I live west of Prince George. I am a Hereditary Wing Chief. My name is Legibou, in Wet'suwe'ten. It means "child of a wolf". I help look after the lands around Smithers and Witset. Myself and other family members are stewards of our traditional Wet'suwe'ten territories. We see our forefathers lands being accessed and resources extracted. We where recently told, to meet quotas a local logging company wanted our consent to log a area, pristine, no public access, to log a mix of low grade timber. We asked, "to meet quota?"
Our resources extracted everywhere, no matter where or how, just to meet a quota. No place seems sacred. Pristine is not a matter to these companies. All they see is "money". Shame on them! What concerns me is the clearcutting for pellet plants. I'm hearing this practice for this product devastates. No wonder bears are in our communities. Their territory is ravaged by clearcutting and forest fires. I hear there is a delegation going to Japan this week for our forest products. I'm interested in which indigenous persons went a long and who they represent. We certainly wouldn't have gone. I thought forestry was winding down? I'm like to know which forest products.
