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T H U R S D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 3 , 2 0 1 0
MLA Barry Penner (centre) drums with Sts’ailes First Nation members during a signing ceremony (including Chief Willie Charlie to the left) at the Snowoyelh House on Friday afternoon. They were celebrating a three-year forestry revenue sharing agreement that will pay the band in accordance with the actual amount of forestry operations in their territory. JESSICA PETERS / OBSERVER
Sts’ailes sign new forestry agreement Jessica Peters THE OBSERVER
A new forestry agreement between the province and a First Nations band is a "good step forward," Barry Penner said last week. The province and the Sts'ailes band (formerly Chehalis) signed a revenue sharing agreement on Friday, during a ceremony at the reserve in the Snowoyelh House. The negotiating team, along with representatives from the Chilliwack Forest District, were on hand for the signing. The three-year agreement says that the Sts'ailes will share in the revenue from forestry activity that occurs within their
CHIEF WILLIE CHARLIE STS’AILES BAND
$332,029. Penner said he expected the amount to increase in the coming years, as the forestry industry seems to be rebounding from a
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territory, which also is covered by the Chilliwack Forest District. Previously, the band was given a set dollar amount, based on the population of the community. In the 2010/11 year, the band will receive
recent slump. "The economy hasn't been all that strong in B.C. this year, in particular in the forestry industry," he said. "But the forestry sector is starting to show signs of recovery." He said this agreement puts the Sts'ailes in a "strong position as recovery takes hold." The formula used to calculate the amount paid to the band "complex," Penner said. The percentage of the First Nation territory that falls within the Timber Harvesting Land Base of the Chilliwack Forest District is multiplied by a portion of the district's collected revenue, including stumpage, waste and annual rent (minus the stumpage
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paid by First Nation companies on direct award licenses). Added to that is a "stumpage accommodation" Àgure, which Penner described as a portion of the stumpage paid by the First Nation on any of their tenures held as a result of a community revenue sharing agreement. At the signing ceremony, Chief Willie Charlie said that years ago he "never thought we would be sitting at the same table as the province, and that they would listen." “Sts’ailes is pleased to celebrate the signing CONTINUED – ON PAGE 5
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