A new historic agreement between the District of Logan Lake and the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation (SNN) will be signed this Saturday.

The two parties say it’ll lead to a strong, committed and fair working relationship on a number of issues.

And according to Logan Lake CAO Randy Lambright, forest stewardship will be one of the bigger areas of collaboration.

“With the forest occurring within the territory, there’s a number of items of mutual interest, whether it’s habitat creation, riparian management, water management, fire management, trail creation and preservation, sharing of forest stewardship knowledge and education, recognition of rights with regard to botanical products and their management,” he said.

This agreement will serve as a guiding principle, and there will be more focused agreements on specific issues in the future.

“As mentioned in the guiding principles, we will have ongoing education and engagement to incorporate each of our mutual interests and perspectives and showcase how we can all work together for the betterment of all,” said T’kemlups Chief Rosanne Casimir.

Lambright notes the agreement recognizes that we live, work, and recreate in traditional territory.

“And I think this will really help. If one wants to categorize that rather as reconciliation then so be it, but I think there was a bigger scope to that,” he added. “And that was to recognize that we do exist within the traditional territory of First Nations People and I think we need to recognize that and move forward and prosper as a result of that.”

The agreement will formally be signed at 4:30 PM on February 9th, 4:30 PM at the South Thompson Guest Ranch.