The New Brunswick government has identified 90,000 hectares of Crown lands that it says are now protected against logging, agriculture and mineral extraction.
But the selection of the 84 sites, unveiled on Thursday by Natural Resources and Energy Development Minister Mike Holland, has already come under fire from Wolastoqey executives, who accuse the government of not properly consulting them.
“We have made repeated requests to the province to abandon its one-sided approach to the natural heritage initiative,” Neqotkuk First Nation Chief Ross Perley said in a news release issued by the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick prior to Holland’s announcement.
“We now publicly request that the province resume discussions with us to develop appropriate tools to achieve temporary protection for applicant sites while we continue to work together to recognize protected areas.”
Neqotkuk First Nation Chief Ross Perley says he and other chiefs have asked the province to abandon what they say is a one-sided approach to implementing a plan to preserve Crown lands. (Mike Heenan/CBC)
The province announced in February that it would protect 400,000 hectares of Crown land by the end of 2023 as part of the Natural Heritage Initiative, which is funded by the federal government.
The program will double the amount of Crown land that is protected from about 4.6 to 10 percent.
On Thursday, Holland gathered in Fredericton with environmentalists from the Nature Trust of New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Conservation Council and the Canadian Parks and Wildlife Society to reveal the locations of the first 90,000 hectares.
The newly protected areas include much of the Restigouche and Nepisiguit rivers, the Penniac Stream headwaters near Fredericton and the Little Gaspereau wetlands near Tracadie-Sheila.
“This is to ensure that populations are not maintained, but grow, develop, and we see an increase in these wildlife populations in the future,” Holland said during the new conference.
Holland said another 10,000 hectares would soon be included to bring the total to 100,000, with more to be added this year and next to reach the 400,000-hectare target.
The province revealed areas covering 90,000 hectares of newly protected Crown lands, which are represented in shades of light green. (Government of New Brunswick)
Asked later about criticism that his government had not consulted indigenous groups about the initiative, Hollande said he disagreed.
“I totally disagree with that because, as I said, I’m confident in the consultation process that we went through,” he said.
“In that case, we’re going to continue to make sure that we engage, work with, identify—First Nations have such incredible local knowledge that can help us determine the value of protected areas.” We share and cooperate that throughout the process, will continue to do so.”
Mineral rights are grandfathered in
The Wolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick said its representatives began “engaging” with the province last year based on a proposed partnership.
They say provincial officials have committed to working with the Wolasoqiyik and other nations to develop pathways that could be used to create both Crown-protected areas that respect Indigenous rights and Indigenous-protected population protected areas that will be managed directly by First Nations.
“What began as a process focused on a shared interest in genuine conservation quickly turned into a one-way conversation that kept the door open to mineral prospecting but failed to protect the inherent rights that members of my community have over the land in question.” , Matawaskiye First Nation Chief Patricia Bernard said in the group’s statement.
According to Holland, there are parts of protected Crown lands that are subject to mineral claims that are inherited with the designation.
He said any requests to develop areas subject to mineral claims would be met with “very strict regulations”.
Concerns about contractual rights
The Wolastoqey Nation of New Brunswick says it also has serious concerns that the “proposed conservation easement mechanisms” will limit the constitutionally protected treaty rights of the Wolastoqey.
Concern about the erosion of treaty rights on protected Crown lands is shared by the Mi’kmaq in New Brunswick, said Tracy Ann Cloud, director of trilateral negotiations with Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc.
Tracy Ann Cloud, director of tripartite negotiations with Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn Inc., said the terms the province set to protect Crown lands would violate aboriginal treaty rights to hunt, fish and forage. (Submitted by Tracy Ann Cloud)
She said from what the province shared with her organization — which represents Mi’kmaw provincial chiefs — some conditions of the Crown land protection would infringe on Mi’kmaq rights to hunt, fish and forage for a moderate subsistence.
“We’re happy to see the lands being preserved in the province, of course, but not in this way,” Cloud said.
“And certainly by not limiting our ability to enter and exercise our constitutionally protected rights on those lands.”
Holland said as far as he knew, Aboriginal treaty rights would not be affected by the protection of Crown lands.
Permitted activities on protected Crown lands include hiking, biking, camping and campfires, hunting and trapping, sustainable foraging, and the use of snowmobiles and ATVs.
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