Heather Beresford

In many ways, the inherent dilemma—some might say, contradiction—at the heart of Whistler’s publicly managed forest, the Cheakamus Community Forest (CCF), is the same that the resort itself continues to grapple with. The CCF, meanwhile, is a 33,000-hectare forest, co-managed by the Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW), and the Lil’wat and Squamish Nations, that was one of the first forest operations in B.C. to employ a holistic, ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach that is designed to consider all aspects of ecosystem health and ensure its long-term viability. But, of course, the CCF is also a business, and the commercial logging that takes place there, as well as the jobs it provides, are important, and often misunderstood, aspects of that viability. It’s a dynamic the CCF’s new executive director and former RMOW environmental stewardship manager Heather Beresford knows full well.