First Nation deems B.C. restrictions successful
As people fight for a more sustainable future, there has been a strong focus growing on the ways to manage the impacts of harvesting and farming.
Though much of the environmental movement focuses on preventing the unnecessary waste of material things, there is also a huge impact made by overuse of land and resources.
Earlier this year the issue became a large concern for those responsible for Tsilhqot’in Nation land where morel mushrooms grow and people come to pick the specialty item. The wildfires of 2017 set up ideal conditions for growth and led to a crop that brought many more people than previous years to the area. In an effort to maintain the resources of the land and ensure people were using the land respectfully, the decision was made in May to issue permits for mushroom pickers, close off sacred areas, and monitor the people coming in to do so.
Tsilhqot’in chief Joe Alphonse told the National Post that following the 2009 wildfires, mushroom pickers left a mess in their eagerness to benefit from the fire-ridden conditions. This made it evident that some restrictions would be important to put in place before an inevitable recurrence. For the Yukon first nations community Little Salmon Carmacks, the impacts from previous years were overwhelming to the point of deciding to no longer allow people outside their community to pick the Morel mushrooms.
The Tsilhqot’in permits were required this year for camping, picking and buying, and according to a release on the nations website, the efforts were considered a success as the pickers were more respectful and tidy than in previous years. It may be difficult to manage this on a larger scale though it still sets a good standard for other communities to follow. The ideologies of First Nation communities put a significant importance on maintaining the environment in which food is sourced and is a beneficial model, as is the importance of not leaving trash that has to be picked up by the communities who are allowing people on their land.
This all follows after the Tsilhqot’in Nation Aboriginal Title Case of 2014 in which the Supreme Court ruled Aborginal title to 1900km2 of the land. This was a huge move forward not just for the Tsilhqot’in Nation, but all First Nations communities, due to the fact that this was the first time that land besides reserve land was declared Aboriginal title. These moves signify an important shift in the interactions between the government and First nations communities, which pave a path towards more protection being offered to the cultures of the country.
Government restrictions are not always considered the best way to manage land and resources, though there seems to be few alternatives in such compact societies as those that currently exist. British Columbia already governs much of its land through legislation such as the Territorial Lands Act, the National Parks Act, and the Fishing and recreational Harbours Act, though it is difficult to say definitively whether this is successful in protecting the resources.
Being in British Columbia, it is difficult to see the province as anything less than the “Beautiful British Columbia” it promotes itself as. While the cities may not always be spotless, the mountains overlooking the city and the wilderness that is prevalent from the central city to its borders speak to a certain success with environmentalism. Despite this, the $4.5 billion federal purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline and the protests surrounding this issue currently, suggest that government intervention is not always a positive for the environmentalists.
In the case of the Tsilhqot’in Nation it seems that there is something to be gained from government intervention in terms of land use, given that those impacted speak to its success thus far. If other First Nations communities were to follow suit it would be surprising if there was not something to be gained by this intervention. However the first step for other communities is to succeed in having their traditional lands returned to them in order to have some say over the governing of the regions.
By Annalisse Crosswell
Please note that opinions expressed are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
