Cherry Ridge Management Committee
Cherryville, B.C.
Statement of purpose
1. The purpose of the Cherry Ridge Management Committee is:
(a) to preserve and maintain the environment specifically of the Cherry Ridge wildernessarea near Cherryville and of the Cherryville area in general, in the Province of British Columbia ( theCherry Ridge and Cherryville areas);(b) to preserve and maintain the watershed forming a part of the Cherry Ridge andCherryville areas;(c) to preserve, maintain, and promote the mule deer winter range forming a part of the CherryRidge and Cherryville areas;(d) to cooperate with and enter into agreements with various Ministries and CrownCorporations of the Government of the Province of British Columbia, having jurisdiction over the useand management of the Cherry Ridge and Cherryville areas to accomplish the foregoing purposes.Membership
1. A member of the Cherry Ridge Management Committee is any person that:
(a) agrees with the Constitution of the Society.2. A member of the Cherry Ridge Management Committee is no longer in good standing if:
(a) they no longer agree with the Constitution of the Society.Voting
1. A member has one vote.
2. A member will have the priviledge of voting provided that:
(a) they are 16 years of age or greater.(b) live within the geographic boundaries described below:(i) east of the Shuswap narrows(ii) west of Mine Hill(iii) south from Fraser Lodge(iv) north from the Creighton Valley Bible Ranch3. A voting member may cast a vote by proxy provided that the proxy vote is:
(a) in writing and,(b) given to a director of the society who will present it at the appropriate meeting4. The number of voting members at a meeting required to form a quorum shall be eight.
5. At a directors meeting, the number of directors required to form a quorum shall be three.
6. Any vote on society matters which requires passage by "special resolution" shall be made by voting through mail after a motion is made and seconded at a general meeting or a directors meeting, unless the motion is made and seconded at a general meeting or annual general meeting which has been advertised for at least 14 days and specifying the intention to propose a special resolution and is voted on and passed by a minimum of 75% of the voting membership of the society.
7. All society issues should be resolved by concensus if possible. However, all issues not required to be resolved by special resolution shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the members at a general meeting or directors present at a directors meeting.
Meetings
1. The president of the society may call a general meeting or a directors meeting at any time.
2. Any three of the directors may call a general meeting or a directors meeting at any time.
3. Any ten of the general members may request that a general meeting be held.
4. The Cherry Ridge Management Committee will report to the Cherryville Community Club a minimum of four times per year at regular Cherryville Community Club meetings. The Cherry Ridge Management Committee portions of those meetings shall be considered as regular meetings of the Cherry Ridge Management Committee and separate minutes of that portion of those meetings shall be kept.
Directors
1. Directors shall be elected by a simple majority vote after being nominated at the annual general meeting.
2. There shall be a minimum of five directors and a maximum of nine.
3. The election of directors shall start with the election of a president, a vice president, a secretary/treasurer, and followed by the election of up to six additional directors.
4. In the absence of the president, the vice president shall chair meetings and conduct meetings, or in the absence of the president and the vice president the secretary/treasurer shall assume those duties.
5. Any or all of the directors may be dismissed by special resolution. A new director must be elected to replace any director who has been relieved of his duties, unless there is no one willing to fill the vacant position.
6. If the president is dismissed, the vice president shall assume the role of president and the office of vice president shall remain vacant until the next election of directors at an annual general meeting. If the president and vice president or all of the directors are dismissed, then a special general meeting must be held at the earliest opportunity to elect a new executive and directors.
7. Directors will not be remunerated for their services in administering the business of the society but can be remunerated for extroadinary expenses incurred in administering the business of the society. This will not prevent the society from hiring any of its directors to perform tasks required by the society to carry out its mandate.
