By LAURA KEIL
The McBride Community Forest (MCFC) has selected the residents to sit on its newly-formed advisory committee.
Doug Monroe, Brian Taphorn, Don Smith, Bryan Monroe, Mike Monroe, Randy McFarland, Joseph Rich and Gene Runtz will sit on the committee of citizens struck to advise the MCFC board on the proposed Carrier Lumber license purchase.
Jeff McWilliams of B.A. Blackwell & Associates is one of several consultants retained by the MCFC and is overseeing the committee. He says their first meeting is planned for January, date and time yet to be determined.
In late November, McWilliams received the green light from the board to expand the number of members from the original number of 3-4 to encompass all eight interested applicants. He says the applicants come from a variety of backgrounds including loggers, business people and people involved in the Community Forest in the past.
He plans to circulate to the committee this week an updated Terms of Reference, a draft agenda for the first meeting, maps for proposed additions to the community forest and the recently completed Timber Supply Analysis (done for the FLNRO) for the McBride CF and proposed additions.
He says the meetings will be closed to the public, and at this point he does not know when the committee will be ready to present their recommendations to the board. He adds however that minutes and key points will likely be made public eventually.
McWilliams says the committee was created out of an interest for “more open and transparent management;” eventual public input on the process anyway; and local knowledge that can add to the negotiation.
