Abstract

While the vast majority of forestlands in Canada are considered “Crown land,” there are key areas of private forestland. On private land the incidents of fee simple ownership mean the owner emerges as land use decision maker – the “agenda setter” for the land. Yet a richer set of legal relations exists in these forests. Indigenous legal orders derived from an enduring relationship with the land and place also govern forestlands. Using the case of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway lands in British Columbia, this article explores the intersection between historical and contemporary human-forest relations upheld by Anglo-Canadian law and the pre-existing Indigenous legal relations with forestland. This article illustrates how the current model of Canadian natural resource governance, centered on consultation and accommodation of judicially recognized rights, fails to create adequate space for pluralistic human-forest relations and Indigenous environmental jurisdiction.

摘要

尽管加拿大绝大多数林地都被视为“王室土地”，但也有一些私人林地的关键地区。在私有土地上，收费简单所有权的事件意味着所有者成为土地使用的决策者-土地的“议程制定者”。然而，在这些森林中存在着更为丰富的法律关系。与土地和地方的持久关系所产生的土著法律命令也管辖着林地。本文以不列颠哥伦比亚省的Esquimalt和Nanaimo铁路用地为例，探讨了英法之间维护的历史与当代人林关系与原先与林地的法律关系之间的交集。本文说明了加拿大自然资源治理的当前模式，