8. The sercretary/treasurer will keep minutes of all directors and general meetings where policy will be determined or work will be planned or commisioned.
policy will be determined or work will be planned or commisioned. Directors Powers
1. The directors will have the power to:
(a) meet with other groups and official agencies in pursuit of the society's mandate(b) enter into contracts and leases(c) hire people to perform those tasks as required by the society to carry out its mandate(d) pay the society's debts(e) borrow money for the society's need upon approval by special resolution.Documents
1. All documents shall be kept at the official residence of the society or at a place of safekeeping as agreed to by the directors with the exception of the official minutes which may be kept at the residence of the secretary/treasurer.
Finances
1. The directors will manage the society's funds and use them to meet the society's mandate.
mandate.2. The directors will make every attempt to keep in reserve, adequate funds to meet the long term needs of the society in the pursuit of its mandate.
3. The directors will be accountable to its membership regarding financial matters.
4. The directors will engage accounting services to audit its finances as is required by the Society Act.
Use of Funds
1. The society's funds shall not be used for any purpose other than to carry out the society's mandate on Cherry Ridge unless it is decided by the directors that funds are available in excess of those required to meet the society's long term needs.
2. Any funds spent for a purpose other than to carry out the mandate of the society must be agreed to by special resolution.
3. No funds will be invested into any financial instrument that has any degree of risk or that would prevent the society from meeting its financial obligations in a timely manner.
Other Bylaws
1. This society was incoporated using the bylaws listed under Schedule B of the Society Act and where the bylaws drafted by the Cherry Ridge Management Committee have not altered or added to those bylaws, those bylaws shall remain in force.
Executive 2009-2010
Vice PresidentHank Cameron547 2445
Hank Cameron547 2445Treasurer Jamey Sanborn
Jamey SanbornSecretaryAnnette Welz
Annette Welz Directors: Sean Ardis, Ron Dalhuisen, Edsel Fleury, Joyce Fleury, Eugene Foisy, Lance Harvey, Ernie Laviolette, Bill Lywood, Cathy MacPherson, James Moore, Todd Mortensen, Gord Pollock, Melanie Staker, Gary Toma, Carla Vierke
Cherry Ridge 2003
Cherry Ridge 2003 (from the fence line road)
Cherry Ridge 2003
Cherry Ridge 2003
© Copyright 2002-2009 Cherryville Publishing & Promotions.
All rights reserved.
Cherry Ridge Management Committee Annual Funding for Community Projects
In 2000, CRMC began to allocate half of the yield from its GIC for grants that would benefit a large portion of the Cherryville community. The criteria is that CRMC would pay for materials rather than labour, that the grant would provide a benefit accessible by the whole community, that the project be consistent with our mandate, and that we would not commit to multiyear sponsorships.
As a mature organization with capital that was earned by the donated labour of our charter members, CRMC declared a community dividend and is honoured to be able to offer this amount back into the community.
Please forward your applications to:
Cherry Ridge Management Committee
158 North Fork Rd
Cherryville, BC, V0E 2G3
For any further information required, please contact Jamey Sanborn at (250) 547 2448.
Cherryville Community Forest
Cherry Ridge Salvage Area
Cherryville Community Forest
Heckman Ridge Salvage Area
The Cherry Ridge Management Committee, has expanded on its purpose as stated in the following Bylaws, by taking the environmental watchdog position for the community. It reviews and discusses harvesting plans, etc., that it feels may impact community interests.
The CRMC was originally part of the Cherryville Community Club, when Ed Beer was president, but the executive at that time was uncomfortable in entering into contracts with the Forest Service for salvage permits, because of their lack of familiarity with the industry. The Community Club requested that the committee form its own society and deal with those matters separately in the community's interest, while the CCClub would focus more on the community's recreational and social needs.
Bylaws
Contact Information
Cherryville Community Forest
Fuel Management Proposal - To Mitigate Risk of Wildfire
Prepared for
Victor J Drohomirecki, R.P.F.
