Coming Together for Land Management
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 @ 4:00 AM
Prince George, B.C.- Some will say, this type of conference is long overdue. It’s a two day session of talking about how different projects can work with communities, whether municipal or First Nations, in planning a strategy for cooperation in land management, and it’s taking place in Prince George.( at right, Mackenzie Mayor and Conference Chair Stephanie Killam promotes conference – photo 250News archive)
Imagine if , for example, a prospective mine developer worked with a forestry license holder to develop one road to a job site, all the while taking into consideration the impact on their neighbours. Instead of one road leading to a mine site, and another to a wood lot, there might be one road that serves both. That is the kind of planning that would reduce the impact on the land while still working on resource extraction. With billions of dollars of resource activity poised for the north, the time may be right for this kind of approach.
Today and tomorrow, stakeholders will gather at the Prince George Civic Centre to discuss the opportunities presented by “Coming Together” and developing a cooperative approach to land management.
Delegates will hear from the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resources, First Nations, Municipalities, resource companies, and from those who have already adopted a collaborative approach, all in an effort to minimize the impact on the land.
Comments
This is all about “land use planning” which is only one leg of a three legged stool. The other two legs are Natural Resource Management and Economic Development.
First Nations use to employ all three positions, where the community was consulted by the land use planner, acceptable resource extraction access corridors would be identified away from sensitive areas such as moose and caribou calving / rearing areas, traditional medicine and food gathering sites, etc.
The degree of Natural Resource Management verse Economic development that would take place in their traditional territories would be up to each community, and reflected in their land use plans.
Now that the Harper Government has cut funding for land use planning and natural resource management, there is nothing else for a community to consider but economic development. Take away a First Nation’s community to have a say, and provide input ,on where, and to what degree, resource extraction is to take place in their traditional territories, then we leave them with no option but civil disobedience (road blockades, etc.).
Don’t believe me? Just sit back and watch as Harper tries to push his pipeline through BC. Once legal challenges and recourse are exhausted, our First Nations across northern BC, will make the Oka Crisis look like a picnic when push comes to shove.
“our First Nations across northern BC, will make the Oka Crisis look like a picnic when push comes to shove.”
Yawn. Another threat from someone who represents no one.
How could anyone interpret my prediction of a future event as a “threat”, shows the rest of us how a sack of hammers thinks.
There was a gun battle at oka. You said it would be far worse.. Seems like a threat to me people last.
My view of future events remains what it is; my prediction. How ironic that JB, and now you, use the word “threat” yet along comes a pipeline that “threatens” their food source and drinking water, so just how do you think they would respond to such a “threat”?
Wow, a report comes out today, revealing the startling fact that 50% of First Nations children are living in poverty in this country, that is a lot of hungry children! How insane is it to introduce a project that would “threaten” their food source? I really do hope there are level headed / sane people out there who see the bigger picture!
Read the following article, and if you are a proud Canadian try and find another source of pride, because this proposed pipeline and those poverty statistics are definitely not something to be proud of!!!
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/06/19/shocking-study-finds-half-of-first-nations-children-are-living-in-poverty/
Just one additional note; when you finish reading the article, take the time to scroll down and read some of the comments, not your typical Canadian response to a shameful and shocking story, but nothing surprises me anymore!
How can the First Nations who state it takes a village to raise a child let all these children live in poverty ?
Maybe look inward for the way to fix the poverty problem.
Facts are this land use planning is about locking recreational users out of the backwoods and clearing the way for the government to make more royalties off of resource operations. Want to show up and talk about recreation tourism and they will likely run you out of town on a rail.
They should call it “land grabbing” conference. At this day and age we see a cocaine trafficking mayor of the biggest city in Canada, a few other mayors up to the neck in corruption in Quebec and a bunch of money grabbing senators, MPs and ministers grabbing tax payers money and wasting it on expensive orange juices, on holiday flights and raising their own salaries … The free loaders and savage capital-grabbing mentality is in full swing.
The emperor had no cloths and our Justice lady is naked and you can even see the pictures of our nude Judge lady on the Internet to screw. What a screwed up country ….
People1st: “shows the rest of us how a sack of hammers thinks.”
Threats and personal attacks… Par for the course.
Lets not give up hope univ and Eagleone, maybe it just needs to get bad enough that a majority of people will demand change.
Businesses and corporations are running our governments from municipal, to provincial, to federal… yet I still hold out hope that we the people will one day take back our governing institutions.
Comments for this article are closed.