Page A2 — Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 4, 1992 Province hires person for native mill review TERRACE -~The provincial government is hiring a retired Northwood Pulp and Paper en- vironmental manager to review the Orenda Forest Products plan to build a pulp and paper mill south of Lakelse Lake, ‘ The appointment of Bob ! Wiseman, who worked for Nor- : thwood in Prince George, is the first step of the provincial com- , mitment to involve native roups in the review of large industrial - projects. He’ll review the company ap- . plication and associated studies . Other inon f TERRACE — A second group of natives wants in on the land claira negotiations going on bet- ween the Nisga’a and the pro- vincial and federal govern- ments, The Gitanyow (formerly Kit- wancool) say a Nisga’a settle- ment can’t be reached without their participation because there’s an overlap between their claims. ““What we're saying to the province is that they have to - pull us into active negotiations on a parallel basis with the Nisga’a,”” Glen Williams, presi- ; dent of the Council of Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, said last week. “Only in that . way can we foresee a resolution , to the claims." The Nisga’a claim — which © encompasses most of the Nass River ,watershed — includes » nearly 80 per cent of the 5,000 . square miles claimed by the Gitanyow. The Gitanyow claim takes in the area from Cranberry Junc- tion to Meziadin Lake, in- cluding the timber that would be, used. in. the, proposed Orenda: pulp and paper mill. : Williams said the Nisga’a and” * Gitanyow have been negotiating ~ with each other and had been close to an agreement on where © the boundary is between their claims. **But the Nisga’ a have con- tinued to intrude into our ter- ° ritories and that causes us grave concern,’” he said. ““We have to protect our interests.’’ Williams says iSsues such as land tenure, fishing rights and forest licences within the Gitanyow territories, if raised by the Nisga’a in land claim negotiations, constitutes an in- trusion into, Gitanyow jurisdic- tion. : Nisga’a Tribal Council spokesman Nelson Leeson said he doesn't doubt the Gitanyow want into the talks, adding: “I wish them all the success.”’ But he said the matter should be settled separately’ by the Nisga’a and the Gitanyow. He said the Nisga’a claim in the disputed territory can’t be settl- ed until an agreement is worked out, And in the meantime, he said, Victoria and Ottawa should stay out of the overlap dispute. “The governments should not be involved, It should be resolv- ed by the respective Indian na- tions,’" ; “I'm optimistic in believing we can resolve this,’* Leeson ad- ded. ‘It’s not like we’re totally different countries, There’s been intermarriage and we've Test Ski Rossignol, Kastle, Fischer, Salomon, Tyrolla, Blizzard or K2 skis tor a day and you will be automatically eligible to WIN *1000! § in ski wear and accessories! See your friends at Winterland SKI for details, Fhone 635-9555 Sales * Service * Rentals Open daily at 8 a.m. aanway 16 Watt, Terrace with an eye to questions raised by the Haisla of Kitimaat and the Tshimshian Tribal Council. Both of those groups have an interest in the land upon which Orenda wants to build. Tsimshian Tribal president. Art Sterritt said several other people will be hired to examine specific areas with which Wiseman may not be familiar. Participation by natives in projects that might affect them has become an important part of the new provincial govern- Council ment’s plans to review those projects. Sterritt said government of- ficials are working quickly to put the nalive review process in place, - **This is not to slow down the. project. We’re in the position of playing catchup,'’ he said, - Sterritt said natives have wor- ries about the impact of the pro- ject on wildlife in the area. Not yet known is how long the review will take or what it exactly will take in. natives want isga’a “What we're saying to the province is that they have to pulf us inio ac- tive negotiations on a parallel basis with the Nisga’a.” ‘known each other for thousands : of years.” Williams resigned as chief councillor of Gitwangak Feb. ’ 14 to take his new post represen- ting the Gitanyow chiefs. “One of the big strategies that we have is to be active on the land,’’ Williams said. “To occupy the -land and demonstrate that it is our . land.”? He said companies that plan to.extract resources from the territories — such as Orenda — will be monitored closely by the ‘ Gitanyow. talks The Gitanyow band is part of the Gitksan tribal group, but has its own land claim distinct from the land claim and court action of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, Gay Reardon, federal negotiator in the Nisga’a talks, said it would be difficult to ac- commodate the Gitanyow desire to join the negotiations, “There is going to be a pro- blem with the framework agree- ment in that there are only three parties — the Nisga’a, the federal government and the pro- vince — and that any changes must be agreed to by all three parties,” she said. Reardon said Ottawa’s preference is to let native groups work out disputes by themselves, ‘‘No land will be “provided in disputed areas until this kind of dispute is resolved,” she added. - THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS YOUR LICENSE TO FLY © nreirbtenress wapemit i “PRIVATE PILOT GROUND SCHOOL COURSE Held in accordance with Ministry of Transport regulations. Taught by a qualified and experienced class Il instructor. Don't put it off any longer! Evening classes start In Terrace on March 17, 1992. FOR MORE DETAILS OR TO REGISTER CALL: 635-5978 25 PORTRAITS ony $14,905 § PLUS $2.00 SITTING FEE TBX10 2-5X7 2:3 V2X5 4 WALLETS @ 16 FRIENDSHIP WALLETS Bnenands CARD i's Time TA Make Nemoris ] CHILD IDENTIFICATION OFFER RECEIVE A FREE IDENTIFICATION CARD FOR YOUR CHILD TO HAVE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS, SIMPLY SELECT A WALLET PHOTO FROM YOUR PORTRAIT PACKAGE 70 ATTACH TO THE IDENTIFICATION CARD, A25¢ DONATION WILL BE MADE TO CHILD FIND ING, ON YOUR BEHALF FOR EACH PORTRAIT SITTING. i ea LERNER TT TH A TRPRR Economic development minister Dave Zirnhelt has said that while there isn’t a delay in the approval process, a further review period of three weeks to a month would be considered a delay. Orenda’s application review - will be the first under the Major Projects Review Process since ~ the province brought in its new policy. The Orenda project is. also the only large development actively in the review process stage. kk kkk In the meantime, Orenda says it has already dealt with some issues raised by native groups since it submitted its project to the provincial government last year. Those issues of air qualily and fish habitat among others were also ‘brought up by other groups with questions about the project, said Orenda vice presi- dent Frank Foster last week. ‘*The government has already discussed those with us,’’ he said, Foster wouldn't comment on whether or not Orenda feels the company has already done a proper job of dealing with native groups. But he did say the company doesn’t know all of what has happened at meetings between the government and native groups. ‘We know there is some in- - formation we haven't seen yet ¥ and we've asked the govern- ment to check all of the infor- mation froin native groups,” said Foster. ‘*We've been doing our best to meet the process and to live up to it but the goal posts have been moved,’’ he said. rh AN ete Oe ferrites Cure Wonerant RAPP LE n the cruise of a lifetime in the “CHOOSE TO CRUISE” SWEEPSTARE S re ee re fr oe Pr ee 112 Grand Prize Cruise Vacations! What a wonderlul way to discover the fabulous world of cruising! We're giving away 112 dream-come-true vacations for two. That's a chance to win a crulse vacation on every ship operated by the member linas of . Crulse Lines International Association — to exciting destinations around the world, How can you "Choose to Cruise?" 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