Price Waterhouse Coopers
By
Hank Cameron, RFT
Vice President
Cherry Ridge Management Committee
July 23, 2009
Executive Summary
Cherryville is a community of 1000 residents in the Shuswap River valley between Sugar Lake and Mabel Lake. There is no organized fire department for 340 houses, in rural residential settings. The area has a strong rural character focussing on agriculture and forestry sectors, as well as tourism and recreation opportunities. Our community is geographically diverse with a large flat bottom valley basin surrounded by steep forested hillsides. There are also significant private and crown forestlands within the community.
Cherryville Community Forest is located on Cherry and Heckman ridges immediately adjacent to rural residence/forest interface neighbourhoods. This 1070 ha tenure is located in the transition zone of the ICH and IDF BEC zones within the Okanagan Shuswap Forest District.
Cherry Ridge Management Committee, a non profit society registered in British Columbia, has managed the forest resource on Cherry Ridge since 1995 in cooperation with the Okanagan Shuswap Forest District. CRMC has recently received a CFA on two blocks of local forest land on Cherry and Heckman Ridges. CRMC wants to mitigate the risk of wildfires in our community by completing a Wildfire Protection Plan and undertaking a pilot fuel management project on the Community Forest. The purpose of this project will be to define risk areas for interface fires, identify measures necessary to mitigate those risks, outline a plan of action, and implement the appropriate measures.
State of Land and Resources
Cherry Ridge CFA area has a steep south aspect of 25-60 % slope, growing thrifty to mature Douglas fir timber types, mixed with areas of deciduous cover. Some forest stands on the land base have a history of IU select logging in the 1930s through the 1950s, and community organized salvage operations to address forest health issues since 1995. The timber types have open stocking with relatively large stems. There is a well developed shrub layer on dry open sites. Soils are relatively thin over bedrock of broken shale and phyllite. There has been a recent history of windfall and related bark beetle infestations on Cherry Ridge due to the influence of stronger westerly winds from the adjacent Okanagan valley. The lower boundary of the Cherry Ridge portion of the CCF is located along a major gazetted road and private residential and agricultural properties. Adjacent land uses below are forested country residential lots with custom built homes at the toe of the slope, and major farm enterprises in the valley bottom. Large forestland holdings on DL 3692 and Section 26 are located on the east and west boundaries. The north boundary adjoins WL 1627 held by Ron and Jay Otteson.
The Heckman Ridge CFA area adjoins a major B.C. Hydro transmission line on the north eastern boundary. There is significant windfall on the rocky slopes adjacent to this Right of Way. Below the CFA land base are portions of WL 336 and a mixed residential and farm area. The south boundary of the Heckman area is located on the Heckman Creek FSR, then above the Cherryville rifle range to the H-10 Forest Road. The south boundary leaves the H-10 road to follow the height of land along Heckman Ridge to a spur road south of Smokey Lake. There is regular recreational use along these road boundaries and the BC Hydro transmission line. The west boundary is located along a geographic break. The western portion of the north boundary adjoins Joe Lesowski’s farm.
South facing portions of the Heckman Ridge are characterized by open Douglas fir stands similar to those on the Cherry Ridge area. The north facing slopes have mixed deciduous and fir larch stands with cedar types in the wetter areas. These north facing slopes are the best growing sites in the CFA application with sufficient water and soil nutrients.
There has been a history of catastrophic wildfire in this area with most stands
naturally regenerated from wildfires in the 1890s through the 1920s. There was a major forest fire nearby on Mount Bevin in 2003.
Wildfire Protection Plan
As an unincorporated community, Cherryville residents have developed the skills, experience, and resources to take initial action on small fires through the Fire Warden program, on behalf of licensees or as individuals.
CCF proposes to use our FIA funding to prepare a wildfire protection plan for the Crown land portion of the CFA. We will develop a pilot project by identifying at risk stands that pose a clear threat of ignition, and have excessive cured fuel loading due to overstocking, windfall, beetle infestation or other mortality. The pilot project would clearly identify Cherryville neighbourhoods at greatest risk of fire and devise strategies to reduce the threat to structures, community assets, and forest values.
