Tla’amin Nation and the Province of British Columbia have reached an agreement on a long-standing treaty commitment to share forest tenure benefits with the nation.
A media release from Tla’amin stated that the Forest Tenure Opportunity Agreement (FTOA) between the ministry of forests and Tla’amin’s Thichum Forest Products provides the nation with a licence to manage 280,000 cubic metres of tenure in the Sunshine Coast timber supply area within Tla’amin’s territory, with an annual allowable cut of 28,000 cubic metres.
“This important agreement has been a long time coming,” stated hegus John Hackett. “This FTOA helps advance our nation’s strategic objective of tenure acquisition and natural resource management within our territory and supports our focus to provide strong natural resource management, while enhancing the social, economic and cultural well-being of the nation.”
The dialogue to achieve this licence was the product of the Tla’amin treaty, with many people involved and instrumental in the process over the past several years to lead to the execution of the agreement today, stated Adam Culos, general manager of Thichum Forest Products.
“It is a great opportunity for the nation to continue its investment in the forestry sector and its vision for the future of forestry management in the territory,” added Culos.
The release stated the FTOA complements Tla’amin’s ongoing forest sector partnership development initiatives with private tenure holders, and supports Tla’amin to exercise its rights to resource management and benefit sharing throughout the Tla’amin territory. The term of the new licence begins immediately and ends on December 31, 2031.
Thichum, which means deep into the woods in ʔayʔaǰuθəm, the Tla’amin language, was established in 2007, and is a subsidiary of Tla’amin Management Services LP, the release stated. Thichum is a First Nation forestry company that focuses on the quadruple bottom line, committing to focusing on cultural, environmental, social and economic values equally.
