The Cree forestry campaign is gaining steam.
A video on Cree concerns is being produced by the Forestry Working Group, which is touring the five communities affected by forestry.
Also nearing completion is “Crees And Trees,” an in-depth document presenting all the facts in an easy-to-read format. Crees And Trees attempts to show that Quebec forestry practices must change soon or the Cree way of life will be increasingly threatened.
Crees And Trees is now being discussed in the communities and has mostly gotten a favourable reaction, except for from Chief Billy Diamond, who raised a few technical concerns in a letter to Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come. When contacted by The Nation, Chief Diamond was heading to Maine for a vacation and would not comment
Jack Blacksmith, coordinator of the two projects, says he hopes it’ll all be ready by October, when the International Union for Conservation of Nature holds an international conference on the environment in Montreal.
“This issue has to be resolved on a level where everyone agrees on one action,” said Blacksmith. “We have five different communities touched by forestry and five different ideas. It’s difficult But there is an underlying issue here. We have to protect our way of life.”
