After 21 years, the Revelstoke environmental organization North Columbia Environmental Society (NCES) may cease to exist.
But, it’s more of a makeover with better funding and support from the larger environmental organization Wildsight, than a total funeral, a society spokesperson explained.
After a good discussion weighing up the pros and cons at NCES’ AGM Nov. 25, the majority of the members voted in favour of the transition, NCES president Kent Christensen said.
The main structural change will be the possibility for board members to be hired as paid contractors.
For more background on the change, see our story from Nov. 24
Revelstoke’s NCES weighs amalgamating with larger Wildsight environmental organization
“Hopefully this gives us an opportunity to have a bigger voice and a larger presence in the community. The values of the organization won’t change at all,” Christensen said.
Three of the five local Wildsight branches have already accepted the proposal, while the rest have until Jan 15. to decide. Following the deadline Wildsight’s regional board will have the final say before the transition can begin.
There is still a lot of work to do with rebranding, so most of NCES’s projects and programming are currently on hold, Christensen said.
However, NCES is still prioritizing working towards a backcountry recreation access plan, as well as advocating for local old growth forests in the Revelstoke area.
Christensen said it was good to see that B.C.Timber Sales actually listened to the public outcry against their logging in critical caribou habitat in Argonaut Creek, north of Revelstoke.
“Moving forward, I think those cutblocks should’ve never been planned in the first place. Hopefully B.C. Timber Sales are going to become more aware of how poorly the public accepts them logging in critical caribou habitat,” Christensen said.
Read more about the logging in Argonaut Creek here.
The headline of the article has been altered after request from NCES to more accurately represent the situation.