Forestry changes signal opportunities

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The Saskatchewan government unveiled new forestry regulations on March 31 that will make it easier for everyone to have a say in how the province's forests are used.

The regulations - under development since the Forest Management Act was passed in 1996 - outline how the province wants to do business in the forest and formalize the process that gives the public a say in forest harvesting and management.

According to Lorne Scott, minister of Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management, the Forest Management Act will protect the forest ecosystems and balance the needs of the forestry industry with those of the other forest stakeholders.

"Through extensive public consultations since 1992 there has been a strong consensus that people wanted their forests managed sustainably and that they wanted a voice in management decisions," he said.

The new act replaces legislation, in place since 1959, that was developed in an era when the emphasis was on harvesting mature stands, with little regard for renewal. Almost no regeneration or silviculture took place.

"In the past, you wouldn't worry about reforestation, you wouldn't worry about trappers, about Aboriginal people or anyone else in the area," Scott said. "This system will bring everybody together and all of the people's concerns will be flagged and there would be an overall plan.

"Nowhere on the continent is public involvement such an integral part of forest management legislation.''

There will now be three levels of planning and public consultation before cutting is approved - provincial, regional and local.

Forest companies will have to show they have consulted Aboriginal and other people affected by forest activity and propose how to resolve the issues identified at consultations.

Other key changes under the act include provisions that companies must totally reforest cut areas, forest management plans must be independently audited every five years and companies must monitor and report on the health of forests they manage.

Scott said the old forest management act did not take into consideration individual species or the public use of the land, whereas the new act involves all interests in the ecosystem.

"Nowhere on the continent is public involvement such an integral part of forest management legislation. This, along with provisions for planning, independent audits and monitoring, puts Saskatchewan on the leading edge for comprehensive, forward-looking forest laws," Scott said.

Although Scott doesn't feel the new, harsher fine structure will have to be used often, he said the previous fine of $2,000 was not an effective deterrent to bad forestry practices. The new $1 million fine should be.

"It's a signal to the public and industry that the forests are important and if we need to, we have this hammer to use."

The government is now expected to release new forest allocation numbers for the province, and sources within Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management say small businesses, northern communities and Aboriginal business will get a sizable chunk of the available timber.

That wood will come from the approximately one million hectares of reserve timber supply formerly allocated to Weyerhaeuser. The relinquished area represents about 700,000 cubic meters of, mostly pine, timber annually.

The provincial government has already announced it wants to expand the size of the forestry industry in Saskatchewan considerably. It's currently worth approximately $700 million a year. It employs roughly one out of every 63 workers, and creates spin-off benefits for many more.

Of the 36 million hectares of forest in the province, less than one per cent is cut annually. Forest fires take almost twice that amount of forest land each year.

The provincial government is now working on plans to double the industry, making it worth about $1.3 billion annually and increasing employment by 10,000 direct and 5,000 indirect jobs.

What's at stake for northern communities is more than ust a few jobs. The change in how the province does business in the woods has the potential to affect entire communities and the lives of the residents, mainly Aboriginal people, who are living in poverty.

A 1997 study commissioned by FSIN, Saskatchewan and Aboriginal Peoples in the 21st Century, shows northern Saskatchewanians have not been enjoying the same economic benefits as the rest of the province.

Non-Aboriginals in the north had an average personal income of $19,499, down from the provincial average of $19,735.

The provincial Aboriginal average is $11,481, but in the north that drops to $9,716.

Alex Maurice is a Beauval logger, area representative for the Metis Nation of Saskatchewan and chairman of the local forest co-management board.

He says he would like to see young people in the north get out of the social assistance cycle and into meaningful jobs.

"We are classified as a third-world country in terms of poverty," Maurice said. "Some of our communities still use outhouses. And it's 1999."

Maurice said there is a bit of a buzz in Beauval about the impending changes to forestry practices and timber awards.

"Yes, there's talk about how things might change," he said.

Maurice feels when the wood in the forest is made available, the social impacts will be there.

In the Beauval area four communities have signed on as partners a new for-profit company, Four Seasons Forestry Ltd.

Pinehouse, Beauval, Patuanak and Ile a la Crosse are the founding members of the company, of which Maurice is chairman of the board. They are petitioning more communities to join, and want to find a partner in the forestry industry and go after some of the allotment of wood that will be made available to northern communities.

"We do need economic development in all these communities," he said.