Natives vow to prevent logging

Ron Seymour 2009-10-22 Kelowna Daily Courier:

Dozens of natives spent a chilly night in the woods Tuesday trying to prevent Tolko Industries from logging in an Okanagan watershed. Aboriginal leaders are vowing to maintain an on-site presence indefinitely in the Brown‘s Creek area, about 30 kilometres west of Westside Road at the far north end of Okanagan Lake. “We‘ll be there as long as it takes to keep Tolko out,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, chairman of the Okanagan Nation Alliance, said Wednesday. “We‘re mobilizing more volunteers from our communities as we speak. “There‘s not going to be any logging taking place up there.”

The Vernon-based forestry company said it has to begin logging in the area to salvage trees affected by the mountain pine beetle. “The impact of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and Tolko‘s investment in the area make further delay irresponsible,” said Jim Baskerville, Tolko‘s regional manager. “The longer we wait, the more mountain pine beetle-impacted trees will decline without recoverable value, the higher the wildfire risk will grow, and the longer reforestation will be delayed.” Brown‘s Creek has been the subject of a land-claim issue between the Okanagan Indian Band and the provincial government. About 27,000 hectares of the area lies within a tree farm licence granted to Tolko by the provincial government. Tolko says it has delayed harvesting in the area for more than two years, but can‘t wait any longer for resolution of the land-claim issue.

“Tolko has been respectful, but as of late their attitude has changed,” Phillip said. “They‘re basically saying they‘re sick and tired of waiting, and they‘re going in. This is a deliberate provocation on their part.” Some archaeological work has taken place in the area, with researchers looking for signs of native occupation to buttress the land claim. “The courts have said we have to collect evidence to support our claim, and that‘s what we‘re doing,” said Fabian Alexis, chief of the Okanagan Indian Band. “The work Tolko wants to do could destroy that evidence.” About 30 people went into the woods on Tuesday, although no work crews from Tolko showed up. Plans are to keep up an on-site presence. “It was cold, rainy, with sleet and snow,” Philip said. “But we‘re starting to dig in.”