of every region in B.C., so the conference will allow representatives from elsewhere to also bring forward ideas that better suit their ecosystems.

“When local people have the ability to manage a land base, as they do in community forestry, it gives them the opportunity to really get to know that land base,” Gunter said.

“They are able to combine western science with Indigenous science to come up with plans for forest management that really suit that local area, that really makes sense through a bottom-up planning approach, and that results in timber harvest levels that can be sustainable over time and that also integrates multiple values, so things like old growth and biodiversity but also recreation and opportunities for people to use the forests in lots of different ways.”

There are currently over 60 community forests across B.C., and Gunter says the Ministry of Forests plans to expand that program this year, and Gunter said she hoped this conference would allow some other local groups and communities to learn about community forests and explore opportunities to create agreements and form their own going forward.

People wishing to attend the BCCFA conference and AGM will be able to register online starting March 10. It will be the first time the group holds their annual meeting in Vernon.