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From http://cgi.bowesonline.com/pedro.php?id=3&x=story&xid=281731

Grassy Narrows renews calls for clearcutting ban

By Mike Aiken - Miner and News - Thursday January 18, 2007

Grassy Narrows Chief Simon Fobister declared a moratorium on all industrial activity within the First Nation’s traditional land use area Wednesday.

The chief targeted forestry companies Abitibi and Weyerhaeuser, as he continued to criticize the province for allowing resource extraction without consulting the First Nation.

“We have been seeking, for many years, a constructive solution to this untenable situation, but the response has always been to talk and log,” he said.

“We cannot sit back and watch the demise of our way of life, which disappears every time more cutting areas are extended to Abitibi and Weyerhaeuser,” he added.

Fobister said the moratorium doesn’t have any legal weight, but is a strong statement that clear-cutting is hurting the aboriginal community and nothing else has worked.

The community of about 1,250 set up a permanent blockade along the Slant Lake Road four years ago, and they have set an end to the controversial logging practice as a precondition for a settlement with Abitibi, who own the wood rights for the area.

Weyerhaeuser also uses wood from the Whiskey Jack Forest in its Kenora plant, and it’s been the subject of demonstrations, including the closure of the Trans-Canada and the English River Road last summer.

MNR willing to talk

Representations of the Ministry of Natural Resources extended an invitation to restart talks last July, following the roadblock on the bypass, but negotiations haven’t restarted. Staff have noted the province’s laws for logging meet international standards.

The ministry has invited band members to take part in consultations for the 2009 to 2019 forest management, which is currently underway. Spokesman Anne-Marie Flanagan noted the ministry has also offered band leaders the opportunity to create their own consultation process.

Representatives from Abitibi and Weyerhaeuser say they are following the rules set out by the province. While Abitibi has closed their operation in Kenora, Weyerhaeuser points to an ongoing relationship with Wabaseemoong (Whitedog) First Nation, which includes benefits sharing.

KFP decision not delayed

Flanagan noted a decision on the proposal from Kenora Forest Products won’t be delayed because of the declaration by Grassy Narrows. She hoped a decision would be made by the end of February or early March, as previously suggested.

She noted the province has set aside the harvesting of 112,000 cubic metres of wood a year within the forest management area for First Nation businesses. Aboriginal companies are also welcome to bid on the remaining 495,000 cubic metres up for bid in the Red Lake, Kenora and Dryden area.

Kenora Forest Products is hoping to be awarded the wood rights previously owned by Abitibi, so it can finance an expansion project that could bring 250 jobs to the city.

CPAWS Wildlands League and Sierra Legal press release ...
http://www.cpaws.org/news/archives/2007/01/groups_slam_ont.php

Groups slam Ontario for poor oversight of public forests - Complaint highlights mismanagement of northern timber resources

Toronto -- Two of Ontario's leading conservation organizations, CPAWS Wildlands League and Sierra Legal, filed a critical submission to the Environmental Commissioner today highlighting serious concerns over how public timber resources are allocated to the logging industry. The groups state that the province’s current approach to managing and accounting for public forests fails to adequately protect the environment and the rights of Aboriginal Peoples, and is delivering a dreadful return on investment for Ontarians.

“If a bank were to manage the finances of its clients in the manner that the Ontario government manages the wood from its public forests, it would be bankrupt very quickly,” says Trevor Hesselink, Director of Forests for CPAWS Wildlands League.

This complaint comes on the heels of Grassy Narrows First Nation calling for a halt to all development in its traditional territory in the Boreal Forest, and after the province called for proposals to redistribute wood volumes that were originally assigned to the closed Abitibi mill. This redistribution process or tendering has raised the ire of First Nations, industry, and environmentalists. Much of the woodshed in question is the subject of a long-standing conflict with Grassy Narrows, who has asked for a halt to clearcut logging on their traditional territory.

“This tendering process is the tip of the iceberg of an allocation system fraught with problems,” says Hesselink. In their application to the Commissioner, the organizations describe the overarching transparency and accountability gaps in the system, including a lack of consistency of approach across the province and systemic reporting problems from the companies operating in the forests. Moreover, because the management tools used to oversee the entire undertaking are inordinately complicated, oftentimes the numbers don’t match up, are missing, or are out of date.

“Moving forward with the tendering process is a slap in the face to the community,” says Dr. Anastasia Lintner, Staff Lawyer & Economist for Sierra Legal. “It is as if the people of Grassy Narrows can’t be heard over the felling of trees in the forest.”

“This is a serious concern because it is communities like Grassy Narrows and the public that ultimately bear the costs of this mismanagement,” says Lintner. “Without a rational, transparent and fair allocation process we can expect to see more conflict and uncertainty in the Boreal Forest in the future,” Hesselink adds.

The groups are calling for a new model: one that would deliver business stability, forest conservation and public trust, without generating conflict for northern communities.

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Contacts:
Trevor Hesselink CPAWS Wildlands League (416) 707-9841
Dr. Anastasia Lintner Sierra Legal (416) 368-7533 ext. 30

Background:
Background materials available at www.wildlandsleague.org

1. See full text of the submission: “Request for Review Of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Crown Timber Allocation Regime”
2. See Grassy Narrows Press Release: “Grassy Narrows Declares Moratorium and Challenges MNR Tender Process Currently Underway”