DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - The message that emerged from a regional forum last week is that the Dehcho Land Use Plan is moving forward but there is still work to be done.

Petr Cizek, left, one of Dehcho First Nation's representatives on the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee, addresses the delegates at a regional forum in Fort Providence along with Grand Chief Samuel Gargan. - photo courtesy of Michael Nadli

Delegates from Deh Cho communities including elders, harvesters, chiefs and Metis presidents met in Fort Providence from Jan. 11 to 13 for an update on the status of the revisions to the interim draft land use plan. Petr Cizek and Tim Lennie, the Dehcho First Nations' delegates on the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee, provided the information.

After three days of presentations and discussions the delegates passed a resolution to submit the plan to the Dehcho Process main table for consultation and negotiation. Some outstanding issues remain that need to be resolved before a complete draft of the plan can be presented at the Dehcho First Nations' (DFN) annual assembly for approval, said Michael Nadli, the chairperson of the planning committee.

"The interim draft land use plan is going to move forward," Nadli said.

"The process is alive and well."

The process, however, has been a long one.

Work on the Dehcho Land Use Plan first began in 2001 with the signing of the Dehcho First Nations' interim measures agreement.

The plan progressed to the point that a draft was submitted to the annual assembly in Kakisa in June 2006 and was ratified.

Both the federal and territorial governments, however, rejected the draft plan primarily on the basis that it removed too much land from possible development. What followed was a series of meetings to save the process.

Since that point the committee has been trying to strike a balance between conservation and development so that the plan can be favorably considered by all three parties, Nadli said.

"We're pretty close to completion," he said.

Nadli estimated 95 per cent of the interim draft plan is complete. The outstanding issues that remain are outside of the scope of the

committee and may be best answered at the Dehcho Process level, he said.

One of the primary issues is the termination clause that will layout how to proceed if one of the parties believes the plan has to be ended.

DFN's position is the plan can be terminated as long as they are one of the parties that approves the move. The territorial and federal governments want a system where any two of the parties have to agree to allow for termination, Nadli said.

As for the contested land use balance, the current interim draft plan conserves 47 per cent of the Deh Cho and leaves 53 per cent for possible development.

The conservation percentage includes the expanded Nahanni National Park Reserve and assumes that the sub-surface land withdrawals for Edehzhie are put back into place for at least the final recommended boundary of the protected area, said Petr Cizek.

Oil and gas development and mining are prohibited in the conservation areas but tourism and logging could be permitted in certain circumstances.

Some conservation areas could also be crossed by a pipeline corridor or roads if there is no other way to avoid it, Cizek said.

This compares to the 2006 draft that prohibited mining on approximately 70 per cent of the Deh Cho and oil and gas development on approximately 60 per cent.

Since 2003 approximately 50 per cent of the Deh Cho has been protected through interim land withdrawals.

Reaching this point with the plan hasn't been easy, Cizek said.

"It's been a gruelling process. We're trying to wrap it up," he said.

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