Prince Albert Daily Herald
Northern trappers to block roads if not consulted by forestry industry
Land-users near Île-à-la-Crosse want industry to hold off on new projects until in-person meetings are possible, if not they say they will block access
BC-based Carrier Lumber will be resubmitting new harvesting plans for the 21-22 fiscal year. Photo courtesy of Ministry of Environment
74-year-old Cree-Métis land-user Teresa Laliberte said if any forestry company plans to cut on her family’s trapline without consulting them in person first they will set up blockades and stop them.
She’s afraid the trapline her family has used for generations at Beaver River, near Île-à-la-Crosse in northern Saskatchewan, will be at risk if logging companies decide to cut in the area this summer.
Currently, two isolated patches of the Raush are Protected Areas, totalling 6,667 hectares of the 101,000-hectare watershed. “There s never been logging,” Howard said. “It s definitely old growth in the valley bottoms. It s still intact, that s the main thing.” But that may soon change. Maps distributed to Raush stakeholders and shared with the Goat, show a proposal by Prince George-based Carrier Lumber to build roads through one of the protected areas to access unprotected forests further into the watershed. Current land use terms restrict the protected areas from resource development, but allow road-building. The potential development has triggered push back from some local residents.