After 20 years of representing B.C. coastal First Nations to negotiate what U.S.-directed activists labeled the Great Bear Rainforest agreement, a weary Dallas Smith expressed his relief and frustration.
At a ceremony to sign the in Vancouver last week, Smith, president of the Nanwakolas Council of remote Central Coast communities like Bella Bella, joked that he香蕉视频直播檚 finally out of a job. Then he got serious.
香蕉视频直播淢y communities still aren香蕉视频直播檛 better places to live yet,香蕉视频直播� he said. But the land use agreement with the province and forest companies over a vast coastal area up to the Alaska border means the years ahead will be better.
He said when he started it was like being caught in a divorce between the B.C. forest industry and international environmental groups. Dutch-based Greenpeace, its California offshoot ForestEthics and others moved on from their Clayoquot Sound battle to the B.C. coast, looking to continue the blockades against logging.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 the First Nations of the Coast who stood up and said 香蕉视频直播榥o, this is how it香蕉视频直播檚 going to work香蕉视频直播�,香蕉视频直播� Smith said.
How it香蕉视频直播檚 going to work is that logging will continue on 550,000 hectares of coastal forest, with a greater share for First Nations, and with 85 per cent of the region preserved after a century of logging that began with sailing ships.
Aside from a few diehards who are either paid to protest or can香蕉视频直播檛 get past issuing demands, B.C. aboriginal people have grown tired of being used as props in global de-marketing campaigns directed from San Francisco or Amsterdam. The protesters香蕉视频直播� tactic of organizing customer boycotts that damage far-away economies might be good for international fundraising, but it香蕉视频直播檚 bad for poor people.
Formally begun 10 years ago with $30 million from Ottawa, $30 million from B.C. and $60 million from a group of wealthy U.S. family foundations with a larger anti-development agenda, the land use plan remains under attack.
Among the many protest outfits is Pacific Wild, which has specialized in Great Bear Rainforest campaigns and now needs a new enemy. Their credibility was demonstrated recently when potty-mouthed U.S. pop star Miley Cyrus decided to speak out against B.C.香蕉视频直播檚 wolf kill.
Typical of celebrities, Cyrus had no idea about the struggle to preserve dwindling herds of mountain caribou. She barely knows where B.C. is, a fact made plain when Pacific Wild toured her around the North Coast, far from the Kootenay and South Peace regions where the wolves in question actually roam.
Cyrus香蕉视频直播檚 handlers spoon-fed video and statements to urban media, who were so anxious to exploit her global popularity that they played down the fact she was at the wrong end of the province spouting nonsense.
After periodically attacking their own B.C. agreement as inadequate, Greenpeace and ForestEthics have moved on to what they call the 香蕉视频直播渂oreal forest,香蕉视频直播� which we like to call northern Canada. The same bully tactics with forest products customers and producers have been featured.
This time, a Quebec company that signed an accord in 2010 is suing Greenpeace for 香蕉视频直播渄efamation, malicious falsehood and intentional interference in economic relations.香蕉视频直播�
Aboriginal companies on the B.C. coast will continue to log, including areas of old-growth forest and secondary growth. They will continue to export logs as economics dictate. They will continue to harvest animals, including grizzly bears.
And, I expect, they will continue to be subjected to attempts to supervise and direct them by members of urban society香蕉视频直播檚 new religion, environmentalism.
The leaders of this movement don香蕉视频直播檛 like peace. It香蕉视频直播檚 bad for their business.
Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter:
