Forest practices

There are a number of areas of major concern with contemporary forest management identified by the Band and many other watershed residents. These areas of concern include the use of clearcut harvesting, almost to the exclusion of all other silvicultural systems, grossly inadequate riparian protection and excessive road and landing building.
Alternatives to indiscriminate clear-cutting and high impact road building have been advanced by the Skeetchestn Indian Band for the last 20 plus years in watershed forest harvest planning with Ainsworth Lumber Company Ltd., Weyerhaeuser Canada Ltd., as well as Small Business Forest Enterprise Program and any private timber interests in the watershed. Many circumstances and opportunities exist for horse logging or other alternative harvesting and silvicultural systems in the watershed. The Band encourages more labor intensive, ecologically sensitive harvesting practices both to increase local employment as well as provide environmentally sound alternatives to contemporary harvesting practices. The Band also encourages more value from the harvest through local product development. The long terms objective is to sustainably harvest available stands in the watershed, and create a greater community return on benefits from future forest practices (Mike Anderson, pers. com).

Opportunities to comment on 5 year Forest Development Planning and related silviculture plans are offered by the area forest companies for annual review in public meetings as well as directly with the band. However, interest by valley residents in leading a community-based holistic forest management planning approach, is more appropriately dealt with in broader watershed-based plans. This will enable the valley residents to define sustainable harvest levels for timber products, providing a stable business market for local product development. As well, important non-timber values off the land can be protected more effectively.

A key objective of valley residents is clearly to assert community controls into resource management planning that affects their resource-based lifestyle. Future focus in watershed planning will reflect community and related ecosystem values in planning, management and resource development. The ecosystem values, ecological sensitivities and sustained resource use pans can then be incorporated more accurately and fully in plans advanced by other orders of government or forest companies.

Water quality and quantity management

Valley residents see water quality, quantity, timing of flow and flow regimes as important indicators of ecosystem health and there is a long history of community involvement in stream bank protection, tree planting and the elimination of herbicides along transportation corridors.

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