Trappers Abandon Land Use Planning Talks

Trappers Abandon Land Use Planning Talks

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 at 15:52

 

 

A Pinehouse elder says trappers have completely lost faith in land use planning discussions.

 

George Smith says he has represented traditional land users during the formative stages of the North Central Land Use Plan.

 

However, Smith says trappers involved in those discussions have united and decided to pull away from those talks.

 

He says the trappers and government officials have a fundamental difference of opinion on how much say trappers should have when logging companies decide to clear-cut areas.

 

Smith says Saskatchewan Environment officials believe what the trappers are asking for is akin to land ownership, but he says all they want is some meaningful input.

 

Smith says they’ve removed themselves from the talks so that the province can’t truly say that trappers helped develop the plan.

 

Saskatchewan Environment spokesperson Andrea Atkinson says it’s news to her that the trappers have pulled away.

 

She also says they should wait until at least the release of the draft plan this September before making any judgments about the process.

 

Smith says he’s waiting for an economic analysis of the land use plan, which will be provided by a consultant from the west coast in the next few weeks.