A 25-year woodland licence for 36.5 thousand hectares issued by the province to the Lake Babine Nation is part of an ongoing reconciliation deal.
That’s 74 thousand cubic metres of timber supply.
The deal edges negotiations closer to a goal Chief Wilf Adam has of acquiring a license for 250 thousand cubic metres from the province.
“It’s a start, and it’s a good start. And of course we’re looking at finishing off our negotiations with the province,” negotiations that Adam says will likely see an increase in timber supply.
Timber, of course, isn’t the only part of reconciliation talks, “but what I can say with the forestry sector, that we’ve been in negotiations with the province for a while now. We will be working with the province on a yearly basis now.”
He estimates the current license will fetch a potential 1.5 to 2 million dollars in profit annually for the First Nation.
This licence is one of 7 the province has given out to first Nations since 2011.