Kenora Miner and News

Grassy Narrows renews calls for clearcutting ban

January 18, 2007

By Mike Aiken

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

https://ran.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=4551[3/19/2010 15:06:38]Rainforest Action Network: News Article

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.