The Haida Nation has released details of a deal with the B.C. government to end a logging blockade on the Queen Charlotte Islands, which the First Nation calls Haida Gwaii.
The tentative agreement was signed May 11 based on a memorandum of understanding hammered out last month.
It outlines which areas are to be protected from logging and which are available for harvesting to Brascan Inc., which has acquired Weyerhaeuser Canada's coastal forest tenures.
The Haida were angry the province did not consult the First Nation about the tenure transfer.
About 50 protesters began blockading logging trucks on the north-coast islands in March.
The Haida will also receive a forest tenure with rights to log up to 120,000 cu. m of timber a year. The government will give the Haida an initial payment of $5 million in resource revenue once the deal is finalized, followed by a revenue-sharing agreement.
"Based on this understanding, and good-faith intent by both parties to implement a new approach to sustainable land and resource management on Haida Gwaii, commercial forestry activity will not be impeded on the Islands or the surrounding waters," the agreement says.
The agreement also commits the government and the Haida to develop and implement a new land-use plan using eco-based management and which maintains the interests of the local community and provides a sustainable economy.
