Dave Sullivan
Northern News Services

Hay River (Nov 05/01) - With his eye on Cameron Hills, Eugene Patterson is making a last-ditch effort to get his sawmill working this winter.

But with Alberta forestry company Lichner having cut there for years, trees are getting scarce and may not support much more, aboriginal leaders say. They plan to oppose Patterson's latest plan.

Patterson wants to cut 10,000 cubic metres of wood - that's 60 hectares of trees, in the Hills which straddle the 60th Parallel. He admits it's not the best place due to the risk of over-harvesting.

Last month Patterson got a green light from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board to cut timber at Pine Point. He expects an answer for Cameron Hills by Nov. 16, but there could be an environmental review.

Leaders of Deninu Ku'e First Nation opposed the board's Pine Point approval, saying they won't recognize it's authority until the Treaty 8 land claim is settled. The First Nation wants to re-establish a sawmill that was once the area's largest employer, but which was subsidized by the territorial government.

The federal government will decide if Patterson can cut at Pine Point, but a decision isn't expected any time soon and it could order another environmental review.

"I think we're out of business," Patterson said. He says he's having trouble coming up with $300,000 needed to cut one season's worth of logs, because the mill was mired down by the same controversy last year.

"The banks are not interested in someone who is being threatened by the Indians and the Federal Government. I used to be able to borrow whatever I wanted."

If he does get to cut, Patterson says the work will be contracted to Fort Resolution skidder-owner Gabriel Lafferty.

Kakisa Chief Lloyd Chicot says 10,000 cubic metres of trees is too much to cut right now at Cameron Hills. The same area has also been targeted for intensive oil and gas drilling.

"He could probably get a smaller allowable cut if it were just business concerns, without involving politics," Chicot said.