Pa EDWARD ALLEN, chief executive officer of the new Nisga’a Li- sims Government, stands outside the new government building in New Aiyansh. It ‘s in the final stages of construction, with the staff and elected reps to start using it in mid-July. A new government is born By JEFF NAGEL IT’S A MAJESTIC building, like a giant curving longhouse cut with skylights and warmed by the tones of yellow cedar beams. Work is almost finished on the Nisga’a Li- sims Government building in New Aityansh. The impressive structure is perhaps the most concrete demonstration of the Nisga’a treaty that took effect May 11, and the job of self-government that the Nisga’a have underta- ken. Although the new government is already sitting, in the former Nisga’a Tribal Council offices, they hape to move into the new build- ing in mid-July, two months ahead of schedule. The official opening of the building is to be commemorated with the raising of a totem pole. Edward Allen, chair of the building com- mittee and chief executive officer of the new government, says the design of the building was carefully planned. The longhouse look recognizes traditional ways but the contemporary curve to it signifies new directions for the people. “It is intended to create both a sense of welcome and emphasize principles of open- Logs and ness and accountability,” Allen said. The building when complete wili house an estimated 30 staff members of the Nisga’a Li- sims Government. It will also be the chamber where elected representatives will sit to form Wilp Si Ayuukhl Nisga’a — the Nisga’a house of laws. The transitional government now consists of the former Nisga’a Tribal Council executive plus chief councillors and band councillors from the four villages. The elected speaker is Kevin McKay. But elections are scheduled for Nav. 8. Nisga’'a people wherever they live will cast ballots for new village councillors and chief councillors if they live in one of the villages, or for an urban local rep if they live in Ter- race, Prince Rupert or Vancouver. In addition, all Nisga’a will cast votes for president, executive chairman, secretary-trea- surer and chairperson of the council of elders. The senior administrative staff in the new government, in addition to Allen, are lands and resources director Collier Azak, fish and wildlife director Harry Nyce Sr., programs and services director Les Clayton and finance dir- ector Jim Adams. Although treaty money has already begun to woods y Y Sones tae flow ~ the first $22 million installment has been transferred — Nisga’a leaders are in no rush to spend it. “We want te make sure we put as much as possible of the settlement money into the set- tlement trust so it can start making money for future generations,” said secretary-treasurer Ed Wright. “That’s one of our key objectives.” A provisional budget has been passed, but the setting of detailed spending priorities is just beginning, Wright said. High on the list, he said, are new housing subdivisions in three of the four Nass villages. The Nisga’a government has moved pre- viously identified portions of its treaty lands to the ownership and control of each of the four villages for future residential development. As well, Wright said, he and all other Nisga’a with homes in the valley have re- ceived certificates of entitlement — effectively property deeds — to the land under their houses, Eventually, he said, Nisga’a homeowners will be able to make their properties part of the provincial land title system. They’li then be able to use their equity in their properties to go to banks for loans for im- provements or business ventures — something . that was never possible under the Indian Act. money keep moving one month into the new treaty Nisga’a government begins gradual process of taking control of industry By JEFF NAGEL ONE MONTH into the Nisga’a treaty, logs are continuing to flow out of the Nass Valley to sawmills in Terrace. But for the first time money is beginning to flow back in. Wood logged in the past cou- ple of weeks in the Nass bore the timber marks of the new Nisga’a Lisims Government, which took over jurisdiction of the 2,000 square kilometres of Nisga’a lands May 11. Under the treaty the stumpage on that wood will now flow to the Nisga'a government after being collected by the province. “The Nisga’a started earning revenue on that wood right away,” said Kalum district forester Rod Meredith. 