Resources

The First Nations Forestry Council has been working hard to ensure that impacted First Nations have the information and resources to be able to manage the mountain pine beetle epidemic. Listed below are websites and publications which may help First Nations communities.

A New Relationship

In April 2005, the leadership of the main First Nation organizations in British Columbia – the First Nations Summit, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, and the BC Assembly of First Nations – and BC Premier Gordon Campbell agreed to a five-page document, entitled “A New Relationship.” Based on the premise, “We are all here to stay,” the document outlines the basis for a new government to government relationship. A New Relationship commits the parties to: A review of existing Forest and Range Agreements, the creation of new structures to address shared decision-making regarding land use planning, management, tenuring and resource revenue and benefit sharing; and, a review of necessary institutional, legislative and policy changes to implement these actions items.

» Publication| New Relationship PDF

Transformative Change Accord

Tripartite Agreement between First Nations, BC and Canada outlines five priority areas to improve the lives of Aboriginal people in BC. These priority areas include: Improve

Crown & FN Relationships; Education & Lifelong Learning; Housing & Infrastructure; Health and Economic Opportunities.

» Publication| Transformative Change Accord PDF

UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People

The UN Declaration establishes a universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity, well-being and rights of the world's indigenous peoples. The Declaration addresses both individual and collective rights; cultural rights and identity; rights to education, health, employment, language, and others. It outlaws discrimination against indigenous peoples and promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them. It also ensures their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own priorities in economic, social and cultural development. The Declaration explicitly encourages harmonious and cooperative relations between States and indigenous peoples.

» Publication| UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

RESOURCES FOR MANAGING YOUR TENURE

Non-Replaceable Forest Licenses: Understanding the Basics [PDF]

This management system, originally developed as a collaborative effort between the Tsay Keh Dene Band and the Mackenzie Forest District, is intended to assist First Nations to:

a)  improve forest licence management performance (e.g., meeting obligations

and time lines, and managing liabilities); and

b) to enhance forest management and business decisions (e.g., strategies, objectives)

Managing Your New Tenure [PDF]

The Coast Forest Region has developed this administrative guide for the First Nations and other BC communities who have been invited to apply for any of the following timber tenures under the province’s Forestry Revitalization Initiative:

· Nonreplaceable Forest License

· Forestry License to Cut

· Woodlot License

· Community Forest Agreement

This guide offers information and advice about how to obtain and manage your new timber tenure. It describes the administrative framework and processes for the above tenures. The guide also gives a brief introduction to the operational and business aspects of operating a timber tenure.

Timber Development Information Package for logging on reserve lands [PDF]

This guide outlines the process for applying to INAC to log on reserve lands. It includes flow charts to guide the application process and a sample Band Council Resolution to submit with your application.

PROVINCIAL DOCUMENTS AND WEBSITES

The Provincial Forest Revitalization Plan

The Forestry Revitalization Plan outlines the actions and expected benefits from forest policy reforms being made to help revitalize the forest industry in BC. Released in 2005, the Plan initiated the negotiation of Forest and Range Agreements with First Nations.

For a PDF version of the plan, (external link): http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/mof/plan/frp/

Forest Legislation and Policy Reference Guide 2007: A comprehensive guide to government legislation and policy concerning the forest sector.

Government Budgets and Service Plans. Outlines priorities and spending for Ministry of Forests and Range, Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, and BC Timber Supply: http://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2007/serviceplans.htm

Coastal and Interior Appraisal Manuals
Ministry of Forests and Range
www.for.gov.bc.ca/hva/

South Central Coast Order and Map
Integrated Land Management Bureau

RESEARCH

A Guidebook for First Nation for First Nations on Forestry Options in a Changing Marketplace

For as many as 160 of the 200 First Nations communities in BC, the  forestry business offers the main option for economic development in the foreseeable future.

Achieving success in forestry is a daunting challenge for most First Nations for a number of reasons. Many have populations numbering in the low hundreds, are located far from potential markets and lack an experience base in business.

