Logging giant retreats from aboriginal dispute

The sound of silence is the mark of success for an aboriginal community in Northwestern Ontario. No longer will AbitibiBowater machinery be tearing through the Whisky Jack Forest, a one million hectare public forest that has been home to the Grassy Narrows First Nation for thousands of
years.

The company turned in its logging licence in June, putting a rewarding twist
on an arduous eight year battle.

“It’s an incredible victory,” said Ecojustice staff lawyer Anastasia Lintner who first reached out to the affected community in 2000. A summer student at the time, she helped launch a lawsuit on behalf of the Grassy Narrows First Nation.

While the community was not against all types of forestry, members objected to clear cut logging in a forest already ravaged by natural and human forces.

“It had been hard hit by overharvesting and forest fires. It really needed a rest from clear cut logging,” Lintner explained.

Two years after the lawsuit began, Grassy Narrows launched a high-profile
blockade to stop the clear cuts. The blockade has now become one of the
longest running land protests in Canadian history.

Lintner said she is hoping the logging company’s announcement signals the
beginning of the end of the dispute. Still, the real test will be whether or not
the provincial government will honour aboriginal concerns.

“If the province turns around and gives the same licence to clear cut to another big logging company, then they will have not learned or listened and the battle will continue,” she said.