Canada: Native peoples may win back some logging rights, but will they log it?

First Nations could soon be granted access to Prince Albert timber
rights currently managed by Domtar, the owner of the area’s shuttered
pulp mill, the Saskatchewan Party government said Monday. Energy and
Resources Minister Bill Boyd said Domtar and Weyerhaeuser, which
previously operated the mill, have agreed to go through a formal
process to re-work the Prince Albert forest management agreement.

Get full text; Support da’ word producer:
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Northern+timber+rights+could+grabs/1445636/story.html

All tree news about Canada:
http://forestpolicyresearch.org/category/north-american-tree-news/canada/

The arrangement could see a group of forest product companies and
First Nations become the new manager of the agreement by summer,
giving them access to some of the wood supplies, Boyd said.

But part of the forest will still be set aside for the pulp mill for the next
three years in case business resumes at the site, he said.

“There’s been a set-aside for the mill should something in terms of development happen there. We feel that this doesn’t preclude any kind of  development whatsoever at the mill site,” said Boyd.

“This is just an  opportunity for other companies to have access to a portion of the forest that they’ve been asking for some period of time.”

The pulp mill and associated facilities owned by Domtar have not operated since April 2006. The province could have moved to reallocate the timber to someone else after the rights were not used for two years.