https://thesaxon.org/grassy-narrows-ontario-extends-logging-moratorium-for-10-years/3464/

This 2006 image shows the clear-cutting of an area of ​​Whiskey Jack Forest located on Grassy Narrows ancestral lands.

Ontario is announcing that it will extend the moratorium on logging around Grassy Narrows First Nation by ten years, until 2034.

This measure, which aims to protect ancestral lands located in the Whiskey Jack Forest, will serve to limit industrial activity, particularly clearcutting.

Joseph Fobister is a First Nation trapper from Grassy Narrows. He has been campaigning for more than a decade against the commercial exploitation of ancestral lands in his region.

The suspension has been in effect since 2017 and was due to expire next year.

In a letter sent to the First Nation in early February, a copy of which was obtained by Radio-Canada, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry indicates that no commercial development would be planned on the lands of this protected area, the area of ​​which is identical to that detailed in the previous moratorium.

It’s a temporary victory for Grassy Narrows, which wants to one day protect its ancestral lands permanently. logging.

The logging industry has already caused significant problems in Grassy Narrows. Barrels of mercury buried by employees of a former paper mill in the 1960s and 1970s have contaminated surrounding waterways.

According to scientific research published in September 2016 , more than 9 out of 10 residents show signs of mercury poisoning.

First Nation members and leaders are encouraged to take part in consultations and the preparation of a new Forest Management Plan for Whiskey Jack Forest, which begins this month.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry hopes to use this to develop a plan long-term management plan that would contain targets for sustainable harvesting.