About the CCFS

Who We Are

We are a group of residents of the Village of Cumberland on Vancouver Island dedicated to purchase local forests for recreational and aesthetic purposes.

Our community is surrounded by a beautiful forest. All the forests around Cumberland are privately owned. Like many other forests around the world, the Cumberland area forest is being clear-cut for economic potential. Faced with the imminent clear-cutting of an old forest on the Cumberland boundary, the Cumberland Community Forest Society came into being. Although the Society recognizes the importance of the forestry industry to the local economy, there is a clear need to maintain a section of the forest already well used by mountain bikers and hikers. Members of the local mountain biking community have built many kilometres of bike trails through these forests, and sanctioned local mountain bike races are frequently held on them. These trails are well known to both local and visiting enthusiasts in the biking and hiking communities. Preserving this part of the forest will continue to bring visitors to the historic village of Cumberland, adding to it's beauty, and creating a great legacy for future citizens.

Our Mandate

Our mandate is to purchase as much as 650 acres of forest on Cumberland's southwest boundary from The Hancock Timber Resource Group. In 2005 the first and second parcels of forest, totaling over 150 acres, were purchased for approximately one million dollars. They were given to the Village of Cumberland with stringent conservation covenants attached to them, and they now form a wilderness park called the Cumberland Community Forest. These acquisitions represent an enormous community achievement from which future generations will derive much benefit.

Society Formation

The Cumberland Community Forest Society (CCFS) was incorporated in November of 2000 by a group of friends and neighbours who were concerned about the increase in clearcutting activity surrounding Cumberland. Their objective is to purchase and preserve forest lands on the Southwest border of Cumberland, and to raise public awareness about the importance of these lands as part of the watershed, as part of Cumberland's history, and as part of Cumberland's beauty.