AMachments. A†achment 13.1: Dra† Formation of Standing Commi†ee on Resource Values and Interests A†achment 13.3: Summary of Facilitated Open House April 22, 2013 XXXXXXXX LAKE COMMUNITY FOREST PROPOSAL Open House Summary April 22nd, 2013 The Xxxxxxxx Lake Community Forest Open House, April 22nd, attracted over 100 people to provide recommendations to improve the proposed application by the Xxxxxxxx Lake Indian band jointly with the City of Xxxxxxxx Lake, for a community forest. Organized by the Fraser Basin Council, the open house provided a facilitated session to gather verbal and written input, enabling participation from a broad number of residents from rural areas neighboring the proposed community forest. The first section of the open house provided information on the on the key relevant sections of the draft application plan. A series of questions was presented to Chief Xxx Xxxxx, Mayor Xxxx and their technical advisor, Xxx Xxx. Following this presentation, there was an open forum building recommendations to address interests and concerns about the current draft application. Throughout the open session, a wide diversity of recommendations was provided to strengthen the community forest application. The majority of the input focused around strengthening the governance structure, increasing the input on operations to reflect community values and improving the benefits to rural residents. There were calls to ensure that archaeological sites were protected while benefits such as parks and trails were enhanced. Feedback from a wide number of people at the end of the meeting reflected that they appreciated learning more about the community forest and the opportunity to provide input. Generally, there was support for a community forest although there were strong recommendations from some for clear change in governance structure, increased involvement of rural communities and calls for greater certainty for rural community interests and business opportunities. Across the room, there was not full consensus on specific actions. Some of the main themes include: Geography - Input on the location and boundaries of the eastern block were of concern to a number of people from the east who expressed that the city should not be part of a partnership with land so ‘distant’ from the town boundaries - Some representatives felt that this land ‘belonged to the Big Lake community’ and should be available to them for a community forest - A recommendation was to increase the size of the...
