Lheidli T’enneh awarded first-ever First Nations Woodland Licence

Jul 14, 2022 | 3:23 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Lheidli T’enneh First Nation will see greater forest stewardship benefits and exclusive harvesting rights to timber resources on the Nation’s territories through a First Nations Woodland Licence in a new forest tenure opportunity agreement, the largest such offer in British Columbia to date.

“This is a first, yes,” says Katrine Conroy, Minister of Forests. “The first we’ve come to agreement on.”

The Lheidli T’enneh First Nation will have exclusive timber harvesting rights to an estimated 217,312 hectares within the Nation’s territories east of Prince George, on both the north and south sides of the Highway 16 corridor.

Lheidli T’enneh First Nation’s management plan for the area supports decision-making authority over planning, development, harvesting and cultural use of the timber resources and values within the area.

“This new forest tenure opportunity agreement with the Government of B.C. provides greater economic and forest stewardship benefits to our Nation,” says Chief Dolleen Logan, Lheidli T’enneh First Nation. “Our new First Nations Woodland Licence will allow us to achieve greater economic certainty and the ability to act on our forest stewardship priorities, including supporting increased moose populations, which is a traditional food source for our members. We will continue to work with our local forest industry to achieve these objectives and we thank the B.C. government for believing in our vision and our ability to manage our forest resources.”

The Lheidli T’enneh recently acquired LTN Logging to do the work and now a plan will now be drafted to manage that forest.

Click here to report an error or typo in this article