Course:FRST370/2021/ Community Forest Management of the Esk’etemc First Nation

This conservation resource was created by Course:FRST370.

The Esk’etemc First Nation, formerly known as the Alkali Lake Indian Band, is located by Alkali Lake in South Central British Columbia. They were among the first four communities offered to join the Community Forest Pilot Agreement (CFPA) in 1999. The community was issued their CFPA tenure in 2001. In the same year Esk'etemc First Nation Forest Products Ltd. was established as a company to manage the community forest’s business affairs. The company name was changed to Alkali Resource Management Ltd. 2004. In 2011 they signed a Forest Tenures Opportunity Agreement, receiving a 15-year term replaceable forest license.

Esk'etemc First Nation

Location

The Esk'etemc First Nation is located by Alkali Lake, 50 km south of Williams Lake in South Central British Columbia. The community of over 1000+ has 19 reserves totaling approximately 3800 hectares. The Esk'etemc speak Secwepemctsin and are people of Secwepemc Nation, but are non-affiliated with either the adjacent Northern Shuswap Tribal Council nor the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council.

History

The Esk'etemc have lived on their traditional territory since time immemorial. Following the establishment of the British Columbia Treaty Commission in 1992, Esk'etemc First Nation joined the treaty process in December of 1993 and over the years would negotiate to Stage 4 of the treaty process. However, negotiations ceased by 2015 with no "significant tripartite activity in the last fiscal year". In March of 2016, the community voted to leave the BC treaty process.

On May 8th, 2017, the Esk'etemc declared their title and rights to their traditional territory:

We, the Esk’etemc, of the Secwepemc Nation are the Original people of Esk’etemcúlucw. Esk’etemc hold collective title and rights to Esk’etemculúcw, no elected governments have authority to infringe our title lands or on our communal rights.

As a sovereign and self-governing People, Esk’etemc declares our right to self-determination. We have never ceded, surrendered or given up our sovereign title and rights over the lands, waters and resources within Esk’etemcúlucw, nor the exercise of our laws on the lands. Our rights and responsibilities are laws, which were given to us by the Tkel Kukpi7 to protect, maintain and enhance the lands, waters and resources within Esk’etemcúlucw for future generations.

We declare our ancient laws of respect, reciprocity, and balance, to be the law of the land. Our laws are exercised through our harvesting and stewardship practices, through our language, and through our ceremonies.

We will continue to exercise our rights and responsibilities within Esk’etemcúlucw, and in relation to one another, our ancestors, those generations not yet born, and all living things. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples reflects fundamental human rights of Peoples, and Esk’etemc declares and upholds the principle of free, prior and informed consent applies to our Esk’etemcúlucw.

Developments taking place within Esk’etemcúlucw requires our free, prior and informed consent, and must respect our laws. This is respect which will build positive, healthy and healing relationships.

Esk’etemc looks forward to a reconciled future where, with guidance from the Tkel Kukpi7, our ancestors, and through the unity of our kw’selkwtn (relatives) and all respect for our laws, we can strengthen and share our culture, our governance, and our stewardship within Esk’etemcúlcw for the benefit of 7 generations of all Peoples and life, who make our lands their home.

Tenure Arrangements

In 1998 B.C.'s Forest Act was amended to create Community Forest Agreements, a new form of tenure that allowed for communities to directly participate in forest resource management on crown land. Esk'etemc First Nation submitted their community forest proposal plan during the initial round of the program and would become one of the first four communities accepted on June 9, 1999. The community was offered and signed a Community Forest Pilot Agreement on February 16, 2001. This special tenure allowed for 5 years of harvest, essentially a probation period to ensure proper management, with an approved harvest rate of 17,000 m3/year. Esk'etemc First Nation Forest Products Ltd. was established on October 30, 2001 to manage the community forest's business affairs.

