3 First Nations, Manitoba government sign deal on 20-year forestry plan

Three Manitoba First Nations and the province of Manitoba have struck a deal to create a long-term forestry plan in the Swan Valley region, an agreement being called an act of economic reconciliation.

The memorandum of understanding, announced Friday, calls for the provincial government, local First Nations and Louisiana-Pacific Canada to work together to create a 20-year forest management plan to protect treaty rights and jobs.

It aims to put an end to a long and legally contentious matter in the Duck Mountains, Porcupine Provincial Forest and Kettle Hills area, between Lake Winnipegosis and the Saskatchewan border.

"We fought hard for this agreement," said Chief Derek Nepinak of Minegoziibe Anishinabe (formerly Pine Creek First Nation), one of three First Nations chiefs to sign the agreement. Sapotaweyak Cree Nation Chief Nelson Genaille and Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation Chief Elwood Zastre also signed it.

"We're deeply connected to the Duck Mountains. It's our heartland. It's so important that these relationships are mended," Nepinak said.

The agreementincludes protection for animalpopulations in the region and water and plants, he said.

Nepinak acknowledged theDuck Mountains are also important to other interests, like the forestry industry.

"We have no desire to take food off the table of anybody, so we have to create an opportunity for reconciliation to find a common ground," he said.

"That's what this agreement is all about. It's an agreement to collaborate and move forward together in a good way."

Zastre called ita first step towardachieving a renewed treaty relationship, but "much work remains to be done."

"For more than a decade, we have been raising concerns about Manitoba's failure to consider the protection of our treaty rights and the fair resource sharing when making decisions aboutLouisiana-Pacific's ability to cut trees from our ancestral land," he said.

Premier Wab Kinewsaid the agreement marks a significant moment and sets a new standard for the relationship between the province and First Nations.

"Today's agreement is about making a living,and it's about protecting a way of life," he said."This act of economic reconciliation is good for the economy, Indigenous Peoples and working-class Manitobans."

Louisiana-Pacifichas been harvesting timber in Duck Mountain Provincial Park since 1994, with a licensing agreement that has been extended a couple of different times. But ithas come under protestby First Nations and environmental advocates.

In January 2022,Minegoziibe Anishinabe filed a lawsuit against the province, claiming it breached its constitutional duty to consult them about the logging operations in their traditional lands.The lawsuit also named Louisiana-Pacificand soughtan order to terminate the most recent one-year extension.

Manitoba is constitutionally obligated to consult First Nations and provide a forest management plan before each new licence extension is issued, but that did not happen,the court documents said.

A 10-year management planwas approved in 1996 but since its expiration in 2006, no further management plans have been approved, yet the licence has been extended several times, according to the lawsuit.

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nationfiled its own lawsuit a month later,calling forlogging and forestry development by Louisiana-Pacific in the Porcupine Provincial Forest and Kettle Hills area to behalted until meaningful consultation takes place.

"Responsible forest management is at the core of our business model, ensuring the long-term health of forests, the well-being of nearby communities, and the livelihood of our team," the company said in an email statement Friday.

"Collaboration with Indigenous communities and the Manitoba government on sustainable forest management is a key part of this work."

Environmental advocates added their voices to the issue in May 2023, releasing a report showing the risks to biodiversity caused bylogging.

Park should not be logged, advocate says

The Wilderness Committee called on the province to add the 1,424-square-kilometre Duck Mountain park to the list of others where commercial logging is prohibited.

Eric Reder, a campaigner with the organization, told CBC News Friday the agreement is a bigaccomplishment, but took issue with some of the province's messaging.

"This Manitoba government only mentioned jobs. It didn't mention the environment or the biodiversity crisis or caring for forests, so it looks like the provincial government is promoting and upholding this short-sighted value system from a bygone era," he said.

"The Duck Mountain region holds some of the biggest, oldest trees in the province, but the Manitoba government is talking about this simply as a wood supply lot for jobs and that's the disconnect that I see."

Reder said the goal is not to end logging altogether, but that it's a "give and take" between industry and nature. He said that protecting the park would align with the provincial goal to conserve 30 per cent of its land and water by 2030.

"There's a lot of territory that they can still log, but there's no chance that parks should ever be logged," he said.

In March 2024, the province quietly renewed the agreement once againthroughan order in council, but for a short-term agreement toJune 30.

That prompted Minegoziibe Anishinabe tofilean application in Court of King's Benchon April 12 to halt the deal.

With Friday's memorandum of understanding, the logging agreement withLouisiana-Pacific has been extended for another five years, but this time with the First Nations on board.

"Through building trust and relationships with First Nations and industry partners, the Manitoba government is committed to developing a plan that will keep the Louisiana-Pacific plant active in [the rural municipality of]Minitonas while honouring the treaty rights of local First Nations," Kinew said.

"This is the path forward."

3 Manitoba First Nations sign long-term forestry deal with province to protect treaty rights, jobs

3 months ago

Duration 2:15

Three Manitoba First Nations and the province of Manitoba have struck a deal to create a long-term forestry plan in the Swan Valley region, an agreement being called an act of economic reconciliation.