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Video: Marchers aim to stop logging on Benny Forest

Updated: March 23, 7:00 p.m.

Updated: March 23, 7:00 p.m.

A small group of supporters, numbering maybe a dozen people, of the Save the Benny Forest group marched through downtown Sudbury today, aiming to raise awareness of their efforts to stop logging on the forest northwest of Cartier.

Clyde McNichol, who heads the group alongside his wife, Barbara, will be in a Sudbury court room on Thursday trying to seek an injunction to stop lumber company Eacom from logging on the Benny Forest. The couple owns and operates Camp Eagle Nest in the forest, a non-profit camp for at-risk youth.

While marching, McNichol told NorthernLife.ca that he and his group are fighting alone. He said his band, Atikameksheng Anishnawbek, isn't backing his claim that Eacom is damaging the forest with its operations.

Atikameksheng Anishnawbek Chief Edward Miller said the First Nation is still in consultations with Eacom and the Ministry of Natural Resources.

“Until the consultation process has happened, we're not on anybody's side,” he said. “We're neutral.”

Miller said Atikameksheng Anishnawbek arrived at an agreement with Eacom to establish protected areas in the Benny area. The company and the Ministry of Natural Resources have both been cooprative during the consultation process, he added.

But since that agreement, he said the McNichols have expanded their claim to a much larger area, covering around 300,000 acres.

Miller said more consultations and land-use studies are necessary to go over the larger area the McNichols are seeking to protect from logging operations.

The McNichols will be in court March 24 seeking an injunction to stop Eacom from logging.

Original story

A campaign that began about a year ago near Benny is taking to the streets in downtown Sudbury today.

The group Save the Benny Forest is holding a rally, which began a short time ago at the train station parking lot on Elgin Street. Clyde McNichol, who along with his wife Barbara operate Camp Eagle Nest and are spearheading the fight to stop logging on the Benny Forest, told NorthernLife.ca the group will march along Elgin to Elm Street, continue along Elm to Paris Street and follow Paris back to the train station parking lot on Elgin.*

Rally members will also distribute pamphlets to the public and hold a ceremonial drumming.

Greater Sudbury Police Service is advising drivers about the potential for traffic delays during the rally, which is expected to last until around 2 p.m.

Since April 2015, Save the Benny Forest has been lobbying to protect from logging and prospecting an area of about 20 kilometres of the forest.

The campaign is spearheaded by Clyde and Barbara McNichol, who operate Camp Eagle Nest, a non-profit camp establishd in 2012 to offer outdoor employment training and education programs for First Nations youth and others who may be at risk.

The McNichols call the Benny Forest "the traditional territory and hunting ground of Clyde McNichol, the location of his family graves, and current business, Camp Eagle Nest."

They, and their supporters, say logging operations and aerial spraying are destroying the forest's natural habitat.

"Toxic waste dumping and prospecting are also grave threats," the group says on its Facebook page. "Animals and plants and medicines are sickening and dying in large areas.

"Clyde has requested protection of the forest within 20 miles of Benny due to his belief that as an Anishinaabe person he was put here by Creator to protect the land. At least that much area is required for the survival of many species. Twenty miles, or a day’s walk from home, was the approximate size of most clan hunting territories according to Elder and former Chief Art Petahtegoose."

The group has more than 500 signatures on a petition aimed at putting a stop to logging in the forest.

On March 24, the group will be in Sudbury Court seeking an injunction to stop logging operations.

The Benny Forest is near the old community of Benny, an unincorporated area in Moncrieff Township, which lies in the north part of the Sudbury District. It's about 11 kilometres northwest of Cartier.

*The information provided by Greater Sudbury Police regarding this rally has changed. The story has been updated to reflect this new information regarding the rally.


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