On April 14, 2004, Esk'etemc First Nation entered a Forest and/or Range Agreement opening the door for an application for a non-replaceable forest license for a term of no more than five years. With operations expanding beyond timber harvest, the community forest's company name was changed to Alkali Resource Management Ltd. (ARM) on June 8, 2004. A subsequent Interim Measures Agreement signed on April 18, 2005 allotted 107,000 cubic meters of harvest over the five years in the Williams Lake Timber Supply Area.

Operations had shut down in 2009 due to the poor economy, and would resume in 2010. The Esk'etemc Forest Tenures Opportunity Agreement signed August 31st, 2011 allowed for a replaceable forest license with a term of 15 years, and an Annual Allowable Cut raised to 21,353 cubic metres per year.

Administration Arrangements

Alkali Resource Management is 100% owned by the Esk'etemc community. It is governed by an elected Board of Directors - 3 from the Esk'etemc community and 2 external - comprised of people unaffiliated with the Esk'etemc First Nation council, allowing for separation of business and politics.

Stakeholders

Affected Stakeholders

Esk'etemc First Nation Community

The Chief and Council of the Esk'etemc First Nation have the final authority on decisions made by Esk'etemc First Nation. The framework of Esk'etemc First Nation has allowed communities to create their own companies to manage harvesting in community forest. These recent shifts towards new forms of local control may lead to future successes in innovation in the community forestry program.

Alkali Resources Management Ltd.

Alkali Resource Management Ltd. is an integrated forest management company that manages the forest licenses, woodlot and community forest on behalf of the Esk'etemc First Nation. ARM blends traditional land management practices with new technology such as GPS and LIDAR to collect and analyze data of lands and forests. 100% owned by the Esk'etemc people, ARM's mission is to manage Esk'etemc forest resources ensuring a balance of economic, social, and environmental benefits for Esk'etemc members, other forest users and neighbouring communities. ARM is committed to ensuring employment opportunities for community members and leads the way in the industry through implementing traditional wildfire management practices.

Currently, ARM manages “approximately 27,000 hectares of community forests, 60,000 hectares of indigenous forest land use rights, 400 hectares of forest land and other forest permits.” ARM outsources its logging operations to logging companies. The purpose is to protect the forest ecosystem, while increasing the economic value of wood per hectare, avoiding the waste of community forest resources.

Interested Stakeholders

British Columbia Community Forest Association

The objectives of British Columbia Community Forest Association (BCCFA) are advocation for community forestry in BC, and providing education and services for implementing community forests. As a non-profit organization, BCCFA represents more than 100 rural and aboriginal communities in BC. BCCFA strives to ensure the feasibility of community forest initiatives in rural communities, and promote community forestry as a strategy for ecosystem resilience and community economic development. The ongoing community forest initiative promotes understanding and cooperation between indigenous and non-indigenous communities in a way that respects indigenous rights and cultural values. By putting forward opinions on forest policies, strong communication between community forests and the government can be promoted, and more economic and policy support can be obtained.

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

The objectives of Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development are stewarding and managing crown land, and ensuring sustainable resource management throughout the province. The Ministry works with indigenous communities to strengthen and diversify their economies and represents the provincial government to formulate fair treaties with indigenous communities to achieve the management and operation plans of community forests.

Assessment of Relative Power

Esk'etemc First Nation Community

The Esk'etemc First Nation Community has effectively ensured that their customary lands can be managed by their own communities through the development of policies that have been implemented in recent decades. Their political rights and influence have grown significantly in recent decades.

Alkali Resources Management Ltd.

ARM is a forest management company by the Esk'etemc First Nation. It has the power to manage forest licenses, woodlot and community forest. It has earned the respect of the Esk'etemc First Nation Community as a responsible company.

British Columbia Community Forest Association

In practice, British Columbia Community Forest Association invite civil society organizations to help support the education of local people, provide economic assistance to the local poor, and provide resources for regional development. It has the moderate power to participate in policy making and to be the supporter of local decision making.

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development

Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development has the final say on decisions, programs and initiatives. It has a higher power in that it can claim unceded land as crown land, giving the community back the land in tenure form, and maintains the final legal say in decision making.

