LAST STAND WEST KOOTENAY

Who are we?
▪ Autonomous Sinixt allies and friends
▪ Environmentalists, researchers and scientists
▪ Forestry technicians (surveying, layout, wild land firefighters, disease/bug mitigation, tree planters)
▪ Social workers, health care providers, educators and teachers
▪ Kootenay residents, concerned parents and high school youth
▪ Carpenters, woodworkers and construction workers
▪ Tourism industry workers and outdoor guides
▪ Skiers, snowboarders, hikers, backpackers, paddlers, mountain bikers and nature enthusiasts

What do we stand for? What are we asking for?
▪ Recognition of Indigenous rights (Sinixt authority in local forest management practices)
▪ Complete halt of old growth forest logging and protection of old growth trees (140+ years for interior)
▪ Selective AND extensive retention of primary forests (undisturbed by logging or human activities)
▪ An end to destructive practices (wide scale clear cuts) that accelerate climate change and natural disasters (fires, floods, landslides, desertification, carbon release, bug/disease infestations, etc.)
▪ Biodiversity conservation (species/genetic diversity and the processes that shape them)
▪ A stop to land fragmentation and disturbances for a thriving wildlife habitat (caribou, white grizzly, toads painted turtles wolverines etc.)
▪ Clean air/land/water and watershed protection
▪ Respecting different cultural/spiritual traditions and/or emotional ways of relating with nature
▪ “Super natural British Columbia”. Staying true to the “wild” aesthetic. Caring for a place we call home

Our vision for change… Big Trees and BEYOND!!
▪ Moving away from ethnocentric colonial values and reviving Indigeneous land stewardship practices.
▪ Recognizing natural infrastructure benefits (water flow regulation, flood/landslide control, water purification, water/temperature regulation) and using them to mitigate climate change effects.
▪ Conserving a considerable sample of old growth and primary forests in all subzone variants and site-series specific biogeoclimatic zones (placing value in a local and personalized approach to biodiversity).
▪ Permanently defer logging in at-risk areas (wildlife corridors, important watersheds and productive old-growth forests)
▪ Shifting perspectives on the industrial forestry model to include more integrated regenerative practices.
-Innovative harvesting and silvilculture practices (diversified seedlots)
-Selective logging (hand felling and less intrusive methods)
-Seed tree retention techniques (large tree umbrellas that can disperse local genetic material)
-Reducing waste (ie.slash piles) and creating a market for poor quality timber
-Using triad system to distinguish different zones for different objectives (timber focus, conservation focus, or a mixture of both)
▪ Reviving local economy forestry based on value-added wood products instead of exporting raw timber abroad
▪ Diversifying economy (tourism/recreation industry and value added products INSTEAD of clear cutting wasteful mechanical harvesting)
▪ Identifying high cultural/spiritual value areas as conservation regions or provincial park zones .

USE OF FUNDS

Funds will be primarily used for legal costs. They may also be used for buying camp infrastructure and necessities (such as tarps, tents, food, etc) , as well as travel costs. Ten percent of all donations will be going to the Autonomous Sinixt Smum-Iem governance council.