B.C. and third First Nation in Campbell River sign timber licence deal

VICTORIA – The B.C. government has announced a 25-year timber licence agreement with a First Nation on Vancouver Island.

It allows the Wei Wai Kum to harvest almost 9,900 cubic metres of timber a year from its traditional territory around Campbell River.

The deal covers a 2,400-hectare parcel of Crown land near Heydon Bay on the province’s south central mainland coast and another 1,200 hectares by Pye Lake, north of the band’s community.

Forests Minister Steve Thomson says it is the third such First Nations deal since 2011 and will help the Wei Wai Kum to take a stronger role in managing forests and lands.

Chief Robert Pollard says the licence means the band can build on its strong economic base through better conservation of its cultural interests in the region.

The government says another First Nation on Vancouver Island, along with a band in the Cariboo, have singed similar agreements in the past.