About us
A brief history of the Fraser Headwaters Alliance
The origin of the Fraser Headwaters Alliance dates back to 1988, when a group of Robson Valley residents came together to form one of the area’s first conservation organizations. Under the name Canoe-Robson Environmental Coalition (CREC), this group took on a variety of conservation issues including pesticide use, the conservation of old growth forests, and the unsustainable rate of logging.
CREC had neither staff nor office space, but provided a strong voice in opposition to an expansion in the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC), and in support of the community-based recycling initiative that later became Valley Recycling. When the BC Government began its Land and Resource Management Planning Process (LRMP) in 1993, a CREC rep sat at the planning table and participated through many years of trying meetings, ending in a non-consensus plan being imposed by government.
CREC became incorporated as a non-profit society under the BC Society Act in June 1997. The organization’s original mission statement was “to maintain and restore the ecosystem health and natural scenic beauty of the Canoe and Robson Valleys and all the watersheds associated with them.” It was later changed to read “To maintain and restore ecosystem health and to support ecologically sustainable human communities and economies in the Fraser Headwaters bioregion.”
In March 1998 CREC hosted a meeting in Dunster, with representatives from the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Silva Forest Foundation, Cariboo Mountain Wilderness Coalition, Quesnel River Watershed Alliance, BC Wild, Save the Cedar League, and Valhalla Wilderness Society. At this meeting, a new group, the Fraser Headwaters Alliance, was formed to serve as an umbrella organization for groups concerned about conservation issues in the headwaters of the Fraser. In 1999, CREC officially adopted the name Fraser Headwaters Alliance and later that same year hired FHA’s first full-time coordinator. It had paid staff for several years, but currently is staffed exclusively by volunteers. Contractors are occasionally hired for some of our trail and other specific work.
In 2006 FHA received charity status from the Canada Revenue Agency. This allows us to issue receipts for personal income tax use for donations, and eases the application and receipt of grants from foundations and some other organizations. Our charitable purposes are set by our constitution.
Many of the people currently involved in FHA have been with us since 1988, while others have joined our ranks more recently. All of us share a love for our home place and a commitment to preserve in perpetuity the natural and cultural legacy of the Fraser Headwaters bioregion.