Cheslatta Band Gets Money

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 03:50 AM

Burns Lake, B.C. - Twelve Cheslatta Community Forest workers are restoring numerous heritage trails south of Francois Lake with $196,960 from the Community Development Trust's Job Opportunities Program, Community Development Minister Kevin Krueger and Bulkley Valley-Stikine MLA Dennis MacKAY announced.

"The Community Development Trust is one of our key tools to assist forest workers and their families through this difficult economic time," said Krueger. "Not only will this project help forest workers, it will preserve the trails near Francois Lake that were used as major trade, travel and communication lines by First Nations for centuries."

The workers are clearing and widening up to 40 kilometres of pathways along the Cheslatta, Cheslatta Cat and Knapp Trails. The restoration will help in the trails being formally recognized as Heritage Trails, and promote the Southside Trail System as a year-round tourist destination, attracting hikers and winter sports enthusiasts.

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Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 03:50 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Eagleone on February 25 2009 6:28 AM

Awesome. Thats a beautiful area and I can't wait to go and explore the trail system once its all fixed up. I like this kind of job creation and I figure it fits well with sustainable development through promotion of tourism and healthy recreation.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on February 25 2009 7:38 AM

Agreed. And the wages doesn't get tied up in some bank account either, the payroll goes right back into the economy next day.

Posted by: Harbinger on February 25 2009 9:15 AM

12 divided into $196,960, eh? Is that contract money or hourly? It didn't say how long it would take. I hope not "many generations". Either way, it's nice money if you can get it.

Posted by: Quaddin on February 25 2009 12:07 PM

Wow $16,413 a piece. That is a tidy chunk of money. Not to bad. I can see hordes of Japanese tourist booking their flights right now to discover the recently reclaimed "Heritage Trail".
I know I can't wait to go explore it on the ATV once it is up and running. Quadding and Sledding are good healthy forms of recreation too and they help to keep the trails passable for the occasional hiker that you meet. I actually met a hiker on the Grease trail about 10 years ago. We all had our picture taken with him. It was a big event. You don't often see them actually hiking these trails but they are their just in case.

Posted by: metalman on February 25 2009 2:53 PM

Should'nt Alcan/Rio Tinto pay for the trail restoration to partially compensate for the Indian lands lost to flooding for Kemano?
metalman.