Smithers Interior News, July 04, 2012

Join us for the 93rd BV Exhibition August 23, 24, 25 & 26

SAFE HAVEN

EDGEBERG READY

The Northern Lights Wildlife Society hosts open house.

Marcy Edgeberg is set for New Zealand.

COMMUNITY/A9

SPORTS/A13

THE INTERIOR NEWS 105th th Year - Week 27

Smithers,, B.C.

Wednesday, y, Julyy 4,, 2012

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Beetle boon By Andrew Hudson Smithers/Interior News

OH CANADA Young and old took time to celebrate Canada Day

OUR TOWN/A5

INSIDE OUR TOWN A5 LETTERS A7 SPORTS A13 COMMUNITY A9 THREE RIVERS B1 CLASSIFIEDS B10

FEATURES INVESTORS GROUP A17

WEATHER Wednesday HIGH: 15 LOW: 4

Thursday HIGH: 19 LOW: 5

Friday HIGH: 19 LOW: 7

Saturday HIGH: 21 LOW: 6

Sunday HIGH: 19 LOW: 6

Salvage logging of beetle-killed pine trees boosted revenues at the Wetzin’Kwa Community Forest Corporation to a record $2.25 million this year. That’s nearly five times what the Wetzin’Kwa made in 2011. But it’s a record that isn’t likely to be repeated any time soon, says WCFC Chair Dean Daly. “I can tell you know we’ve peaked and we will be scratching a lot harder to hit the margins we did in this current fiscal year,” he told Smithers council last Tuesday. Daly said he expects the WCFC’s annual cut to fall over the next three or four years as all the salvageable beetlekill is logged. That means going from a 125,000 cubic-metre cut in 2012 down to 25,000 cubic metres for the next 20 to 30 years. “It’s quite a dramatic drop,” he said. To ease into that fall-down, the WCFC will roll this year’s revenues into a $3-million trust fund that will

secure the annual grants of $200,000 it plans to give out to community groups. “We want to see this as the anchor to generate continual benefits back to the community,” he said. Councillor Charlie Northrup welcomed the move. “Now that it’s starting to become a substantial amount of money, and as everybody’s looking for sources of funds, I wouldn’t want any redirections or clawing back,” he said. This year’s windfall also means a boost to the WCFC’s operating reserves. Daly said they will now have enough money to keep the WCFC alive should an emergency force them to go a year without logging. They can also cover all reforestation costs for the next 12 to 15 years. Along with grants, Daly noted how much the WCFC’s operations contribute to the local economy. “We’re putting just over $4 million into road building, harvesting, trucking, growing trees, doing the planning and development work, environmental assessment work—all of that is spent here in our community.”

ROCKIN THE MIDSUMMER Eli Larson, frontman for The Racket, gets into the groove Saturday afternoon at the Midsummer Music Festival. For more photos see A18 and A19. Percy N. Hébert photo

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