Dear Editor,
With interest I read your article in the last paper regarding Forest Service jobs, or lack thereof, in McBride and the reaction from the mayor. It is remarkable that the licensee of a community forest feels there should be “Ministry oversight.” More importantly however, in my opinion, the real sad truth is that the reason there is not more forest sector jobs in this community is entirely our own fault. This community licence provided us with the opportunity to control our own destiny yet continually we refuse to deal with local mills. For 17 years we have watched the timber and the processing jobs it supports leave this valley, sometimes by the truckload, and sometimes by the trainload dating way back to when MFI was in business. A community forest selling its resources outside the valley is the major reason for the loss of local forestry jobs and we must accept that this is entirely our own fault. For some of us this is hard to take, for as the song says, “I knew the Bride (McBride) when she used to rock and roll.”
Mike Monroe
McBride, BC
