Key takeaways:
- Charlie’s Place is near Glenwood and Appleton, traditionally utilized for hunting, fishing, and trapping.
- One of the requirements is that Corner Brook Pulp and Paper must submit a stakeholder engagement report.
A plan by Corner Brook Pulp and Paper to gather wood in a place in central Newfoundland has concerned some citizens of the Glenwood to Gander Bay region, including some Mi’kmaw people.
The paper firm has permission, subject to circumstances, to cut wood in an area known locally as Charlie’s Place, a 63-square-kilometer block of land between the Northwest and Southwest Gander rivers.
One of the requirements is that Corner Brook Pulp and Paper must offer stakeholder engagement information, which would be based on contact with people who’d voiced concerns during the environmental assessment method the previous year.
But citizens of the region say the paper firm and regional government are not listening to their problems.
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Calvin Francis, chief of the Gander Bay Indian Band, says his family has utilized the land in query for generations — in particular, his great-great-grandfather, Charlie Francis, is the man for whom the area is called.
He wants it saved from wood harvesting.
“Let’s test and keep this precise spot,” said Francis.
“We’re not requesting for Newfoundland. We’re not asking for a land claim. We’re not requesting to take over all of central Newfoundland. We’re asking to keep a spot that means very dear to us.
Plan agreed
The paper firm’s five-year operating plan for Zone 3, Charlie’s Place, was released from environmental assessment in October and given in December by the local Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Corner Brook Pulp and Paper has engaged with people who’d raised concerns regarding harvesting in Charlie’s Place since that time and, as of Wednesday, had not yet submitted the stakeholder engagement report needed before roadwork or logging can happen.
Source – cbc.ca
