Members of Hupacasath First Nation have approved a long-awaited compensation package stemming from the 2004 removal of land from Tree Farm License 44.
The agreement will provide Hupacasath with new timber rights in the form of a First Nation Woodland License, an expansion of the existing Woodlot 1902 and a short-term non-replaceable forest license, plus augmented planning and management powers in their traditional territory.
Hupacasath CEO Robert Duncan said negotiations with the province began four years ago, and Forest Minister Steve Thomson has now signed off on the agreement.
“The Mediator’s Memorandum was taken to our community a year ago, and approved,” Duncan said, adding that it took another solid year of negotiations with the provincial forest ministry to bring the present agreement to fruition, including two trips to court.
“We took it to the community on July 18 and it was accepted by a sizeable majority,” Duncan said.
Back in 2004, then-Forest minister Mike de Jong removed a total of 73,000 hectares of privately-owned timber, located in Hupacasath and Tseshaht traditional territory, from TFL 44. In 2005, BC Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith ruled that the province had an obligation to accommodate First Nations interests on their traditional territories. That ruling was later upheld in 2008.
The First Nation Woodland License, which is a relatively new concept under provincial law, consists of approximately 800 hectares of timber in the Great Central Lake area. This license also gives Hupacasath jurisdiction over areas of cultural significance.
The short-term license, also at Great Central Lake, is for 20,000 cubic metres of standing timber, which is similar in size to the annual allocation granted to the Alberni Valley Community Forest.
Woodlot 1902 originally contained 200 hectares in parcels located at the top of Burde Road and adjacent to Maybelle Road in Port Alberni, plus a further 127 hectares on the Kleecoot and Coos reserves. Under the new agreement, the Kleecoot and Coos properties will be removed from the woodlot, and new timber will be added in the Sproat Lake region. All told, Woodlot 1902 will expand to 400 hectares.
Under the agreement, the province will create an Old Growth Management area containing 400 hectares of old-growth cedar, located near Great Central Lake, for the purpose of maintaining a supply of cedar for cultural purposes.
Hupacasath Chief Councillor Steven Tatoosh said the agreement also contains critical new management powers for the nation.
“One of the cornerstones of the accommodation agreement is the formation of a Collaborative Forest Council, which will allow us to be proactive in protection of our culture, land and our environment, and doing so in a way that is less costly and more efficient than going through the courts,” Tatoosh said in a media release issued Thursday.
“This puts Hupacasath in the forefront of forest management,” Duncan said.
The agreement also calls for Hupacasath to receive water lots and shore leases on Great Central Lake to provide recreation and sustainable tourism opportunities.
“This would allow us to develop float homes and upland cabins,” Duncan said.
The province will also provide $350,000 over five years to develop the nation’s consultative capacity.
The new timber is mainly second-growth Douglas fir, and becomes part of a growing fibre basket that falls under local control, through numerous First Nations holdings, woodlots and small private holdings, as well as the Alberni Valley Community Forest. Duncan said the increased Hupacasath allocation would provide employment opportunities for people in the Valley, especially for young Hupacasath members.
“We already have a number of members in post-secondary programs in forestry and tourism. These are the kind of initiatives we need to pursue to allow our young people to have careers right here in the Valley,” Duncan said.
Duncan said planning for forestry operations would begin soon while the agreement is drafted into law. Harvesting would begin by 2013 at the very earliest, he added.
