Planning the future of a major North Island forest tenure is expected to be a joint effort moving forward.
The ‘Namgis First Nation and Western Forest Products today launched the TFL 37 Forest Landscape Plan Pilot project, aimed at jointly producing a management plan for Tree Farm Licence 37, a large chunk of North Island Crown forest land extending south from Port McNeill past Nimpkish Lake and down to Woss.
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The project will also provide recommendations for joint decision-making between ‘Namgis and the province.
“‘Namgis look forward to starting the work, with Western, to ensure that our descendants and indeed the descendants of north islanders are able to prosper in a vibrant and sustainable forestry future,” said Namgis Chief Don Svanvik.
Much of the TFL 37 boundary matches matches traditional ‘Namgis Territory. Areas covered include the area-based tenure managed by Western, a replaceable forest licence managed by a ‘Namgis-owned corporation, and the operating area of the Danyas Limited Partnership, established by ‘Namgis and Western.
A joint media release states the plan supports ‘Namgis’ and Western’s mutual objectives of protecting resources for generations to come and providing economic benefits.
“Western is excited to embark on a new approach to joint planning in our area-based tenures,” said , WFP chief forester Shannon Janzen. “We are excited and honoured to be working with ‘Namgis to develop a made-in-the-North-Island plan to guide sustainable forest management in TFL 37.”
A draft plan — which will include a community engagement process — is expected to be complete by the end of 2022.
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