The provincial government and the 樱桃视频Nation signed a comprehensive land use agreement yesterday (July 26) covering a massive swath of the Sea to Sky corridor from just north of Lions Bay to Clendinning Provincial Park.
The result of five years of negotiations, the new deal sets aside 10,112 ha of parkland in the Elaho Valley, adjacent to Clendinning, and another 1,082 ha of nature conservancy next to Tantalus Provincial Park.
"This is absolutely exciting," said Agriculture and Lands minister Pat Bell. "We've been working with the 樱桃视频Nation on this since 2002, and they began before that in 2001 by creating a land use plan. This is the fruition of a lot of work."
Chief Bill Williams was equally excited about the agreement, which also sets aside 3,063 hectares as Wild Spirit Places.
"Those are places that are defined by our community where there is significant cultural value in the land, and giving them that recognition is very important," said Williams.
"We are excited that the provincial government has come to recognize this, and these will be protected."
The land use plan also protects large portions of the corridor from logging, while still allowing some commercial use.
"The front country lands, these are the areas that tourism would be allowed, but they are only for unobtrusive businesses," said Bell.
"Things that would not have much of an impact on the land," added Williams.
Most of the front country lands are directly around 樱桃视频and border onto both Tantalus and Garibaldi provincial parks.The agreement also sets large portions of land near the edges of the 樱桃视频Nation's traditional territory that cannot be logged but are open to mining or tourism uses.
"Everyone realizes there are very few places where mineral extraction would be financially viable. This just sets the area aside so that in the event there is a mining discovery of significant financial gain, then a mining operation could be allowed," said Bell. "It's a use that is far less intrusive than say forestry."
The 樱桃视频Nation-owned Tree Farm Licence 38 remains open for logging.
Although the plan, which Bell says will be slowly introduced into legislature for implementation in the fall, covers all 樱桃视频Nation or provincially owned land, it does not cover all of the nation's traditional territory.
"The Cheekye Fan is not part of this," said Williams. "That falls into the category of third party lands or privately owned lands. That is a separate negotiation."
Bell and Williams were not the only stakeholders excited by the agreement, with the Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) also throwing its support behind the agreement.
"This is absolutely fantastic," said WCWC campaign director Joe Foy.
"This is what we've been hoping for since we first started talking with the 樱桃视频Nation about conservation in 1995.
"The province has done a wonderful job, the 樱桃视频Nation has done a wonderful job. This will go along way to protecting our natural environment and make us leaders in B.C. and Canada, if not in North America."
The agreement is part of the province's Sea-to-Sky Land and Resource Management Plan, an over-reaching land use policy that includes traditional lands of the Squamish, In-SHUCK-ch and Lil'wat nations.
The In-SHUCK-ch Nation has already signed a land use agreement with province while negotiations between the government and Lil'wat are ongoing.
