About Us

Imagine a jewel blue lake set between lush green mountains adorned with a mantle of deep green, cedar, hemlock, fir, larch, pine, birch and spruce trees.

The rolling mountains are capped with pure white snow and ribbed with cold crystal clear running streams. Bald Eagles and Osprey circle the icy waters waiting for land- locked salmon to surface. The salmon are destined to become dinner for the open-mouthed hungry eaglets back in the nest, high on top of a dead tree in the dense forest. The stark black tree is also home to a pileated woodpecker, as well as many insects and rodents.

The scene is an image of rugged beauty. This picture is also home to the community of Harrop-Procter a small rural area, near the town of Nelson in British Columbia’s southern interior.

There are 700 full time residents in the tiny townships, which border Kootenay Lake. Only a small cable ferry accesses the hamlets.The landscape is dotted with a mix of hobby farms and rural properties, with the tiny village of Procter providing the amenities of a general store, post office and several public heritage buildings.

The summer cottage population is dedicated to enjoying the recreation activities of swimming, boating, hiking and fishing and this influx of vacationers creates extra business for the local merchants. There are many organized clubs and activities.

The Harrop-Procter Watershed Protection Society, is the latest in a succession of groups dedicated to protecting watershed integrity and other environmental values in the community.

Since 1976, there has been a portion of the community that has resisted the conventional logging practices proposed by several government regimes and timber companies. In the late 1980’s new information pointed to the fact that Harrop-Procter was part of a dwindling ecosystem called the Southern Columbia Mountains.

If logging were to proceed in Harrop-Procter and surrounding area, there would be less than 1% of this eco-system protected in British Columbia. The concerned residents of Harrop-Procter joined with many residents and the town council of nearby Nelson and proposed that the area surrounding Nelson and Harrop-Procter become a wilderness park. However the government of the times was less than receptive to the proposal and dismissed the application. This instigated a battle focused on a logging road into the proposed wilderness area at Lasca Creek. The dispute resulted in blockades, arrests, and a divided community.

After five years of civil disobedience and endless meetings and deliberations, the NDP government’s Commission on Resources and the Environment. process made compromises to protect 11% of the provincial landbase in parks. This compromise meant the area above and surrounding the community of Harrop-Procter became a Class A provincial park including the domestic watershed of the City of Nelson. Harrop-Procter’s watersheds were excluded from protection.
The community of Harrop-Procter had to come to terms with the fact that its efforts had helped other communities, but residents were deeply divided and exhausted from the past five years. Their steep wet watersheds were open to industrial logging.

After investigating many options, the community decided that public participation in land-use plans and water protection were its key concerns but that they also wanted to see some economic benefit from resource extraction stay in the community.

The steering committee approached the Silva Forest Foundation and forester Herb Hammond to discuss creating an eco-system based land use plan for the Harrop to Procter watersheds. Silva’s belief in community decision-making and landscape level planning fit very well with the community’s needs. The planning method incorporates the community’s values by involving residents in the mapping and planning of forest uses Designated areas are then netted out of the landbase which is available for timber harvesting.

The society engaged in an exhaustive and positive public outreach campaign holding 18 public meetings over 3 years, sending out quarterly newsletters, and conducting a door to door membership drive.

In 1998, the forest minister opened up a competition for Community Forest Pilot Proposals, due to public pressure from forest dependant towns within the province. The community is blessed with a high proportion of forest and business professionals and received help from many experts who believe in ecologically sensitive forestry.

With much of the required groundwork already done, the Harrop-Procter Watershed Protection Society was able to focus on creating a creative economic proposal. By conducting sensitive timber harvesting in ecologically appropriate zones, the community is seeking Forest Stewardship Council Certification for its timber and lumber. The gentle timber harvesting will allow for non-timber forest product development and enhancement. These forest plants are being integrated with herbs from a community herb farm to market herbal products.. Plans for value-added wood product development incorporating the local sawmill was also part of the proposal. Over the long-term, low-impact recreation and eco-tourism will be incorporated according to the community’s comfort level.

Due to the thoroughness of the Harrop-Procter proposal and the attention to detail, it was one of seven proposals accepted by the BC government as a five-year pilot project. In the summer of 2000 the community of Harrop-Procter and the Ministry of Forests signed a five year agreement to harvest 2603 cubic meters of wood annually from the 10,800 hectare landbase. This Allowable Annual Cut was determined by the community and will conserve biodiversity.
In 1999 the Harrop-Procter Watershed Protection Society incorporated a co-operative in order to conduct business and the Harrop-Procter Community Co-operative has employed as many s 21 people during the past two summer forest and farm seasons.

The residents have pulled together to give thousands of hours of volunteer labor and financial support to meet the huge challenge ahead. They realize that this is an opportunity to make a difference in community economic development and conservation.

Hopefully the story of Harrop-Procter will be an inspiration to other rural communities around the globe.

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Harrop-Procter
Watershed Protection
Society

PO Box 5
Procter, British Columbia
Canada • V0G 1V0

Ph. 250.229.2221
Fx. 250.229.2332

email: info@hpcommunityforest.org