Clayoquot bands protest logging

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First Nations on western Vancouver Island are demanding to have a voice in any land use development on Clayoquot Sound.

Bands erupted in protests following a government announcement to allow logging in the pristine rain forest around Clayoquot sound. The five tribes in the central region of the Nuu-Chah-nulth Tribal Council were not consulted and had no input in the decision, said Chief Francis Frank of the Tla-o-qui-aht band.

And he warned the bands will take any action necessary to stop logging in the area if they continue to be ignored. First Nations must be part of the decision-making process and partake of the benefits reaped from their tractional lands, Frank said.

He added the bands would prefer negotiating, however legal action and blockades were also very real alternatives.

The root of the problem between the bands and the proposed logging lies in unfolding land claims and compensation for any resource extraction.

The Tla-o-qui-aht, Hesquiat, Ahousahat, Toquaht and Ucluelet bands have never ceded title to the land. And they believe logging activities would comprise land-claim negotiations initiated in 1982. In addition to their concerns on how the logging will proceed, the bands are opposed to designating areas as parks or preserves where logging would be prohibited.

Such a move would take away their jurisdiction and limit local economic development. The region is faced with a staggering 70 per-cent unemployment, and logging represents a viable source of jobs for the approximately 3,000 people in the central region of the Nuu-Chah-nulth council.

British Columbia PM Mike Harcourt announced in March that intensive logging will be allowed on approximately 45 per cent of land around Clayoquot Sound. Some 87,000 of the 262,000 hectares will be protected from logging.

But the government rejected the possibility of delaying logging in the area until land claims are settled.

"We are not going to shut down all industrial activity because we have not yet resolved the important (land-claims issues)," Andrew Peters, B.C. Aboriginal Affairs minister said in an interview.

Conflict of interest issues also surfaced with the decision to log Clayoquot. The provincial government owns shares in MacMillan Bloedel Ltd., the company allocated logging rights in the area.

The Finance Ministry purchased 2.1 million shares of the company in February as a short-term investment.