Kahtou 0004
Nov. 2000

By Neville Judd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Canada, November 9, 2000 (ENS) - British Columbia's goal of being the first province or territory in Canada to set aside 12 percent of its land base as parkland is threatened by the objections of a native indian band.

The provincial government has already set aside nearly 11 million hectares - about 11.6 percent of B.C. - in its Protected Areas Strategy. The 12 parks established under the Mackenzie Land Resource Management Plan total 668,006 hectares, which would push the government over the 12 percent goal set nine years ago.

The 12 percent target arose from former Norwegian premier Gro Harlem Brundtland's Our Common Future report in 1987. Approval for Mackenzie's plan, which covers 6.4 million hectares and includes industrial areas, no-logging zones and protected areas, is imminent. But northern B.C. native band, the Tsay Keh Dene, has written to the provincial premier Ujjal Dosanjh asking him to put theplan on hold.

The Tsay Keh Dene are in the middle of land claims negotiations with the B.C. government. Some of the land in question falls under the Mackenzie Land Resource Management Plan. There are currently 51 First Nations, in 42 sets of negotiations, participating in B.C.'s treaty process.

"I cannot see how two separate negotiations can be carried out for the same piece of land," Tsay Keh Dene chief Ella Pierre told ENS. "I cannot see how the same land can be governed by two different laws." The Tsay Keh Dene, which means "people of the mountains," were originally called the Ingenika Band. The band's traditional land in the Williston Lake area was flooded in 1967 by a B.C. Hydro development, the Williston Reservoir. Now the band's 300 members live on five reserves on 201 hectares near the Finlay and Mesilinka rivers, 190 kilometers (118 miles) north of Prince George. The Tsay Keh Dene are at stage four of the B.C. Treaty Commission's six stage treaty process, meaning it is close to signing an agreement in principle, which then must become final (stage five) and implemented (stage six).

Pierre said the band has been working on its own land use management plan. "We plan to have our own protocols regardingforestry, wildlife, trapping and other resources," said Pierre. "It's only fair for us to ask the Premier to put this plan on hold, until our claims are done with. "Once our land claim is settled, we can deal with these issues on a government to government basis."

Pierre said that environmental groups involved in negotiating the Mackenzie Land Resource Management Plan have got ahead of themselves. When asked what the band's response would be ifPremier Dosanjh refuses to put the plan on hold, Pierre said, "I cannot answer that at this point."

Foremost among the environmental groups involved in the Mackenzie land use plan was the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. B.C. chairman George Smith could not be reached for comment, but in an interview with the Prince George Citizen, Smith said he was taken aback by the band's request.

The W.A.C. Bennett Dam created Canada's largest manmade lake, the 177,300 hectare Williston Reservoir. It also flooded the traditional lands of the Tsay Keh Dene. (Photo courtesy District of Hudson's Hope) He said it was "miraculous" the land use plan was reached, considering the diverse interests, which included two other First Nations.

Peter Smith, spokesman for B.C.'s Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, told ENS that even if it is approved, a Land Resource Management Plan can be amended. "First Nations have raised concerns about this in the past, but I want to stress that it is a plan, and it does not limit First Nations in treaty negotiations." The B.C. Premier's office could not be reached for comment.

Though lauded by some for its Protected Areas Strategy, B.C.'s New Democratic Party government has been criticized for slashing the budget of its parks protected areas.

In 1985 the parks budget represented 0.5 percent of the provincial budget. In 1998, it amounted to 0.15 percent, or C$33 million (US$21.4 million). That figure dropped to C$30.9 million (US$20 million) this year. The Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks, which oversees parks spending, has seen its budget cut by about 50 percent in the last five years - from C$264 million (US$170.5 million) in 1994/95 to $188 million (US$121 million) in 2000/01.

Since 1991, the government has roughly doubled the number of parks that must be managed.