Elkington Forest Blog

A Big Thanks to all of you who attended, wrote letters, wished us well, or otherwise participated in the success of the Public Hearing on Tuesday. A number of people who wanted to attend were not able to make it, but we were fortunate that the snow stayed away until many hours after the Public Hearing finished.

I was pleased and surprised to see that, other than one speaker, everyone who spoke at the formal portion of the pubic hearing was supportive of the rezoning application. It was very encouraging to see the clear expression from the local residents that we need new models and new solutions to the problems of deforestation, climate change. Living Forest Communities was clearly identified as a valid concept for the CVRD to pursue.

The current economic climate is causing a number of innovations and collaborations that previously never would have happened. People within the “Green and socially responsible space” are working together like never before, possibly because they know that if they do not work together they may see the death of agencies, organizations, and companies that they really believe in.

Similar to the public information meeting that we held in May, it was interesting to monitor the emotional temperature of the people at the meeting and see how the room warmed up, first during my 30 minute presentation, and then more so during the informal question and answer period. A big thanks to the insightful and evocative comments from Roger Wiles, Brandy Gallagher, Kathryn Gee, Steve Lawrence, Mike Pidington, Karin Lennger, Graham Ross-Smith, Allison Hill and others (several of whom I just met that night).

Thanks also to the consultants who answered questions with professionalism and warmth. So, onwards we go.

If I don’t see you in the next week, please have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Happy Eid al-Adha, or a Happy Pancha Ganapati as may apply. And let us all have a terrific 2009.

Doug

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on December 19th, 2008 | No Comments »

A Public Hearing is democracy at the grassroots level.

On December 16th at 7:00 pm at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre, the CVRD will be hosting a public hearing for the Elkington Forest rezoning application. We want to invite anyone from the region to come hear all about this unique conservation community model. After I give a brief power point presentation, anyone who attends will have time to ask questions, present views to the elected officials, and where appropriate, hear answers from the Living Forest Communities management team and consultants.

I welcome your participation and input. So please come and see how our proposal has evolved and addressed the concerns that have raised in the past, including those comments made during the Public Information Meeting that we held last May.

Generally speaking, I think the proposal is stronger now because of the people who have impacted our planning. We have a stronger focus on food production and organics, and on creating meaningful jobs in the forest and the eco-tourism sector. We have addressed fire protection, traffic and access to parks.  We have more details on how we will apply integrated resource management for the protection of the water and soil within the Shawnigan Lake watershed.

I hope that as many people as possible can come to the public hearing. I know it is close to Christmas, but I think that this model deserves a full hearing, and I believe that if you hear the full story behind this community you will want to support Living Forest Communities.

Living Forest Communities also has a brand new video. This footage shows off the beauty of Elkington Forest, it illustrates better than hundreds of blog entries, why we want to preserve this area in perpetuity.  I hope you enjoy the video.

http://blip.tv/file/1578999/

Doug

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on December 8th, 2008 | No Comments »

Last night at the Cowichan Valley Regional District Board meeting, the Elkington Forest rezoning proposal was given first and second reading. This is a significant step towards the creation of this conservation community, so we are thankful to the Electoral Area Directors and the planning staff at the CVRD. The next step is to hold a public hearing, so stay tuned…

We have also just learned that more than a third of all the people who view our website, spend time reading this blog. So given that I am not just writing as part of my psychological therapy, I will be more consistent in adding to this blog. I would also welcome comments and criticisms (well, nice ones).

First off, what do you think of the proposed small ad that we have prepared? We have been playing with a few new tag lines. I think that we will use this ad in some of the local media, as we want to let people know that we are planning for an ancient forest conservation community. Some of the trees on the site are over 300 years old already, but our ecoforestry planning will extend out another 350 years, to the time when Elkington will be a mature old growth Douglas Fir forest.

Here is one our our new ads

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on November 13th, 2008 | No Comments »

Lately we have been taking a lot of groups up to the top of the Elkington property, to view what we are doing, learn about ecoforestry, and see the remarkable views. The Parks and Recreation Committee of the CVRD went up on Tuesday September 16th for an extended tour and discussion of the Living Forest Communities model. We stayed up on “Tea House Hill” till the lights of the airport, UVic, and other landmarks appeared. By seeing the property that we are conserving through this model, and the limited area of land that is actually being used for the Hamlets, it is clear that this model is valuable.

Then, on Sept. 23, this past Tuesday, members of the Advisory Planning Committee and Katy Tompkins, the Urban Planner from the CVRD went on a tour of Devereaux Lake, the Trailhead Hamlet, a hike through the forest up to the Agro-forestry area, and finally up to the Ridge View Hamlet. It was great exercise and a refreshing hike. Again, it is important to see the forests that are being saved, and the sensitive location of the contour hugging narrow roads.

OK, do I sound like I am trying to sell you on the Elkington Forest? Yes, I am. We are having more and more people say that they want to move there and live/work/play in the Forest.

I just returned from the Social Venture Institute at Hollyhock on Cortes Island, Sept. 10 -14, where I spoke about the Living Forest Communities model and the Elkington Forest project. The feedback from this group of Socially Responsible Investors and Entrepreneurs was very encouraging.

If you are a local conservation group, naturalist group, or interested party, please arrange with our office for a tour of the site. We are starting a tradition of serving fabulous apple turn-overs during the site visits. So don’t miss out.

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on September 25th, 2008 | No Comments »

We’re glad that the rains have come over the past few days, as the fire danger was getting very high. It is incredibly beautiful from the top of the Ridge View Hamlet area looking down over Shawnigan Lake, but the dryness of the land is still a concern. We have always known that Community Fire Hardening would be a significant part of the Elkington Forest hamlet project.

