Klahoose Tenure Purchase

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - In late 2023, Klahoose First Nation completed a “landmark deal” to purchase a total tenure of 181,036 cubic metres of allowable annual cut (AAC), on forest lands located on the Sunshine Coast in the Nation’s traditional territory. This makes KFN the largest logging tenure holder within the Nation’s traditional landbase.

Klahoose already owned tenure of 115,000 cubic metres AAC, so this purchase brings their total allowable cut to 296 thousand cubic metres per year, or over 140 million board feet. Chief Steven Brown told reporters that “Klahoose Nation is a forestry nation. We see a bright future for forestry, and it is time for us to manage the resources in our territory so the benefits come to our members,”

Although tenure rights do not confer title to Crown land, they do enable the First Nation to set its own rules for management of the logging operation.

Logging companies in the past have notoriously clearcut right across riparian zones. These zones help protect water quality by regulating the flow of water and nutrients between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Logging near fish-bearing streams, for example, has been shown to increase water temperatures and raise the risk of algal growth and eutrophication. Chief Brown, who studied Environmental Science at the University of Victoria, expressed his intention to improve existing conventional practise.

“If we want to increase the distance of harvest from the fish-bearing streams or [improve] old growth management, we dictate that on all of our tenure, and it means that contractors we hire to do the work have to follow those standards,” Brown said. “We can also plan for old growth management to ensure it’s done sustainably and that we’re promoting an increase in old growth in the territory.”