This past fall, the Cortes Forestry General Partnership offered several free training opportunities to local forestry workers and other residents of Cortes.

The training included Tree Falling Certification, Occupational First Aid Level 3 and Fire Suppression and Safety. By the end of the training period, nine Cortes residents had completed the training.

Cortes Community Forest manager Mark Lombard indicated that not only does this training improve local resident's employment status, particularly in the forestry industry, but the island is also better prepared for medical and fire emergencies. Funding included grants from the Community Workforce Response Grant. The Forestry Partnership has not yet ruled out further local training opportunities in the months to come.

The Cortes Forestry General Partnership is an equal partnership between the Klahoose First Nation and the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative to manage the 2013 Community Forest Agreement (CFA) for approximately 3,869 hectares of crown land on Cortes Island. Both parties are directly responsible to their constituent memberships.

More information can be found at cortesforestrypartnership.com

Listen to the CKTZ News interview with Mark Lombard below: