Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation: A Community Venture Repatriates Benefits from Local Public Forests

Abstract

Economically prostrate in the mid 1980s, the town of Revelstoke, BC has demonstrated how a small community can regain a say in its economic future. The Revelstoke Community Forest Corporation (RCFC) is a community-owned forest corporation that is managing to strike a balance between profitability, community interests, and provincial forestry standards. Shrewd leadership, solid research and advice, a strategic and cooperative approach to CED, and a determined citizenry managed to turn back a generation of reliance on urban, corporate, and senior government decision-making. An appended article, "Revelstoke's Entrepreneurial Community," explains the strategy that mobilized local participation in the decision to launch RCFC.