meet the board
Nick Gagnon
I have been a part of forestry and forestry has been a part of me for my entire life. I was raised in a family owned silviculture company run by my mother and two brothers. We held strong our values of looking at forestry practices from an alternative perspective and using alternative equipment. From modified harvesting practices to multilateral marketing strategies, we changed the game in **name the region ** [our region] and opened doors for entrepreneurs in the forestry sector. After a 20,000 hour and 10 year career of silviculture, pre-commercial and commercial thinning, careful logging and other alternative forestry applications, I realized that I needed to take what I have observed into into something real for future generations of forest professionals. Almost ten years after the crash of 2008 things were, in my view going backwards. I worked with communities to try to localize our forest management, start community-based forestry initiatives and access the wood fibre in our back yard. We pushed hard and even with the support of our community, we were met with powerful opposition. The system wouldn't budge. When we decided to uproot and move to Cortes Island, the community forest was a huge part of our decision. I had found a community that believed in taking forestry to the next level, the belief that as a community we can manage our forests and cultivate a future for forestry that is resilient and economically independent.
The community forest provides a growing economic opportunity to create community minded businesses structured around and supported by local investment. We can harness local talent and up and coming entrepreneurs and help them create businesses and jobs with the health of the community forest at heart. From biologists to loggers to sawers and home builders all the way to the final purchaser of a finished Cortes Forest wood product, all of these people are creating something beyond themselves, the opportunity for future generations to help protect, manage and benefit from our ever-growing resource.
David Shipway, Vice-President
I started learning about forestry in the early 70s, first in engineering and survey with MacBlo on Vancouver Island, then in treeplanting all over BC. I found the rapacious destruction of beautiful ancient forests quite overwhelming, but also saw the same logged lands slowly become forested again. I discovered Cortes soon after the ferry service started, and moved here permanently in the early 80's, making my living in construction and woodworking, something my ancestors were good at. By managing my own land I realized it takes at least a century to grow big trees that produce good wood. When I realized that neither government or industry wanted to wait long enough for second growth trees to reach maturity, I became active in conservation issues. I also wanted to learn a lot more about this place I call home, and one of the ways was through mapping the island with the Silva team of Herb Hammond and Tom Bradley.
For years this wonderful community has been advocating better forestry on Cortes, and now with the Community Forest Agreement in place, we need to put our big wild ideas into practice. This is a significant challenge with humble beginnings that will grow and achieve momentum organically, just like a new tree in a sunlit space.
Aldo Leopold, an ecologist whose father was a woodworker, wrote something a century ago that has stuck with me: "I have read many definitions of what is a conservationist, and written not a few myself, but I suspect that the best one is written not with a pen, but with an axe. It is a matter of what a man thinks about while chopping, or while deciding what to chop. A conservationist is one who is humbly aware that with each stroke he is writing his signature upon the face of his land."
Since he wrote that, many women have become involved in forestry as well, and that is a very positive trend in working with Nature.
Aaron Ellingsen, Treasurer
I'm a sixth generation Cortes Islander, with two younger generations of the family snapping at my heels.... As owner/operator of a sawmill, I'm also at least the fourth generation to make all or part of my livelihood through forestry- and timber-related work on and around Cortes. I grew up on Cortes and in the Lower Mainland, and have spent my adult years on Cortes, in Victoria, and back on Cortes. I have a professional background in editing, research and writing, degrees in Literature, and a love for the violin. As I contemplated leaving my research and writing work at the Legislative Assembly of BC, I was encouraged and keen to see the Cortes Community Forest formalized, following more than a generation of cooperative work by Cortes Islanders. I have been pleased to contribute energy to the project since the Community Forest Application for tenure was submitted to the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations in 2013.
With all that Cortes is and has been, the Community Forest creates opportunities for needed local economic diversification, and a chance to showcase the triple bottom line (economic, social and environmental) advantages of small-scale forestry, providing local jobs and supporting small, value-add oriented businesses.
I’m proud to work with the Cortes Community Forest Co-operative, the Klahoose First Nation, the Cortes Forestry General Partnership and the broader Cortes Island community to make socially, environmentally and economically sound decisions to ensure our forests, waterways, wildlife and human community flourish.
Phone: (250) 935-6915
email: agellingsen@gmail.com
Mark Braaten,
Secretary
My name is Mark Braaten. I’m turning 50 this year. Following high school my education consisted of seven years travelling around the world investigating community, spirituality, consciousness, cultures and environment. I obtained certification in Yoga Therapy at SVYASA University Bangalore India.
I spent the balance of my adult life living in intentional communities and engaged with my family, homesteading, and homeschooling four children. The youngest Samuel, now 16 was born on Cortes Island. We traveled constantly for most of those years, practicing Permaculture in remote rural communities. We have been on Cortes now for 18 years and recently purchased Raven Farm as a collective.
I tree planted for 13 years, planting over 1 million trees. I learned much about forestry and ecology during that time. I was a member of the Slocan Valley Watershed Alliance and part the CORE Process in the 90s. I am currently working as a Licensed Residential Builder on Cortes with particular interest in local materials and “green” technologies.
I am serving on the Cortes Community Forest COOP Board as Secretary. It is a great privilege to be working with such a bright, talented and dedicated group. It is an honor to play a supporting role in the partnership with the Klahoose First Nation. I see the Cortes Community as having unique and exemplary potential. The Community Forest is a powerful way to put our values into positive action.
Carrie Saxifrage, President
Carrie Saxifrage has lived on Cortes Island since 1994 and been involved in the effort to obtain community tenure since 1997. She has worked as both an RN and a lawyer. Her interests lie in economic reconciliation, improving data for evidence-based decision making, and adaptive management in a time of climate change. She is the author of The Big Swim, New Society Press.
Maureen Williams
I've been living on Cortes since 2008 and before that in Vermont for many years. Vermont forests are conifers mixed with hardwoods that make Fall so glorious. But the forests on the East Coast are young in comparison to what we have the opportunity to protect here. I have been enchanted by the magnificent giants of the Pacific Northwest. I became a member of Ancient Forest Alliance at their founding in 2010, participating in their legislative campaigns and helping with their database over the years. Here on Cortes, I coordinated the CFOP review in 2018, a process that deepened my understanding of the issues around ecosystems based forestry principles as well as the promises and challenges of partnership. It is an honor to be able to help guide the Coop side of the partnership through this brief time and help set a course for the future of Cortes Island's trees.
I am also a naturopathic doctor and health science writer, and in my spare time, I hike, kayak, and play my cello.
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