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Regional resource think-tank to open shop in Revelstoke

New regional organization Columbia Mountains Resource Policy Council aims to open research institute and think-tank here in Revelstoke

The Columbia Mountains Resource Policy Council is aiming to open an office space in Revelstoke in the coming months. The new organization is a hybrid advocacy and policy organization that explores resource management issues in the Canadian Columbia Basin region. “Essentially we’re aiming at a research institute/think-tank that considers natural resource management at a landscape level in the Columbia Mountains,” said Federico Osorio, one of several founding members.

“The idea is to try to get a better feeling of where we are at in terms of achieving meaningful sustainability. For that, the first thing to define is what is sustainability within the framework of a landscape,” he said. “How much can our ecosystems give? How much can we take from them?”

The group received a $10,000 award through the Columbia Basin Trust to establish their legal framework. They plan a web presence, including publications, as well as lots of in-the-flesh involvement in regional issues.

Osirio explained the group sought to fill a void created by a lack of sustainable resource planning at the provincial level, and by jurisdictional issues that mean the region’s resources aren’t managed holistically.

They aim to advance policy ideas to decision-makers and get involved in mediation and moderation on controversial issues.

He cited controveries such as mountain caribou conservation and the recent Begbie Bench logging  as examples of situations where all parties would benefit from knowledgable moderation provided by the CMRPC.

“There isn’t a conversation that we feel that there should be,” Osorio said.