An injunction application against local members of the Sinixt First Nation blocking a Pass Creek logging road isn’t likely to reach court until the middle of next month.
“I’m hearing it will be mid-February,” said Bill Kestell, woodlands manager of Porcupine Wood Products, which has a license to build 1.8 kilometres of road and harvest 15,250 cubic meters of wood on Mount Sentinel.
Kestell explained that in the meantime they will not attempt to do any work. “I’m going to go there, but we’re not sending anybody else. The logging contractor has moved away and is working somewhere else.”
Two other companies, Sunshine Logging and Galena Contractors, have sought injunctions following Sinixt blockades in recent years on Perry Ridge in the Slocan Valley.
The latter case, filed last July, names Marilyn James, Robert Watt, Dennis Zarelli, and Vance Campbell as defendants. The court file was last updated January 21.
In the Pass Creek protest, the Sinixt say they are asserting their right to consultation and to preserve cultural sites.
On Sunday, photos of an “unusual fire at ongoing Mt. Sentinel protest,” showing smouldering wood, tin, and other debris were posted to the Sinixt Facebook page without elaboration.
