Forestry

The Reconciliation Protocol provides for long-term volume-based forest licenses, forestry legislative changes and revenue-sharing arrangements with the Coastal First Nations’ communities. In addition, the Council of the Haida Nation has purchased a forest license and the Central Coast First Nations have established economic zones and are working together to buy a forest license.

Background

The Coastal First Nations developed a plan of action to establish viable forestry operations based on strong business planning, private sector partnerships, and supportive public policy. Following the development of the plan we held exploratory discussions with number of private tenure holders and senior officials with the Province to advance our agenda.

Past Activities

We undertook negotiations with the private sector and the province on an action plan to access commercial forestry opportunities in our territories. These discussions included:

• Finalize discussions with the Province on a renewed Forest and Range Agreement:
  • Develop a revised Forest and Range Agreement with specific emphasis on enhancing the value of our tenures; and
  • Review Agreement with our forestry technical team and provide Board recommendations for its consideration and approval.
     
• Subject to reaching an agreement with the Province, scope out a proposal on behalf of the participation First Nations to:
  • Identify the activities and costs to undertake negotiations with private companies to buy out their licenses; and
  • Develop an integrated management plan for cooperative agreements between First Nations