The Wei Wai Kum First Nation holds three forest tenures through its enterprise CRIBCO Forest Products. The total cut for all three tenures combined is just under 21,000 cubic meters per year. The operating areas for the three licenses range from Pye Lake – north of Campbell River on Vancouver Island – and on the Mainland from Heydon Bay all the way up to the head of Loughborough Inlet (Stafford Lake and Apple River).
CRIBCO Forest Products’ company affairs are overseen by five appointed directors, four of whom are Wei Wai Kum members. The Directors have hired Capacity Forest Management to manage the tenures and all aspects of the day-to-day operations. Capacity has provided the following operational update:
CRIBCO has been active in all three licenses this year and just wrapped up operations in Heydon Bay, Loughborough Inlet. The harvesting in Heydon Bay, which started in the fall of 2016 and wrapped up late June of this year, totaled 93,000 cubic metres. CRIBCO purchased two portable bridges and built nine kilometres of new road to access the harvest areas. The new road and bridges will provide long-term access for future use and harvesting within the Heydon Bay operating area and the bridges can be moved to other locations if needed.
Mike Wells, Wei Wai Kum member and employee of Capacity Forest Management (in photo), was involved in all aspects of the planning and engineering for the volume and was also out during the harvesting phase to complete inspections and monitor the harvesting operations.
With harvesting now complete, CRIBCO will be developing plans to re-forest the harvested areas in the spring of 2018. The trees are currently growing at the local nursery and will be ready to go into the ground sometime in the spring.