Smart forest management can relieve pressures on First Nations

Establishment of Snowy Provincial Park and the success of the 1999 Loomis Forest Fund are undoubtedly two of the biggest successes in recent conservation history in the Pacific Northwest. Between these two, 90,000 acres were protected, together creating the largest protected area on the 49th parallel. Invaluable, too, are the gains made for the wildlife that cross the border here back and forth from Washington to British Columbia.

Dixon Terbasket knows these lands well. A member of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band, the traditional lands of Terbasket’s people include portions of the recently protected acreage.

“Here we raise our children while growing organic produce on the fertile soils of the Similkameen Valley,” says Dixon. “My people still hunt whitetail deer in the lowlands and mule deer in the high country, fish our rivers and lakes, and gather our roots and berries in the forests. As for countless generations before me the land has always provided us with our food, refreshed our spirits, and supplied our medicines. We don’t just love the land, we are part of it!”

Today, however, the Lower Similkameen Indian Band (LSIB) faces the same problems that most First Nation groups on the continent face. Poverty, deprivation of culture, and loss of heritage and language. For the Similkameen, says Dixon, facing these realities means seeking out financial stability through resource extraction. “Things have evolved and we create financial and spiritual growth from our natural resources,” says Dixon. “We must continue to balance things and to remember our principles and ethics.

“While members of Conservation Northwest and others were working to protect the Loomis State Forest, I was involved in a community discussion, set up by the British Columbia government, about land use in the region. Our community had to decide what we were willing to give up in return for protection of our lands at our back door.

“As usual the government limited our role in this planning process and took our words as being meaningless. But by partnering with Conservation Northwest we were able to develop in planning and management processes, including acquiring GIS mapping equipment, which will enhance the development of our own strategies for the future and better prepare us for the many challenges to come, such as potential privatization of most parks operations. This privatization actually has the potential for job creation for our community members.”

The estimated timber value of the 180,000 acres of LSIB traditional lands now protected under Canadian law exceeds $60 million. Rather than log this land, the band has allowed for its protection and begun the process of developing an eco-tourism industry in the area.

“Such ecotourism based activities,” explains Dixon, "will not only ensure that the pristine wilderness assets are maintained and enhanced, but will also bring much needed economic activity and enable spin-offs into other nature-based adventures, including backcountry horseback riding, river rafting, and kayaking. The cross-cultural exposure of the experience will also be of added interest to visitors, especially those coming from overseas with little knowledge of aboriginal traditions.”

Conservation Northwest believes that the story of the Similkameen exemplifies the values of balance, sustainability, and innovation that are necessary in saving our wildlife and wild areas from extinction from the Pacific Coast to the BC Rockies.