We will use the upcoming Official Community Plan process to engage local residents in a dialogue about community issues related to fire protection, security, emergency access and egress. When we have completed a wildfire plan and a pilot fuel management project we will be eligible to leverage our FIA pilot project funding to access UBCM fuel management funds through our partnership with our local government at RDNO. This pilot project will implement proactive measures to make our community less susceptible to the risk of catastrophic wildfire.
Phase 1 Deliverables
Project Funds $6487.00. 30% of Annual Allocation. In phase 1 of our 2009 Fuel Management Project, Cherryville Community Forest will produce the map described below and prepare Fuel Management Prescriptions on high priority areas identified in the mapping phase.
Mapping Phase
The first phase of the wildfire protection plan will prepare a map showing stands at risk of ignition and adjacent to major access corridors. This map showing the neighbourhoods at risk, stands with heavy fuel loads, and areas of high ignition danger will be the first priority of our fuel management project.
This map will identify high hazard areas for fuel management treatment with estimates of hectares, descriptions of fuels and ground conditions in the treatment areas.
Stands with major components of dead and down fuels will be identified.
Stands with major components of dead and down fuels will be identified.Existing trails and access features will be identified.
Existing trails and access features will be identified.Water sources such as NCDs, springs, and sumps will be mapped.
Water sources such as NCDs, springs, and sumps will be mapped. Natural fuel breaks and potential control lines will be identified.
Natural fuel breaks and potential control lines will be identified. Fuel Management
Prescriptions will be prepared to plan a pilot fuel management project on the CFA area. These prescriptions will outline the goals of fuel management treatments and methods to achieve these fuel management objectives.
The pilot project will concentrate on areas of high fuel loads adjacent to
roads and residential neighbourhoods. Examples include the lower boundary of the Cherry Ridge block along the North Fork Road, along the BC Hydro right of way below the Heckman Ridge block and adjacent to the Heckman FSR. Pilot project fuel management prescriptions for high priority areas would be deliverable as the first part of our Wildfire Protection Plan.
Phase 2 Deliverables
Project Funds $15,100. 70% of Annual Allocation.
Wildfire Protection and Emergency Access Plan
A comprehensive plan will be prepared in cooperation with the Ministry of Forest and the RDNO to anticipate risks associated with wildfire on the CCF area adjacent to the community. This plan will devise proactive strategies to mitigate risks and set up protocols to take immediate and effective action on all wildfires within the community forest with local Fire Wardens and MFR staff. This plan will deal with issues such as access and escape routes from residential areas as part of the larger process to update the Official Community Plan for Area’s “D” and “E”.
A cooperative information sharing initiative with adjacent and other local landowners will collate a list of available fire control resources including water trucks, skidder tankers, pumps, and experienced fire fighters. Local experts such as fire wardens, loggers and long time residents will be consulted with goal of preparing a fire plan with a defensible perimeter and internal control lines in the community of Cherryville. This fire plan will build on the template of a fire plan prepared by John Friesen and shared with CCF by our local government partners at RDNO. Eugene Foisy, our elected Director on the RDNO Board and members of the Advisory Planning Commission recognize that we have a greater exposure to the risk of catastrophic wildfire than communities with fire protection. Cherryville residents have been involved in fire suppression on at a high skill level for many years.
Operational Phase
Based on the results of the mapping phase, fire and emergency plans we will identify critical areas for which fuel management prescriptions will be implemented. High priority pilot project areas will be ranked according to their risk of ignition, fuel loading and risk to structures and forest values. In priority areas we will slash out existing access trails, thin and limb ladder fuels, develop fuel breaks, develop water sources and remove coarse ground fuels. In areas of high windfall incidence such along the BCH transmission line below the Heckman block we will skid windfall from the site to lessen the fuel loading adjacent to this access corridor. In areas where skidding is not efficient or practical
waste wood will be piled by excavator to be burnt in late fall or early winter. There may be an opportunity for some cost recovery through sale of firewood from these areas.
