Tourism operators at visually stunning Chilko Lake are appealing to governments to rescue them from a “nightmare” created by the landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision giving Tsilhqot’in aboriginals title to Crown lands in the area.
“The situation has become dire,” Brian McCutcheon and Ashley Scanlan of ROAM Adventures say in letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Christy Clark. “Our land and business values have plummeted, our professional reputation damaged, and our investments are at risk.”
In 2014, Chief Roger William, on behalf of the Xeni Gwet’in and the greater Tsilhqot’in Nation, won a unanimous Supreme Court decision recognizing native title to about 1,750 square kilometres of Crown land in the Chilcotin southwest of Williams Lake and aboriginal rights across the larger region.
McCutcheon said the Xeni Gwet’in promised it would be status quo during a five-year transition, but that hasn’t happened — and no one in either senior government has shown any ability to resolve matters.
The situation turned stressful last summer, he said, when Xeni Gwet’in representatives ordered his operation off the river.
“It got crazy. We were floating down the river watching bears and the wardens are screaming and yelling at us and saying the river is closed. We stopped and worked through it, but it looks really bad when you’re an outfitter. … It was very bizarre.”
The problem, McCutcheon explains, is that people who visit the tourist businesses such as his use the surrounding area now owned by the Xeni Gwet’in.
“We have lodging in an area where the public can no longer walk, ride, bike or hike. It would be like the Fairmont (Hotel) guests not being allowed to walk around Vancouver.”
In December, he received a letter from the Xeni Gwet’in ordering him to “immediately remove from your website and marketing materials any reference to unauthorized and planned activities in the declared title area and that you cease immediately all such advertising related to the declared title area. We advise you once again that any future commercial activities planned by you or your company in the declared title area require valid authorization and approval of the Xeni Gwet’in First Nation Government.”
“The title lands agreement was made with no transition plan in place to support the existing landowners and business operators, and this responsibility falls on both governments,” McCutcheon said. “Essentially, we are trapped in the middle and our business is being held hostage.
The Xeni Gwet’in have also posted an order closing a local campground due to bear concerns, as well as a parking lot and boat launch at the north end of Chilko Lake (which used to be B.C. Parks property). The band also closed the area to hunting and off-road motorized or bicycle use.
William could not be reached for comment. The federal and provincial governments also declined to comment.
William told Postmedia News in June 2016 the band would be posting uniformed rangers at key access points to its territory this past summer.
Tourists are welcome to visit the Nemiah Valley during the five-year transition period, provided that they don’t hunt or carry firearms, and that they follow provincial laws that apply elsewhere to safe and ethical travel in the wilderness, William said.
That includes obeying campfire regulations, having a valid fishing licence, and not tearing up the wilderness with motorized vehicles. Tourists can continue to camp at provincial recreation sites during a five-year transition period, he said.
“You can come to experience the title lands as long as you obey (applicable laws of the wilderness),” he said. “As long as they follow that, we’re good.”
![Xeni Gwet'in chief Roger William was behind the game-changing Supreme Court of Canada lawsuit that granted the Tsilqot'in Nation title to 1,750 square kilometres of land in the central Interior. 'If you don't get consent, and you get challenged in court, the chances are you're going to lose.' Photo ran: Vancouver Sun May 30 2015 page A1 Larry Pynn / Vancouver Sun [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2017/01/xeni-gwetin-chief-roger-william-was-behind-the-game-changing.jpeg?w=640)
Xeni Gwet’in chief Roger William.
“I think they were entitled and they worked hard,” he said. “But the court made no provision for the private lands.”
McCutcheon said one potential solution is for government to buy out the private commercial operators. They could be turned over to the band after training of band members in running such businesses.
Training, he says, would be critical to success: “Give me a dental practice and I’ll run it into the ground in a day because I don’t know anything about dentistry.”
He’s not even sure now that he has the right to drive along the area’s roads to access his property, or to take clients from North American and Europe onto Chilko Lake and the Chilko River.
McCutcheon said he is among five commercial operators with $25 million invested in the area who formed the Chilko Operators Association in hopes of reaching some agreement with aboriginal leaders, but said the band hasn’t negotiated in good faith.
He offered to train band members as fly-fishing and bear guides and to reach joint-venture agreements, but none has been accepted.
“They’ve all fallen on deaf ears,” he said. “They’ve lost all credibility.”
McCutcheon’s parter, Scanlan, is head of the association.
A year ago, Rick Manwaring, assistant deputy minister at the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, wrote to McCutcheon to say he sympathized with the uncertainty of the situation and that the government is working with the Xeni Gwet’in on an orderly transition. He said the province “is not contemplating” the purchase of private property in the area.