This past week we learned from Dan Derby of the CVRD Protective Services what conditions will be required by the CVRD in order to be included within the Malahat fire service area. The exact list of equipment that we will need to have on site, and the level of volunteer training will be identified shortly.

Last week, we also met with a solid group of timber frame contractors - Macdonald and Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd. of Cobble Hill. They are an experienced group of seasoned framers, and they build the most beautiful timber frame structures. See their website www.macdonaldandlawrence.ca. They are also the significant push behind the preservation and restoration of the Kinsol Trestle. We hope to be able to have this company as one of the featured contractors for buyers of our homes at Elkington Forest. Look for more information in the weeks to come.

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on August 11th, 2008 | No Comments »

Last night the Board of the Cowichan Valley Regional District passed a motion to draft the bylaws for the rezoning of the Elkington Forest property, and to present the bylaws to the Board for 1st and 2nd Reading. At that upcoming meeting the CVRD will set a date for the Public Hearing.

It may seem that this is a long time in coming, but it is quite quick by CVRD standards - and I think that the CVRD staff would agree with my assessment of timing.

Recently, Jack Basey, Barry Gates and I have been meeting with a number of organizations about fire suppression and fire hardening initiatives that would be valuable and should be incorporated into the program at Elkington Forest. We went to see the thinning regime that has been undertaken within the CRD Watershed, and learned how the thinning acts as a fire break adjacent to residential dwellings. The overall impression is that the thinned area looks like a park. We will be undertaking similar thinning exercises next to roads and around the hamlets in order to prevent any fires from jumping from the ground to the crowns of the trees.

On a similar note, within the past few weeks we have hired a crew of tree trimmers and thinners from Beecher Bay First Nation and Malahat First Nation. The four or five young people from the two local bands have been clearing trails, cleaning up the excess dead wood on the forest floor, and chipping the remains for trail material. This has been done both for reasons of fire safety and ease of access on site. We want to thank the foreman, Clarence, and his crew for a job well done.

We have also been taking more and more people out to the site to see what a beautiful and sensitive location we have the opportunity to conserve. If you would like a tour of the site, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on July 10th, 2008 | No Comments »

Great News! The Cowichan Valley Citizen’s Sarah Simpson has written an article about Living Forest Communities and Elkington Forest. It was featured in the May 28, 2008 edition of the Cowichan Valley Citizen and it available online at canada.com. Titled “Development to preserve forestland”, this article was written in response to the public information meeting hosted by the CVRD on Thursday, May 22. We are very happy to have such a great response to our presentation. Thank you so much to Sarah Simpson and the Cowichan Valley Citizen for their great work.

Check out the pdf available with this blog entry..

Development to preserve forestland - The Cowichan Valley Citizen

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on June 3rd, 2008 | No Comments »

Elkington Forest - Last Thursday, we had quite an interesting meeting at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre with an open house at 5:00 pm and a presentation at 7:00 pm. The meeting was well attended (especially the open house) and the people who attended the presentation asked some very good questions about the Elkington Forest proposal. At first the community was concerned and somewhat skeptical. Whether people said it or not, they all seemed to have the same question on their mind - “What is this strange development concept with 85% of the land being conserved?” But over the course of the Question and Answer period, the team that was in attendance with me answered questions about ecosystem-based forestry, geo-thermal utilities, housing design guidelines, agroforestry opportunities, the role of the Trans-Canada Trail in the design of the hamlet, etc. At the end of the presentation, a number of people had shifted from being cautious and skeptical to openly supportive. Perhaps the two most important features of the evening were; 1) the history of the Elkington family and their laudable ecological sensibility since 1945, and 2) the three power point slides that showed graphically the extent of the clear-cutting in the Shawnigan Lake watershed from 1999 - 2005 - 2007. It is pretty devastating. Clearly, we need a financial model to pay for the on-going work of conservation. We think that Living Forest Communities is just that model.I want to thank all those who attended the meeting.

Public Information Meeting at Shawnigan Lake Community Centre

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on May 30th, 2008 | No Comments »

Well, its about time. After almost a year of working through the rezoning process with the Cowichan Valley Regional District, we have decided that it would be valuable to record our progress and our thoughts, as we continue along.

This is the story of not just the rezoning of a single parcel of land, but the creation of a timely concept for Vancouver Island. It is a new model for forest conservation and smart growth land use management. This is about the creation of conservation communities or hamlets that are established on a very small footprint, within the very forests that the members of the community have come to protect.

Our first presentation to the CVRD was in March, 2007, when Jack Basey, Barry Gates, Bill Turner of TLC and myself introduced the concept of Living Forest Communities to the Electoral Area Directors. The concept was well received. We asked, “Can we save the forests from industrial clear-cutting by allowing a compact cluster of housing and live/work opportunities on a small portion of the land? Can we put ecologically harvested timber resources back in the hands of the local workers in their communities? Can we consciously protect the watershed and the natural features with the highest conservation value at the same time as we build a community?”

You can read in the Elkington Forest website how we submitted for the rezoning of the 385 hectare site in July of 2007, and met with the Advisory Planning Commission in November of 2007 for a presentation of the overall concept. A couple of days later, we were advised that the APC had recommended that we proceed to the drafting of the bylaw for the rezoning of the land.

Now we are preparing for a public meeting to be held at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre on May 22. We are looking forward to having your input because we believe that this is a community development model that can address a number of the problems currently being faced by forest communities on Vancouver Island.

Doug Makaroff

President, Living Forest Communities

Filed under: Doug Makaroff on April 29th, 2008 | No Comments »