Compounding that is the fact that the forest industry is consolidating in the face

of a major downturn. In addition, over 100 First Nations are in the pine beetle

devastation zone where the wood resource may disappear for decades before

they have a chance to enter the forest business. First Nations on the Coast are

striving in a high-cost, low margin forest economy.

It is true that a few First Nations have achieved modest success in forestry. But

this is not the case for the vast majority.

Based on meetings with First Nations forestry operators from the majority of BC

Aboriginal communities, AFIC received a clear message that a long-term

roadmap was needed. Communities wanted reliable, long-range information

about where the forest industry is headed and how they can be a bigger player in

future success.

To do that, AFIC engaged research experts who could provide insight in three

critical areas. These are:

The data and conclusions in these pages provide the roadmap requested.

True Partners: Charting a New Deal for BC, First Nations and the Forests They Share

The central issue addressed in this paper is whether the numerous Forest and Range Opportunity Agreements recently concluded between First Nations and the province are likely to be of lasting social, economic and environmental benefit. If they are not, and if successfully concluded treaties remain a long way off, are there things the province could do now to re-define how it shares forest resources and revenues with First Nations in a way that is more meaningful, equitable and just?

The report recommends that the province:

• Share half of all stumpage dollars with First Nations, with each Nation compensated based on the value and volume of trees coming off of their lands;
• Turn defined areas of forestland over to long-term management by First Nations;
• Recognize First Nations as equal co-managers in land-use planning; and
• Provide some further stumpage revenues to Interior First Nations and communities in anticipation of a mountain pine beetle-related collapse in future logging rates.

Forest and Range Agreements ACTION PLAN (Nov.2006): Produced by the First Nations Forestry Council the Action Plan was commissioned to address increasing concerns from most First Nations communities regarding the operationalization of FRA/Os. The Forestry Council and the Province of BC are currently working on tenure viability through the Aboriginal Forest Strategy Working Group.

A Classification System for Forest Tenures on Crown Land [PDF]

NAFA- National Aboriginal Forestry Council

In this document NAFA forwards a Canada-wide common classification system of Forest Tenures. This classification allows for a comparison of Aboriginal access to Crown forests for the purposes of forest management and forest-based economic development. Forest tenure provides one important indicator that provides insight into both these dimensions of involvement in the forest.

ABORIGINAL FOREST & STATEGY WORKING GROUP

The Aboriginal Forest Strategy Working Group, co-chaired by Darrell Rob, Ministry of Forest & Range and Chief Mike Retasket, BC FNFC, met and discussed tenure viability issues and solutions during the Summer and Fall of 2007.  As a result of this work the “First Nations Leadership Council & First Nations Forestry Council Position Paper: Tenure Viability” was submitted to Hon. Rich Coleman in December 2007.

First Nations Leadership Council | FIRST NATIONS FORESTRY COUNCIL

POSISTION PAPER: TENURE VIABILITY (PDF Format)

GOVERNMENT MPB RESPONSE

Mountain Pine Beetles in BC | MINISTRY of FORESTS

» link to web site [opens new window]

Provincial level Projection of Current MPB Outbreak | MoF and CFS

The Provincial-Level Mountain Pine Beetle Model projects the possible course of the mountain pine beetle outbreak currently affecting the Interior forests of British Columbia. The model is used to estimate pine mortality, and to provide forest managers with insight into how the infestation may progress into the future.

Projection reports and updates on the Provincial-Level Mountain Pine Beetle Model have been published annually since 2004.

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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MPB INITIATIVES

Mountain Pine Beetle Initiative | NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA

» link to web site [opens new window]

OTHER INITIATIVES

The Beetle Challenge | UBC Faculty of Forestry

The Beetle Challenge: An Overview of the Mountain Pine Beetle Epidemic and its Implications - This website is designed to be a guide to the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic and the challenges it presents. It provides information and resources on the infestation itself, government Mountain Pine Beetle initiatives, and current research. The site has been divided into eight sections, each detailing an important aspect of the Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic.

