In the summer of 2000, discontent was the predominant feeling in the Village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island. Clear cut logging of 500 acres to the northwest of the village border had villagers upset, and a small group of them gathered in a garden to form the Cumberland Community Forest Society. The goal they desired was the acquisition and preservation of forest and wetlands to the southwest of the village. They imagined holding dances, plant sales, trivia nights and raffles to raise the necessary funds, and they didn’t foresee any opposition to their plans.

In the next four years the size of their group grew from 9 members to over 300, and many fundraising events took place. By 2004 they had amassed close to $200,000.

But opposition had reared up. A very vocal ex-mayor and his mining surveyor friend opposed the Society’s acquisition of the southwest forest. They wanted the private logging company who owned it to give it to the village so the minesite within it could be developed as a tourist attraction. The ex-mayor even gave permission to the logging company to clearcut a three acre patch in the middle of the forest and to put a logging road into the minesite to allow access, both of which were done. This horrified Society members but they were powerless to intercede. Furthermore, the logging company said they would only sell the property if there was no controversy since they wanted to avoid negative publicity. As a result, the Society was unable to obtain a formal offer of sale for the property.

Saddened but not completely disheartened, the Society pursued a Memorandum of Understanding with the Village of Cumberland in which they promised to acquire the minesite for the minesite committee’s purposes, and this was finally signed and presented to the logging company in late 2004.

Meanwhile, the summer of 2004 saw an environmental assessment, a timber appraisal, a real estate land appraisal and a legal survey of the property completed. The logging company agreed verbally to sell for the appraised price, and now a formal written agreement was sought. This 35 page document outlined so many easements, right-of-ways and conditions that the Society hurriedly engaged a lawyer familiar with such transactions, and began the lengthy process of investigating all the clauses. The price of the first parcel was established as $665,000, and the closing date was set at March 15th, 2005. The second parcel’s price was set at $365,000, with a closing date of Jun 15th. This date was later moved ahead to Dec 15, 2005.

The Society’s intention was to gift the property to the Village of Cumberland with a conservation covenant registered on the title, so a small group began the writing of the covenant, which was to be jointly held by the Comox Valley Land Trust and TLC the Land Conservancy of BC.

The Society went as a delegation to Cumberland Village Council to ask them to accept title of the land and to adopt the wording of the conservation covenant, and much to the Society’s surprise, were immediately successful.

Grant writing to raise more funds was well underway, but no significant successes were achieved until early in 2005, when Mountain Equipment Coop’s Envirofund awarded their maximum grant of $100,000. This marked a turning point in the morale of Society members, and the Coast Sustainability Trust’s $100,000 grant which came only a few months later boosted morale even further.

Loans from Society members were sought to make up the rest of the purchase price, and a major drive to recruit monthly donors to make payments of these loans was undertaken with great success. Over $4300 each month is raised through these monthly contributions, and plant sales, trivia nights, and fair trade coffee sales also help make the Society’s loan payments.

Today, the Forest Society has 640 members and continues to be a visible force at work here in Cumberland. The Cumberland Community Forest is over 150 acres of protected forest and wetland which forms the viewscape for Cumberland residents. Its trails are used in six major mountain bike races each year. It was recognized as a sensitive ecosystem in Jan Kirkby’s 1992 survey of British Columbia. It is a crucial wildlife corridor in an area which is increasingly threatened by commercial and residential development. The doubt and misgivings of the early years of the Society have given way to a sense of pride and accomplishment over a monumental task well done.