Osoyoos Indian Band takes lead role in TFL 59 planning under Gorman agreement
Fuel management and selective cutting in Tree Farm Licence 59 east of Oliver.
Photo: Siya Forestry
The Osoyoos Indian Band will take a lead role in planning and managing forestry operations within Tree Farm Licence 59 under a new agreement with Gorman Group.
The agreement, signed July 20 between OIB and Gorman Group through Similkameen Forest Products Ltd., sets out how the Band will participate in management of the roughly 46,000-hectare forest tenure near Oliver. OIB will be represented through Nk’Mip Forestry LLP, its wholly owned forestry company.
Under the agreement, Nk’Mip will lead planning for proposed harvesting areas in partnership with Similkameen Forest Products and direct planning and forest-development work, cultural assessments, community liaison, pile burning and environmental monitoring.
A joint Planning and Management Committee will guide operating plans, stewardship priorities and the inclusion of cultural values in forest management.
The agreement also provides for training, mentorship and career-development opportunities for OIB members, with the goal of increasing participation in the forest economy within the Band’s traditional territory.
The arrangement follows the transfer of TFL 59 from Weyerhaeuser to Similkameen Forest Products earlier this year. The B.C. government approved the transfer in March as the final step in what it described as a $120-million investment involving Gorman Group, including the purchase of Weyerhaeuser’s Princeton lumber mill and associated forest tenures.
According to the province, TFL 59 covers about 46,000 hectares and supports more than 57,000 cubic metres of annual harvest. Provincial tenure records list Similkameen Forest Products Ltd. as the current licensee.
OIB’s involvement in managing the area predates the transfer to Gorman Group.
Under an earlier partnership with Weyerhaeuser, OIB described itself as having a co-leadership role in managing TFL 59. In a March 2025 account of that work, OIB said Siya Forestry carried out the layout and development of harvesting permits under the guidance of the Band’s Lands and Referral Department and Traditional Knowledge Keepers.
Management priorities identified through that partnership included wildfire-risk reduction, water protection, wildlife habitat, forest resilience and rehabilitation of areas affected by the 2021 wildfires.
The licence area also includes sites of cultural significance and places used for gathering berries and other plants.
The new agreement establishes how that involvement will continue under the current tenure holder while assigning Nk’Mip a defined leadership role in forest planning and development.
Nk’Mip Forestry was formed by the Osoyoos Indian Band in 2014. Its work includes forest management, logging and hauling, fuel mitigation, prescribed and cultural burning, tree planting and cultural heritage reviews.
The Osoyoos Indian Band has formalized a partnership with Gorman Group that gives its forestry company a direct role in planning and managing Tree Farm Licence 59, a 46,000-hectare forest tenure east of Oliver.