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The GTO is negotiating a Short-Term Forestry Agreement (SFTA) with the BC Ministry of Forests. The SFTA is what is known as an interim measures agreement (IMA). The purpose of IMA’s is to ensure the Gitxsan receive benefits from resource extraction on the traditional territories while the long process of negotiating a comprehensive treaty takes place. Without IMA’s, our resources continue to leave the traditional territories without Gitxsan benefiting in a meaningful way. IMA’s are a short-term strategy to achieve some of the things described in our Delgamuukw decision. It may take a number of years to conclude a treaty. The Gitxsan do not want the situation to remain as is – the status quo – regarding resource extraction activities on our House territories. The Short-Term Forestry Agreement is one way to change the status quo in our favour.

The draft SFTA contains some significant language for the Gitxsan. In it, the province recognizes the Wilp and the Simgigyet as historic and contemporary users and stewards of the traditional territories. BC also recognizes the Wilp as “integral to the maintenance of Gitxsan society, governance and economy within the traditional territory.” This written recognition was first won by GTO negotiators in the Interim Forest Agreement signed on June 1, 2003. That agreement expired Dec. 31, 2003 so it is important to hold the province to their commitment to recognize the Wilp and Simgigyet by writing it into the SFTA. Up until now, through all the negotiations from the early 1970s, to the Accord of Recognition and Respect in 1994, and the initial treaty process that ended in 1997, BC has never formally admitted the authority of the Wilp and Simgigyet. Including it in the SFTA sets the stage for future negotiations based on Gitxsan ayookw, adaawk and daxgyet.

The draft SFTA also commits the province “to seek workable accommodation of Gitxsan’s aboriginal interests” at both the administrative decision level and operational plan level. Again this is important language for the Gitxsan because it signifies the obligation to consult on large issues like the allowable annual cut on all of the traditional territories (administrative decision level) as well as on Wilp and watershed-specific topics like forest development plans and cutting permits (operational plan level). Included in the draft SFTA are sections on consultation and accommodation regarding operational plans and administrative decisions. This is an important step as it is a start to putting into practice what the Supreme Court of Canada said in the Delgamuukw decision and what the BC Supreme Court ruled in the Yal decision.

There are also sections in the draft agreement on forest tenure, revenue sharing, forest restoration, dispute resolution, term of the SFTA and forest stewardship and planning. The latter section is another significant part of the draft document because it outlines a process where the Simgigyet and the government of B.C. can coordinate efforts in creating sustainable resource extraction activities in the watersheds. Once again, this is the recommended direction from the rulings in Delgamuukw and Yal. The process to create sustainable watershed plans are specific examples of negotiations at work. This is the natural outcome of the years of work that went into the Delgamuukw land title action and is one starting point on the road to ownership, jurisdiction and self-government.