Coun. Bill Hadden says everything is coming together for the British Columbia Community Forest Association (BCCFA) 2011 Conference and annual general meeting in 100 Mile House on June 9-11.
The event is being co-hosted by the Cariboo Regional District (CRD) and the District of 100 Mile House.
Noting there are 56 community forests in B.C., Hadden says 100 people have been invited and so far 70 have confirmed they will be attending.
June 9 has been set aside as tour day for the community forests representatives, he says, and depending on which package they want to sign up for, delegates will have three choices.
There is an all-day tour to the UBC Research Forest at Gavin Lake southeast of Williams Lake.
The other tour packages are in and around 100 Mile, and one will be a trip to Ainsworth Engineered to the OSB plant and then to 100 Mile Wood Products. The second local tour is to West Fraser's 100 Mile Lumber, and then to Sitka Log Homes.
There will be a reception at 100 Mile Community Hall from 5:30 to 10 p.m., which is open to the public, that night.
Hadden notes the next day (June 10) is being called "Hemp Day" because breakfast, lunch and the two coffee breaks are going to feature industrial hemp products.
The morning is scheduled as the speakers/seminars day and the topic is bio-fuels and bio-energy. This will be open to the public, but people will have to pay the daily registration fee to attend.
Prior to luncheon, which will be held at the community hall and begins at noon, Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations Minister Steve Thomson will give a half-hour talk.
Hadden says that during the luncheon and Saturday's AGM, there will be a number of important discussions, including recreation policy in community forests, the challenges of the job of the community forests managers, marketing community forest products, and opportunities in bio-energy in community forests.
On June 10, there will be two trade shows, including the inside show, which will consist of booths filling 100 Mile Community Hall.
The outside demonstration will be at West Fraser's firewood yard on Jens Road. Noting they are still working on it, Hadden said they hope to have a lot of environmentally friendly equipment, including shredders, grinders, and chippers and, perhaps, a small pellet plant.
On June 11, delegates will get down to business at the AGM.