50 per cent of logging on Nisga’a land be done by Nisga’a contrac- tors. That was already happening to a large extent before the effective date, says Collier Azak, the Nisga’a Lisims Government direc- tor of lands and resources. A couple of New Aiyansh- based contractors have been working for Skeena Cellulose for some time, he said, and that’s ex- pected to grow to four or five this year, Alter two years, 70 per cent of logging must be done by Nisga’a contractors, and all-Nisga’a work is expected after the five-year transition ends. That, Sauer said, will eventu- ally mean displacement of non- Nisga’a contractors and demands The current harvesting rate of 165,000 cubic metres per year of wood, at a treaty-guaranteed LOGGING TRUCKS continue to trundie out of the Nass valley to- ward Terrace. Now, however, stumpage is flowing to the Nisga’a. the province follow through on a process it has started to compen- sate them for treaty losses. stumpage rate of $6 per cubic The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, June 14, 2000 - AS CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD metre - well over the current stumpage of less than $1 — will channel nearly $1 million per year into Nisga’a government coffers. “It’s recognized to be one of the key sources of revenue in the long term,” Meredith said. Logging trucks continued to move through the Nass valley be- fore and after the May 11 effec- tive date, he said. “In terms of the on the ground operations there really weren't any glitches,” he said. The first big change happened May 15 when chief forester Larry Pedersen announced cuts to al- lowable annual cuts in areas that ' 3 Nisga’a reopen A LENGTHY Nisga‘a blockade of a valley from logging has been ended now thal their treaty has taken effect. The road to the Ishkheenickh River valley, which went through a Greenville Indian Reserve, has been gated off to logging for 13 years ago, said Collier Azak, the Nisga’a Lisims Government direc- tor of lands and resources. Azak said the road, which went through a Greenville Indian te- took in what is now Nisga’a lands. Tree Farm Licence #1, held by Skeena Cellulose, tock the big- gest hit — a 15 per cent drop from 720,000 cubic metres of wood per year to 611,000 cubic metres. The maximum logging rate was also decreased in. the Kalum, Nass and North Coast timber sup- ply areas by much smaller amounts to reflect forest land that now falls under Nisga’a jurisdic- tion, “Basically it’s business as usual, even with these reduc- tions,” said Bill Sauer of the Northwest Loggers Association. That’s because Skeena Cellu- lose has been given a temporary forest licence by the Nisga’a to continue logging its former vo- lume on Nisga’a land through a fi- ve-year transition period. The 165,060 cubic metres of timber per year that can be logged in Nisga’a territory will continue to flow to area sawmills during the transition periad. Only after 10 years will the Nisga’a be allowed to build a major sawmill to consume Nisga’a timber. . Another treaty provision re~ quires that for the first two years Ishkheenickh valley to logging serve, was originally blocked be- cause band members wanted some employment from the log- ging and were concerned about the fevel of logging approved. The trealy answers both con- cerns, he said, adding the block- ade is now over and the valley is re-opened to logging by Skeena Cellulose. “We want to be a part of deve- loping the region,” he said. The trealy stipulates that log- ging in the Ishkheenickh will total no more than 210,000 cubic metres over a five year period. Special restrictions are also written into the treaty that ban logging in two other areas — the floodplain of the Nass River and a buffer strip on either side of the ancient grease trail. Logging is also heavily restric- ted to protect visual quality near scenic Vetter Creck and in an area rich in pine mushrooms. For the Nisga’a, however, log- ging in the valley will mean an increasing flow of jobs to Nisga’a communities, as will Nisga’a-con- trolled harvest of pine mushrooms, Azak said. While recreational access to Nisga’a land is guaranteed under the treaty, pine mushroom picking is considered a commercial activ- ity, and will only be allowed by permit from the Nisga’a povern- ment. Azak said the government has hired a professional forester and the fledgling forestry department ‘has begun the huge job of admin- istering forestry operations on Nisga‘a land. A joint Nisga’a-province forest- ry commiltee will oversee forest development plans and cutting permits during the transition per- iod. The Nisga'a now also have dir- ect control of 10,000 cubic metres of timber on Nisga’a lands to award as a forest licence as they see fit. That increases to an eventual volume of 130,000 cubic metres over nine years, That gives them a chance to gradually Jearn how to run their own logging operations and ovet- see forestry requirements. The Mail Bag Questions unanswered Dear Sir: In The Terrace Standard, of May 31, 2000, under the headline “Money Needed for Nurses”, the article states “City councillor Lynne Christian- sen suggested the health council cut the costly ophthalmology program so the hospital can afford to hire more nurses and re- ‘Open the sick . bay nursery.” I did not make that statement. |-am not sure whether ] agree with the suggestion or not, how- ever the teal problem is that |’ was quoted saying something I did not say. | think we may need to prioritize things, but cutting any services scems to be a backward step. We need to maintain what