$192,500 FROM COMMUNITY TRUST WILL MAKE KASLO SAFER

VICTORIA – Funding from the Community Development Trust’s Job Opportunities Program will support up to nine jobs for unemployed forest workers focused on forest fire prevention activities in the Kaslo area, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Community Development Minister Blair Lekstrom announced today.

“The Community Development Trust is one of our key tools to assist forest families and communities during these difficult times,” said Lekstrom. “We are pleased to be able to assist workers, while at the same time improving fire safety around the community of Kaslo.”

The Village of Kaslo developed a community wildfire protection plan in 2006-2007. The new funding of $192,500 will support forest fuel management activities described in the plan. This fall and winter, workers will reduce the amount of wood debris on the forest floor, cutting down small trees and saplings and pruning large branches off trees. The work will also include the construction of access trails that can be used for hiking and recreation.

“The Community Development Trust is using skilled forest workers to make Kaslo safer,” said Bell. “By targeting and removing forest debris that is quick to ignite and spread flames, the fuel management work will significantly decrease the possibility of wildfires around Kaslo.”

The project is being managed by three local forest sector businesses, Progressive Forest Management Ltd., Appropriate Forestry Services and WREN Consulting. The companies were able to access matching funding from the Union of BC Municipalities thanks to an enabling resolution passed by the Village of Kaslo. This resulted in a total project budget of $385,000.

“The Community Development Trust’s program will lead to the removal and reduction of fire hazards around Kaslo,” said Kaslo Mayor Greg Lay. “As a result of the project there will be people working in the woods this winter and a reduced risk of forest fires around the community in the future.”

The objectives of the $26.25-million Job Opportunities Program are directed at reducing the impact of current layoffs on workers employed in the forest industry, retaining skilled forest workers for the anticipated future upturn, and preserving the characteristics of the labour force in forest-dependent communities.

A forest-dependent community or organization and forest licensees or forest contractors working in co-operation with a forest-dependent community are eligible to submit a project proposal to the Job Opportunities Program. So far, 103 submissions have been received and 51 projects totalling over $8 million from across the province have been approved.

The Job Opportunities Program is one component of the Community Development Trust, which was announced in May. B.C.’s share of the federal trust is $129 million over three years, with funds also directed to programs for tuition assistance and transition assistance for older workers.

For more information about the Community Development Trust and Job Opportunities Program, go to: http://www.cd.gov.bc.ca/cdt/

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Media contact:	Jennifer McLarty Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592	Leanne Ritchie Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Community Development 250 356-0979
	Greg Lay Mayor of Kaslo 250 353-7184
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