Discussion

In the Esk’etemc community forest, the traditional and ancestral Indigenous peoples plan to use their land in the best way possible by employing people in the community and harvesting in a sustainable manner. Because of the rigorous planning on how to manage the forests’ natural resources, the government granted the community forest an annual allowable cut of 21,353 m³/yr. Harvesting wood is beneficial for the community because it contributes towards the community's goal of financial independence. Employment for the community is created through avenues such as increasing management capacity, managing local wildlife, and managing the density of the Douglas fir ecosystem. Financial independence is such an important goal because the local Indigenous peoples deserve to use their traditional land as a means to live happy and comfortable lives.

The Esk’etemc community forest has rock solid governance that benefits every aspect of the operation. This is because the 5 directors on the community forest board are not allowed to be involved in Esk’etemc band politics in any way. This allows for very little influence, from outside voices, towards the community forest governance. The board of directors is composed of 3 elders, 1 person with an industry background, and 1 person with a political background. Having such a diverse and wise board of directors really allows for the best decisions to be made within the community forest.

A critical issue in the Esk’etemc community forest is the lack of individuals working in supervisor positions. They need more community members to become development supervisors, project supervisors, and silviculture supervisors. There are simply not enough supervisors for all the workers. This is the case for a number of reasons. The current situation suggests that many individuals in the community strive to work in the field instead of aiming for a job that involves paperwork. In order to be qualified for a supervisor role, one must pursue higher education. The community is trying to encourage a higher number of people to stick with school and pursue supervisor roles. Involving the community in the hiring process is very rewarding but can be challenging at times.

Another significant challenge for the community forest is navigating the COVID 19 pandemic. Transportation is the biggest bottleneck at play. There have been cases where an entire vehicle of employees have been exposed to COVID. Aside from the negative health effects, incidents like this temporarily shut down operations. The Esk'etemc community, along with neighbouring communities, have been impacted by COVID related deaths. Labor and productivity are greatly affected by office shutdowns which have occurred during the pandemic. The community is proactively managing this issue by making safer transportation plans, physically gathering less, and transitioning to remote forms of communication.

Recommendations

I recommend that more communities follow the Esk’etemc community forest's guidance in terms of how they manage fire. Alkali Resource Management was granted a contract with the BC Wildfire Service to provide five person type III wildland firefighting crews in 2011. Alkali Resource Management suppression teams continued to grow over time from a couple of crews to 4 five person crews. They were upgraded in 2018 with a contract for 2 four person type II wildland fire suppression crews.

In the last 10 years, the Esk’etemc community has either been on evacuation alert or has been evacuated due to wildfires. Alkali Resource Management analyzes trends in the province and actively targets areas most at risk for wildfires. They have developed a wildfire risk management plan which reduces wildfire risk to the Esk’etemc community. Methods for reducing the risk of wildfires vary. One method used by Alkali Resource Management is using harvesting equipment to remove understory trees in the forest. This method is effective because it reduces fuels in the forest that would enhance a wildfire. Another method of fire management practiced in the Esk’etemc community forest is prescribed burning. Alkali Resource Management burns over 200 ha annually. Not all fire is a bad thing, but historically prescribed burning has gained a bad reputation with people that misunderstand the process. Some people do not want to smell, breathe, and see any smoke or fire in general. Prescribed burning is actually a great way to reverse trends of increasing wildfire severity. Before western science adequately backed up this method of fire suppression, Indigenous peoples already viewed fire as medicine for the ground that makes the forest healthy. Prescribed burning replaces natural, and extremely intense, disturbances in the inherently fire-prone forest.

All communities, especially in British Columbia, that do not actively manage their forests for wildfires should look towards the Esk’etemc community forest for guidance. Suppressing fires is important for a number of reasons, considering the fact that nobody wants more wildfire seasons as bad or worse than British Columbia in 2017 and 2018. It is not a matter of if a wildfire will break out, it is a matter of when it will occur. That is why the Alkali Resource Management and the Esk’etemc community takes the matter so seriously.