» link to web site [opens new window]

Publication |  Battling the Beetle | Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

[Battling the Beetle summary PDF]

British Columbia is on the cusp of the greatest forest health crisis ever to confront the province since forestry emerged as a major economic activity within its borders more than a century ago.

There are numerous reasons for the crisis. First and foremost is a large, and as yet, far from over beetle infestation that is killing millions of pine trees in the province’s Interior. Second, generally warmer and drier weather, which many scientists believe will be with us for some time to come, is allowing more and more beetles to thrive. Third, a preponderance of older pine trees is exacerbating the outbreak by providing the beetles with the ideal food and breeding source. Last, and not least, Interior logging rates are rocketing upward in response to the beetles, fuelling concerns about the future of our forests, resource dependent Interior communities and the provincial economy as a whole.

Once the current logging boom runs its course, harvesting rates will plummet leaving many forest dependent communities facing an uncertain economic future. That is why this paper argues that there must be a concerted effort now to address the unfolding crisis, an effort that goes far beyond the current response.

» link to web site [opens new window]

Publication | Forest Fires in British Columbia: How Policies & Practices Lead to Increased Risk | Assoc. of BC Forest Professionals

Historic fire management policies focused on protection of commercial forests have resulted in extremely effective forest fire fighting capabilities that usually results in a successful, quick extinguishment of fires. BC’s policies have been focused on the societal goal that relates specifically to the protection of important forest resource values because fire has been seen as a destructive force in nature with no apparent benefit. Yet as we begin to understand more about the relationship of fire and the forest, science tells us that policies and practices of the past are having a significantly negative impact on forest ecosystems, especially in fire-dependent ecosystems such as the interior of BC.

» link to web site [opens new window]

USEFUL FUNDING LINKS

First Nations Forestry Program in British Columbia (FNFP)

The FNFP is a federal government initiative jointly funded by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and by Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service. Through the Program, First Nations can obtain financial and technical assistance in forestry and forest economic development. This web site contains the Application and Guidelines for the First Nations Forestry Program (FNFP).

Funding for First Nations Forest Fuels Management

» link to web site [opens new window]

First Nations Wildfire Protection Element

Many First Nations communities are at risk of forest fires due to being located on relatively small parcels of land surrounded by large areas of pine beetle impacted forest. The First Nations Wildfire Protection Element is a federal program that provides First Nations Communities with funding of up to $100,000 per fiscal year in order to develop and implement fuel management plans for reserve lands.

Federal Forestlands First Nations Element

The Federal Forestland First Nations Element Program was created to aid First Nations Communities in planning, controlling and treating pine beetle affected forests on reserve lands. Eligible activities under the Federal Forest Lands First Nations Element include:

• Planning activities, including development of a beetle management plan, mountain pine beetle detection using ground surveys, treatment surveys and prescriptions, and block layout, marking and mapping.
• Control activities, including fall and burn and/or fall and debark.
• Secondary site treatments, including seedling acquisition, reforestation and brushing and weeding.

First Nations Emergency Services Society

First Nations' Emergency Services Society (FNESS) is dedicated to building capacity within First Nations communities by increasing the safety, security and well being of First Nations people throughout the province of British Columbia. Their mission is to assist First Nations in developing and sustaining safer and healthier communities by providing programs, services and related training and education.

The Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) project is a joint initiative of the BC Forestry Service, FNESS, and Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM).

The MPB project’s mandate is to create a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), and Fuel Management on reserve lands in British Columbia.

Within this program, there is the First Nations' Mountain Pine Beetle Element (FNBE). There are four primary objectives:

1. Assist First Nations with a fuel management treatment program to control and reduce the spread of MPB on reserves
2. Assist First Nations to restore and rehabilitate reserve forestlands affected by MPB
3. Enhance First Nations capacity in MPB management and control
4. Promote First Nations involvement in MPB management and rehabilitation efforts

For a funding application form, check out the FNESS website.