4 CFA Overview Introduction to the FNFN The FNFN are the Dene and Cree people of southern Denendeh who have occupied FNFN territory in northeast British Columbia for countless generations. FNFN are protectors and stewards of their territory. The people of FNFN are grounded in the land, the rivers and the seasons that have sustained their way of life and livelihood since time immemorial. FNFN understands its responsibility to the Elders and future generations. In 1910, FNFN ancestors entered into an adhesion to Treaty 8, a Nation-to-Nation treaty with Canada, signed in the spirit of peace and sharing (the “Treaty”). The Treaty affirms rights, responsibilities, and a commitment to protect traditional lands and ways of life “for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the rivers flow.” In the spirit of the Treaty of peace, sharing and co-existence, FNFN welcomes others to the territory with the expectation that they will honour their Treaty, their ways of life, and their aspirations to once again be a strong, healthy, proud and self-sufficient Nation. FNFN recognizes the need to balance economic security with respect for traditions, culture, and inherent connections to the lands, waters, and creatures. As a Nation FNFN wants to develop relationships that ensure an ability to protect the FNFN way of life. FNFN also seeks to ensure that resource development that occurs benefits their members. FNFN aspires to build capacity for employment and provide training and support so that members can achieve financial security. While FNFN has experienced difficulties with past forest activities that have excluded FNFN from decision- making and economic benefits, FNFN has expressed a need to identify and develop forestry management options within FNFN territory that balance FNFN Treaty rights and responsibilities with economic prosperity. In reaching this balance, FNFN has a strong interest in the management of landscapes, social and cultural values, economic security, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. FNFN has an interest in maintaining a sufficient land base for the practice and protection of Treaty rights and the health, well-being and economic resilience of their Nation, all of which rest on the health of the forests and rivers in the territory, including those impacted by non-forestry activities. Introduction to the NRRM The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality is the first of its kind in British Columbia in which an entire former regional district and town is governed and headed by a single regional municipal government. The NRRM, formerly the Town of Fort Nelson and the Northern Rockies Regional District (NRRD), and before that the Fort Nelson-Liard Regional District, is a municipality located in northeastern BC. The NRRM’s offices are located in Fort Nelson, formerly an incorporated town that amalgamated with the NRRD on February 6, 2009 to form the NRRM. The NRRM is a unique regional government authority encompassing an area of 85,015 square kilometers which equates to approximately 10 percent of the total area of the province of British Columbia. 4 The formation of the NRRM provides the powers and responsibilities for area planning, land use planning, provincial rural property tax policies and collection and business development that fall within its jurisdiction. The NRRM is responsible for non-numbered rural public roads, rural policing and subdivision approvals. Fort Nelson is located at historic Mile 300 on the Alaska Highway and was established in 1805 as a fur trading post by the Northwest Company. It is the principal settlement in the NRRM and home to approximately 90 percent of the area’s population. Other small communities making up the NRRM include: Prophet River, Toad River and Muncho Lake. The remaining area of the region is sparsely populated with a number of smaller settlements that are mainly situated adjacent to the Alaska Highway corridor. The NRRM lies within the traditional territories of five First Nations: Fort Nelson First Nation, Prophet River First Nation, Acho Dene Koe (Fort Liard First Nation), Dene Tha’ First Nation and Kaska Dena. To ensure the Northern Rockies reaches its full potential in the years ahead, NRRM and FNFN are working together to acquire and manage a CFA. The NRRM and the FNFN have an interest in seeing all natural resource companies serving the CFA hire local people and retain local service industries. The NRRM lies on the east slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Its southern boundary is the 58th parallel of latitude, the eastern boundary borders Alberta and the northern boundary borders the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territories and is bisected by the Alaska Highway. The NRRM is primarily made up of heavily forested areas, rich in resources with mountainous terrain and natural beauty. CFA Area Overview The proposed CFA is located within the Fort Nelson TSA which is the second largest TSA in