Local Citizen’s Committee (LCC) Recruitment Initiatives
NOTO recently contacted all of the MNRF offices in an initiative to ensure that tourism is represented in all the Forest Management Units (FMUs).
In our letter to the MNRF, we offered our assistance to help fill any tourism vacancies in the LCCs. Thus far, we received answers from 25 MNRF offices, which covers 28 out of 39 Forest Management Units. All of the offices who replied to our request provided us with the names of the tourism representatives, and which business they represent. Many of them even went as far as mentioning if the operators were actively participating at the meetings, which was more than what we had asked for. It was nice to see the MNRF being so open and honest.
The Sudbury and Cochrane District offices asked for our assistance to fill vacancies in the Sudbury, Spanish and Abitibi Forests. It was suggested by the chair of the Cochrane LCC that a letter be written in such a way to show that MNRF, LCC and NOTO are working together as a group with the tourism industry’s best interest in mind. We passed this idea forward to the Sudbury District Office and they also agreed to move forward with this initiative.
As for the Cochrane District Office, a draft letter written by the chair of the LCC, Mark Jones from Cochrane Air Services was received. The letter mentions NOTO’s initiation of the project and state the importance of having tourism representatives in the Forest Management Planning process. The letter was reviewed at their March LCC meeting to allow other LCC representatives provide feedback. We also have full support from Al Winters, the Cochrane District Manager for this initiative.
Before we proceeded with mailing the letter, Jean-Luc Brousseau of Good Time Outfitters reached out to Mark Jones to express his interest with joining the Cochrane LCC.
The Sudbury Office has agreed to move forward with this initiative as well and Tim Lehman (MNRF) has agreed to have NOTO write the draft. We also have a tourism representative, Marg Watson from Sudbury Aviation, who is also working hard to fill tourism vacancies in the Sudbury and Spanish Forests. The draft letter has been sent and approved by Tim. Stay tuned for more on this initiative!
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