Tla’amin Forest Resource Plan
On August 14, 2024 Tla’amin Nation adopted an evergreen Forest Resource Plan.
Covering over 200,000 hectares of forest land, both within and outside Tla’amin Treaty settlement lands, the Plan exceeds federal and provincial standards for conservation networks, stream protection, and old-growth management.
Rooted in Tla’amin taʔow (Teachings), the Plan emphasizes sustainable land management practices that honor the land. It protects core Tla’amin cultural values, supports ecosystem integrity, and enhances environmental health by maintaining biodiversity and abundance across the ʔəms giǰɛ.
Preamble
The Tla’amin Nation Forest Resource Plan (FRP) was developed to guide resource management across ʔəms giǰɛ (Tla’amin Territory). The FRP is guided by Tla’amin taʔow and we raise our hands to our Ancestors whose teachings continue to guide our responsibility and relationship to ʔəms giǰɛ.
The FRP describes Tla’amin’s commitment to sustainable forest resource management throughout ʔəms giǰɛ. It aims to balance economic development with sustainable forest management practices, while integrating values related to good stewardship.
Tla’amin people have lived here and cared for this place since time immemorial. ʔəms giǰɛ spans the northern part of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, extending down both sides of the Salish Sea. Our Ancestors depended on this land for their survival, with numerous permanent and temporary settlements across ʔəms giǰɛ.
Tla’amin culture and teachings come from only one place in the world. Our economic and political systems, along with our spirituality, are based on our relationship with the land. The interdependence of the land and our people continue through to today.
The Tla’amin year is a never-ending cycle of interconnected events based on the tending, harvesting, processing, sharing, and trading of natural resources, as well as the cultural and social events and activities associated with this seasonal harvest. This interconnectedness is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that the word ǰɛǰɛ means both “tree” and “relative” in the ʔayʔaǰ uθəm language.
The measures in this plan are intended to protect core Tla’amin cultural values, support ecosystem integrity, and provide environmental benefits by maintaining the diversity and abundance of life across the ʔəms giǰɛ. Human well-being will be safeguarded through policies and initiatives designed to achieve socio-economic benefits, including a positive carbon benefit, and timber harvest levels that will support a viable forest industry.
The implementation of the FRP will be monitored and if the intent of the plan is not being met, the plan will be updated. The management assumptions in this plan have a long-term focus, with a lens for supporting a framework to support our relationship to the land for seven generations and beyond. The principles we follow today will enable a healing of the land and provide an opportunity for our čuy to enjoy it in perpetuity.
Planning Framework
The Forest Resource Plan (FRP) establishes a higher-level forest resource plan approved through Tla’amin Executive Council that covers forest resource development in the ʔəms giǰɛ. The content of this plan has built upon previous planning initiatives from the Tla’amin Nation and has been updated with guidance from Tla’amin Citizens. The development of objectives, stewardship measures, and outcomes were led by the Tla’amin Nation in collaboration with provincial forest tenure holders, private forest landowners, stakeholder groups, and the Province of British Columbia.
The FRP includes general stewardship measures that apply across the plan area, with further direction outlined in broad planning zones, and additional management strategies applied for specific priority value areas. The FRP is intended to guide future forest resource planning and determinations, including provincially legislated Forest Landscape Plans, Forest Operations Plans, Timber Supply Reviews, and other higher level planning projects. Measures and practices as outlined in the FRP apply to Treaty Settlement Land as per the Tla’amin Forest Law and related Land Use Plans.
The FRP is intended to complement, not replace, existing provincial and federal legislation and associated regulations. Where there is conflict between FRP measures and provincial and federal legislation and regulations, the intent is to manage resources to a higher standard.
The planning horizon looks forward seven generations and is intended to provide an incremental benefit to the land and the people that depend on it. The result of these actions will provide many environmental and socio-economic benefits, encompassed by a long-lasting benefit to carbon storage and resilience to climate change.
Where overlaps with other applicable Nation land-use planning occurs, Nation-to-Nation agreements are established and will be used to guide development.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Tla’amin Forest Resource Plan sets out management direction for over 200,000 hectares of forestland in Tla’amin Territory including 8,300 hectares of Tla’amin Treaty Settlement Lands.
This plan creates a predictable framework for the next 300 years so that the rights of people, animals and plants in Tla’amin Territory are respected and protected.
The Plan coordinates stakeholders and addresses cumulative impacts of industry on water, plant and animal life across the Territory.
The Plan marks the resumption of Tla’amin Nation’s stewardship role across all of Tla’amin Territory.
The Plan is built upon Tla’amin Law and fulfils requirements as outlined in the Tla’amin Forest Law.
A two-year holistic process was undertaken to develop the Plan.
Staff spoke with hunters, plant medicine experts, Elders and other Tla’amin harvesters to develop the plan and protect resources key to the sustainment of Tla’amin culture and teachings. The voices of Citizens who spend a lot of time on the Territory were prioritized through the two-year development process.
Large forest tenure holders provided input into the Plan’s development to harmonize harvesting schedules and to minimize cumulative impacts.
The Plan includes standards for cumulative effects. For instance, right now there is limited provincial protection for small streams, but small streams feed big streams. This plan establishes buffers for small streams and increases the size of all stream buffers.
Trees and ecosystems take a long time to grow and develop so long-term planning is critical. Reaching objectives like the reestablishment of old growth stands in key areas takes hundreds of years.
This plan models 300 years into the future. The Plan enables Tla’amin Nation to exceed 30×30 conservation area targets (by which 30% of available area is protected by 2030).
The Nation relies on Forestry revenues to fund critical programs and services so long-term revenue projections are important.
The Plan is an evergreen adaptive management plan. It will be reviewed within 1 year of implementation and audited annually thereafter.
Schedules
Schedule A – Tla’amin Forest Resource Plan Area
Schedule B – FRP Landscape Units
Schedule C – Conservation Network
Schedule D – Forest Resource Plan Zones
Schedule E – Cedar Stewardship Areas
Schedule F – Identified Watershed Areas
Schedule G – Intact Cultural Use Areas
Schedule H – Elk Management Areas
Schedule I – Community Interface Areas
Schedule J – Intact Watersheds
Schedule K – Identified Red-Listed Plant Communities
Schedule M – tiskʷət Retention Areas
Schedule N – Stand Retention Guidance
Schedule O – Wildlife Features Guidance
Schedule P – Tla’amin Cultural Tree Resource Technical Guidance
Schedule Q – Sensitive and Rare Cultural and Medicinal Plant Guidance