British Columbia covering an area of almost 9.9 million hectares in the north-eastern corner of the province as shown in Map 1. About 5.9 million hectares, about 60 percent of the total TSA area, is considered productive forest area, of which, 705,761 hectares are considered available for timber harvesting.2 The Fort Nelson TSA lies fully within the Northeast Natural Resource Region. The TSA is bordered to the east by Alberta, to the north by the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory, to the west by the Cassiar TSA and the Rocky Mountains, and to the south by the Fort St. John and Mackenzie TSAs. The TSA is administered from the Fort Nelson Natural Resource District office in Fort Nelson. The Fort Nelson Natural Resource District, which encompasses the Fort Nelson TSA, is located entirely in the Boreal forest. Forests in this area consist mainly of old and mature stands of spruce, pine, aspen, cottonwood, and birch, in a wide variety of landscapes. The topography of the TSA forms a gradient of increasing relief from east to west, encompassing parts of the Alberta plateau, the Rocky Mountain Foothills, the Liard Plateau, the Liard Plain, the Kechika River Valley and a portion of the Cassiar Mountains. The entire region lies within the Arctic watershed and is largely drained by the Liard River and its major tributaries, including the Fort Nelson, Prophet, Muskwa, Toad, Kechika and Petitot rivers. 2 Fort Nelson Timber Supply Area Timber Supply Discussion Paper (July 2018) 5 Map 1 Location of the Fort Nelson Timber Supply Area (Source: Ministry of Forest Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development) Three biogeoclimatic zones occur in the TSA: (1) the Boreal-White-and-Black-Spruce (BWBS), which is the dominant zone covering about two-thirds of the total TSA land base; (2) the Spruce-Willow-Birch (SWB); and (3) the Alpine Tundra (AT). The BWBS zone is very important for wintering ungulates; frequent forest fires over the years have formed a mosaic of upland forests of different ages, providing a variety of habitats. The zone has the least snowfall of all the northern zones in BC. The extensive deciduous forests, which frequently achieve advanced ages here, are important for ungulates, birds and small mammals. While the severe climate of this TSA does limit wildlife occurrence in some isolated portions or at certain times of year, the TSA contains vast tracts of relatively undeveloped land that support abundant, diverse and internationally significant wildlife populations. Large mammals, including moose, black bear and grizzly bear, are common, as are smaller furbearers such as wolverine, wolf, lynx, weasel, mink, river otter, beaver and coyote. The TSA also contains a unique range of bird species including the Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Connecticut Warbler, Nelson’s Sharp-Tailed Sparrow, Trumpeter Swan, and others, many of which are not found elsewhere in BC. The numerous rivers, lakes, and wetlands provide important staging grounds during the migration of water birds such as 6 Pintails, Widgeons, Geese and Teal. Fish species in the TSA include trout, whitefish, burbot, arctic grayling, northern pike and walleye, with rare occurrences of salmon. Approximately 15 fish species occur only in this area of the province. There are few species of reptiles and amphibians.3 The CFA falls predominately (94%) within the Boreal Plains Natural Disturbance Units (NDU) with the remaining area (6%) within the Northern Boreal Mountains NDU. All of the Area is within the BWBSmk biogeoclimatic zone. Portions of the proposed Community Forest fall within 8 landscape units. These are the Clarke, Cridland, Kiwigana, Kledo, Klowee, Klua, Nelson Forks and Sandy landscape units. The proposed CFA area is composed of five parcels generally located within a 100-kilometre radius of Fort Nelson and within the traditional territory of the FNFN. With a total gross area of 199,031 hectares, the CFA is a small component of the Fort Nelson Timber Supply Area. The general location of the CFA boundary is shown in Map 2. A detailed overview map of the CFA is provided in Appendix III. 3 Fort Nelson Timber Supply Area, Timber Supply Review Data Package, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, February 2017. 7 Map 2 Location of the Proposed Fort Nelson Community Forest 8 The Community Forest timber harvesting land base4 (THLB) (the area upon which the AAC is based) of 92,014 hectares equates to 13 percent of the Fort Nelson TSA THLB of 705,761 hectares. The area is entirely composed of Crown provincial forest and as such has been used for many purposes over the past 100 years including forest management, oil and gas extraction, hunting and trapping, and outdoor recreation (e.g. trail use and camping). The area resides within the traditional territory of the Fort Nelson First Nation. Key issues that will need to be addressed by management of the Fort Nelson Community Forest are indicated in section 5.4.