Cheslatta Carrier Nation – Heavy Fire Damage Stand Rehabilitation

The primary purpose of this project is to salvage wood and rehabilitate stands heavily damaged in the 2018 wildfires. Cheslatta Carrier Nation (CCN) has a positive and proven history in the forest industry and the Nation depends on the forests to provide not only for their cultural wellbeing but for an array of financial opportunities. To grow their forestry division, CCN undertook development on their forestry tenures and made a significant investment in harvesting equipment with the intention of using the volume from these tenures to maintain their forest operations. Logging had just begun in these areas when wildfire burned much of the area in the summer of 2018, resulting in a substantial loss of revenue. CCN sought funding from FESBC to rehabilitate the fire-damaged stands and mitigate some of the financial loss experienced in 2018 by providing an opportunity to use the equipment and employ those who were left without work after the fires. The total project area, in combination with moderately-damaged stands, will see trees removed from about 400 hectares of fire-damaged area. These areas will then be rehabilitated.