we have and rein- state what we have lost and hopefully move for- ward. As well as seeing something in print that I did not say I am disappointed thal important state- ments and questions to the Terrace and Area Com- munity Health Council (CHC) are not printed. We should all be asking some important questions. For example - we have the highest rate of in- fant mortality, and yet we no longer have a child- ren’s ward. We should know the cost of transferring patients out and the cost of the new food program. Why is the CHC spending $10,000 on a public relations person when we need money to. hire nutses? Mills Memorial has twice as many admin- istrative staff as they did when we ran a hospital with three times as many beds. There are many other questions that this com- munity should be demanding answers to because these issues affect our level of health care. They also affect the working conditions of our health care workers and they affect the spin off economy in our business community, Lynne Christiansen, Terrace, B.C. {Editor’s note: The statement should have been attri- buted to city councillor Val George.) Solution needed An open letter to: Terrace City Council and Kitimat-Stikine Re- gional District We have made several unsuccessful attempts to contact parks and facililies manager Dale McFad- den regarding cemetery maintenance. ; To our regret, we were not aware of Karen Barry's presentation to city council until an article about the presentation appeared. We fully support the efforts to improve the appearance of our area with parks and gardens. It's hard to understand why the City of Terrace would deliberately destroy the efforts of friends and relatives to beautify the cemetery. If the commun- - ily can afford to create a new linear park, with the associated annual maintenance costs, surely we can afford to give our deceased and loved ones the respect which they deserve. PALE The gardens, which the city is so willing to de- Stroy, are planted and maintained at no,cost to. , them. Al what cost are these gardens removed? We cannot express the outrage felt at finding our son's grave stripped of the plants and topsail, which we had placed there. Perhaps the multiple tire tracks across the grave and headstone are rela- ted to Mr. McFadden's prablem of sinking graves? The costs of defacing graves would be better applied towards maintaining our new parks. Deborah and Tom Dimitrov, Terrace, B.C, It’s for the fish Dear Sir: I am writing in response to a recent Rob Brown regarding the steelhead population study being car- tied out by the Bulkley Valley branch of the Steel- head Society. The Bulkley Morice Salmonid Preservation Group is made up of fourteen partner groups. Yes, we want to continue to make sound decisions re- garding Fisheries Renewal B.C. spending, and as a result we now have a technical review committee. Clearly the wise spending of public money is very important to your writer, as il is to our group. We have been careful not to grant money to poorly planned projects. That is why we take the trouble in our selection pracess to rank projects on a point system sa that scarce funds get spent only on ideas that meet established and agreed to- priorities. By allowing the community ta be a part of the decision-making process, individuals and groups become empowered and take a more active role in watershed issues in general. Only by having people more involved in such issues can we expect a healthier understanding of — our watershed and a greater willingness to do our part to make a change. More importantly is the wide range of work (22) - projects in all) that the group is taking on. First of: all the work revolving around population estimates,’ water quality monitoring and stream assessments is key for long term strategic planning. Secondly we have embarked on some innova- live activities such as studying the benthic inverte- brate community (bugs!) to develop a low-cost- way of assessing stream health, establishing a wa- lershed library for lacal citizens, and two: projects determining the over-wintering habitat. limitations for fish. Finally, we have undertaken a variely of imple- mentation projects such as the installation of a beaver fence, placing water troughs for caltle away from riparian areas and most recently, extensive planting on riparian areas to stabilize stream banks, The downside of the FRBC. model is that not everyone is going to agree with the decisions made for the allocation of the funds, but that-is the very essence of community; people coming from diffe ent backgrounds and experiences will not alg apree. We firmly believe, however, that this is a major step in the right direction — a step that allows the community to become more involved in the health of the watershed through decision making, educa- tion, and perhaps most importantly, encouraging people to gel their hands dirty for the benefit of the fish, Angus Glass, Bulkley Morice Salmonid Preservation ~ Group, Houston, B.C,