Since the 2017 wildfires, the Alex Fraser Research Forest (AFRF) has been moving away from logging and finding new ways to substitute its revenue. After several years of brainstorming, trialling and innovating, the research forest’s manager Stephanie Ewen says some ideas are finally coming to fruition.
“We’ve got a lot of changes happening at the research forest,” Ewen said. Among her responsibilities as manager, Ewen must ensure there’s enough revenue to keep the forest’s primary focus, research and demonstration, afloat.
For a long time, the research forest maintained its staff and infrastructure thanks to revenue from logging. But after losing about 20 per cent of their productive forest land base in the 2017 wildfire, the AFRF needs time to regrow. So, Ewen and her team have been busy developing new businesses and projects to continue generating revenue.
“I had a whole bunch of balls in the air hoping something would stick and then this year really a lot of them have come into place,” Ewen said.
These businesses aren’t just about money but are innovative projects seeking to develop peoples’ connection with nature and their ability to contribute to local industry.
Drawing youth back to nature
Wild & Immersive (W&I), for one, is a business aiming to bring people, especially children, closer to nature. It was first started at UBC’s research forest in Maple Ridge, and in 2021 expanded to Williams Lake. Along with day camps for children and retreats for adults, W&I offers a forest school program which helps to foster connection and comfort between students and the natural environment.
Ewen said there were concerns this year’s program wouldn’t run in Williams Lake as costs to attend the school can be a barrier for families. Luckily, the forest school was given funding from the Drax Foundation to provide bursaries for students. Since then, Ewen said enrolment has tripled.
“That program...has been operating sort of at the cost of the research forest now for a couple years and it’s starting to get legs of its own,” she said.
The Williams Lake W&I forest school runs twice a week, offering a Wednesday program for children between the ages of three and five, and a Thursday program for children aged five to 12. Ewen said there were plans to start up a kindergarten program this year too, but there hasn’t been enough enrolment nor time to get it up and running.
“We still aspire to have that when our families are ready for it,” she said about the kindergarten program. While the school has students who regularly attend, she said “we need enough kids to make that make sense.”
Ewen’s got more ideas in mind though, saying she’d like to expand the forest school to kids beyond the age of 12 so youth can be introduced to the concept of forest research and management.
“As a parent it’s important because...we live in a community where a lot of their opportunities are going to be outdoors,” Ewen said. Without that exposure to the outdoors, youth may feel unprepared when it comes time to join the local workforce. In fact, Ewen said sometimes when UBC forestry students visit the forest for field school they feel so out of place they become a hazard.
But for now, the forest school will continue to focus on developing children’s comfort and resilience with the outdoors.
“It's a different method of learning than a traditional school system and it seems to work really well with the kids we do get,” Ewen said.
Helping rural communities maximize local resources
The AFRF will be starting the new year with its latest business project, the Combined Heat and Power Academy (CHP). Ewen said CHP was created to enable people from remote locations to help their communities transition from diesel-based power to biomass power.
With funding from Natural Resources Canada, the AFRF and FPInnovations built a power plant in Williams Lake and developed a program to train people on the technology. This would enable people to return to their communities and help with the transition in power generation. Rather than the costly process of getting diesel shipped to remote areas, communities would be able to create heat and power out of wood chips, produced from resources close to home.
For instance, the Williams Lake industry focuses on producing building supplies such as lumber and plywood, but treetops and limbs can’t be used because they’re too small. Currently, Ewen said treetops can be used as pulp, meaning they need to be sent to Quesnel. Alternatively, they can be used as biomass for generating power.
But, she said, “these are relatively low value markets.” Instead, Ewen suggests finding ways to consume these smaller bits locally, “especially if you are remote (and) you can’t afford to ship it out.”
Becoming a forest technologist in only two years
The AFRF is developing a diploma program which would allow graduates to become forest technologists in just two years.
The idea is to enable Indigenous people and people living in remote communities to get the education they need to work in their local industries, and to get this education in a way that is accessible to them.
"There are barriers to them receiving post-secondary education...because you have to move to Vancouver, you’ve got that cost of living, you’re away from your community support network,” Ewen said. But with funding from UBC’s Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund, Ewen's team can develop a program which follows a "go to school when you can approach," one which doesn't demand four years of training from students.
There will be an online option for the course, and, thanks to additional funding provided by the Mastercard Foundation, a remote learning hub will be set up at the Alex Fraser Learning Centre for those needing better access to the internet.
Empowering our forestry community
Finally, the AFRF is working on a project which would help maintain and empower the forest industry in Williams Lake. Initially proposed in 2018, the Cariboo Wood Innovation Training Hub (CWITH) has been boosted with funding acquired by the Fraser Basin Council.
While still early in the planning stages, Ewen envisions CWITH to be a way to bolster local craftsmen and reinforce the lake city's standing as a forestry community. It could mean creating a centralized source of trained and skilled workers and developing a sense of pride.
“I think there’s a lot of jobs in commodity markets where you’re just a cog in a wheel,” Ewen said. CWITH would not only provide employment opportunities, she said, but also ones which are “rewarding and fulfilling for young people.”
Along with these business developments, the AFRF opened a public trail on Fox Mountain in early 2024 which is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. The trail will also help support the W&I program.