As a low overhead non-profit society, we are willing to experiment with new methods in land management and try new techniques to manage forest health. In the past we covered beetle infested green waste wood with roll plastic. The original intent was to keep the piles dry for burning in the late fall and to encourage curing of the green wood. The increased heat caused greater amount of beetle attracting pheromones to be emitted with result that greater than expected numbers of beetles were attracted to the piles. When we pulled the plastic off the piles they were literally covered in frass.
We have made a point of burning all logging debris piles prior to the next beetle flight. Tundra Logging used a skid steer machine, equipped with a log grapple manufactured in Cherryville, to feed waste wood onto an established fire. This innovative grapple loader succeeded in burning large chunks of uncured waste wood by this method. We would be able to dispose of low grade waste wood from our fuel management project in this manner.
The Cherryville Community Forest would like to invest in some community assets related to wildfire control. We would like to set up a trailer with fire tools, hose, power saws and a pump to be stationed in a central position. With our self reliant rural population many landowners have gas fire pumps but few have more than one or two lengths of fire hose. We would like to access funds to invest in fire hose, tools, and a covered work trailer.
Operations will be closely supervised with detailed notes to provide data for other communities and licensees. Operation fuel management will be conducted in cooperation with and to standards of the MFR Protection Branch and the Okanagan Shuswap Forest District.
Budget
Fuel Management Project Budget
Phase 1 Funding
Mapping Phase
Field Days7 days @ 350/day$2,450.00
7 days @ 350/day$2,450.00Office Days (GIS)5 days @250/day$1,250.00
5 days @250/day$1,250.00Forestry Supplies and Office Expenses$287.00
$287.00Fuel Management Prescriptions
Field Days5 days@350/day$1,750.00
5 days@350/day$1,750.00Office Days3days @ 250/day$750.00
3days @ 250/day$750.00Phase 2 Funding
Fire and Emergency Plans
Office Days4 days@250/day$1,000.00
4 days@250/day$1,000.00Consultation with Stakeholders/Local Meetings$500.00
$500.00Insurance Cost$1,950.00
$1,950.00Operational Phase
Crew Days (3 people)6 days @ 900/day$4,500.00
6 days @ 900/day$4,500.00Supervision3 days @ 350/day350/day$1,050.00
3 days @ 350/day350/day$1,050.00Machine Rental80 hours @ 70/hour$5,600.00
80 hours @ 70/hour$5,600.00Summary and Report 2 days@250$500.00
2 days@250$500.00Phase 1 Funding$6,487.00
$6,487.00Phase 2 Funding$15,100.00
$15,100.00FIA Project Funding$21,587.00
$21,587.00Day Rates are all found including WCB, GST, and travel expense
For further information Hank Cameron can be contacted at e-mail, or (250) 547 2445.
Cherryville Community Forest - Forest Stewardship Plan
September 17, 2009: Cherryville has now officially signed its Community Forest Agreement.
The next stage in the regulatory process is to demonstrate how we will achieve objectives set by government through a Forest Stewardship Plan.
A draft of this plan will be available for viewing at the Cherryville Hall office, or by contacting Hank Cameron (see below). If you are interested in discussing any aspect of this plan, or have any comments about it please contact Wayne Cunneyworth, Jamey Sanborn, Hank Cameron or any other directors of CRMC. As a community initiative, CRMC wants to receive feedback from Cherryville about how we manage the forests that surround our community.
CRMC is prepared to harvest the beetle patches which have popped up on both ridges since our last cut in 2007; but we can't obtain a cutting authority until we complete the FSP process. Over the long term we will be able to plan more flexible harvest strategy through a blanket salvage cutting permit system.
For further information Hank Cameron can be contacted at e-mail, or (250) 547 2445.
