PRESS RELEASE
Grassy Narrows First Nation Issues Moratorium on All Industrial Activity
For Immediate Release:
January 17, 2007
U.S. Wood Buyers call on Province to resolve outstanding issues with Grassy Narrows
SAN FRANCISCO – The Grassy Narrows First Nation announced a moratorium today on all industrial activity taking place on their traditional territory without community consent. Meanwhile, business leaders from Boise Cascade and Pro-Build Holdings, major regional purchasers, are calling on Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay to find a quick and equitable resolution to the escalating controversy over Grassy Narrows land use.
“We support the efforts of all parties working together to resolve the issues in the Grassy Narrows forest area in a timely fashion and urge you to continue to work toward a balanced resolution of the land use plans,” wrote Paul Hylbert, Chief Operating Officer at Pro-Build Holdings, Inc., in his letter to Minister Ramsay. “We look forward to seeing your strong leadership bring this important issue to a successful conclusion as it relates to the Grassy Narrows community in Northwest Ontario. (Full letter available upon request)
Pro-Build Holdings is the top professionally oriented building material dealer in the United States, operating more than 400 building centers throughout the country. More than half of Pro-Build’s volume consists of wood products, many of which originate from Ontario, Canada. The company is also a significant buyer from Weyerhaeuser’s iLevel mill in Kenora. Boise Cascade produces office paper using pulp produced by Abitibi-Consolidated’s Fort Frances Mill. Both mills source from logging within Grassy Narrows traditional territory.
The call for a moratorium comes after the community rebuked a Provincial plan to increase clear-cut logging on its land despite a string of mill closures that have significantly eroded demand for wood fiber from the region. Grassy Narrows is the tenth Northwestern Ontario First Nation to call for a moratorium on its traditional lands, and the first such community located within existing logging tenures.
“We have been seeking for many years a constructive solution to this untenable situation, but the response has always been to talk and log. We cannot sit back and watch the demise of our way of life which disappears more every time more cutting areas are extended to Abitibi and Weyerhaeuser,” said Grassy Narrows Council Chief Simon Fobister.
“U.S. businesses want a resolution in Grassy Narrows that brings some stability to the situation,” said Brant Olson, Old Growth Campaign Director at Rainforest Action Network.
“Industry and government should seize this opportunity to develop an exit strategy from Grassy Narrows that promotes a more sustainable vision for Ontario’s Boreal Forest.”
