Land & Resources 2

2.3 Salmon Resources

Salmon continue to be one of the most important food sources for the Hupacasath people. While salmon are obviously a fisheries resource they rely on spawning rivers and creeks, lakes for juvenile sockeye and riparian areas and estuaries for the juveniles. The Hupacasath lands contain spawning and rearing areas for all five species of salmon as well as steelhead and trout.

Table 1 shows that while sockeye and Chinook escapements have generally improved since the 1950s, chum have remained steady and coho and pinks have declined. One of the main objectives of the Hupacasath Land Use Plan is to protect and enhance fish habitat and rebuild salmon runs to historic levels.

Table 1: Salmon Escapement in Hupacasath Rivers

2.4 Forest Resources

The Hupacasath territory has supplied approximately 62 million cubic meters of timber, which is close to one year harvest from the entire province. This was worth approximately $13.3 billion to the Canadian economy in 1990 and $24.6 billion in 2002. However, the Hupacasath received very little if any benefit from this wealth. The major forest tenure holders in the Hupacasath territory are Weyerhaeuser and Timber West.

Table 2 shows the area, volume and value of timber harvested in Hupacasath traditional territory by decade. The value of timber harvested is based on a per cubic meter value of $215.00 to the Canadian economy in the early 1990s. More recent data indicates a value of $381.00 per cubic meter (from Domestic and Foreign – Statistics Canada). This includes all taxes, employment generated, costs of production, profits, etc.

Table 2: Total Areas Logged and Approximate Volume and Value

*note: The reason the area logged is so high for the 1940s is because these figures include all the areas logged up to 1950.

Table 3 shows that over 50% of the Hupacasath forests in Tree Farm License 44 and the Timber Supply Area are in good and medium sites for growing trees. This is why the area is one of the earliest logged in the province and why the timber has such a high value. This area grows very large trees in a relatively short period of time.

Table 3: Forest Site Growing Quality

Table 4 shows that almost one half (46%) of the forests are young forests under 80 years of age and 32% is over 141 years or mature forest. While there appears to be a large volume of mature forest much of this is in protected areas, is on unstable slopes, or is inaccessible for timber harvest.

Table 4: Age Class

Table 5 shows that almost 40% of Hupacasath are primarily Douglas fir forests , which is considered one of the most valuable species in the province for commercial timber harvest. The fact that there are relatively few forests that are predominantly red and yellow cedar indicates the need to protect these species for Hupacasath use.

Table 5: Leading Species

Area within TFL 44 and TSA.