Syilx Okanagan Nation Rejects B.C.’s Process to Identify Old-Growth Forests

On Friday (12-17-21), the Syilx Okanagan Nation, the tribal council representing seven area First Nations, said they are rejecting the process that the B.C. province has used to identify old-growth forests.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) chair Clarence Louie slammed the province’s consultation process as “inadequate and superficial,” noting all of the Syilx community forestry companies have been left out, despite the economic impacts the deferrals have to the companies’ bottom lines.

“BC must step back and enter into a meaningful collaborative process. This begins with co-development of the concept, and collaboration throughout the development process as opposed to production of a provincial document for review and ‘comment,’” Louie said.

The ONA says the old-growth areas that have been mapped by B.C. are inaccurate. Burn areas, second-generation plantations, and recent clear cuts are all being considered “old-growth.”