Lands & Resources
Vanessa Law is the Manager of Lands & Resources. Vanessa is hired through funding of the Strategic Engagement Agreement between Kaska Dena Council and the Province of BC. The SEA was negotiated in 2012 and is currently in place till March 31, 2022. Vanessa’s role is to look at the referrals of Land, Water and Resources and bring forward any concerns related to environment, culture, economic, and/or traditional uses of the community of Daylu (Lower Post). Some referrals may be in shared areas with our other Kaska communities of Good Hope Lake and Kwadacha. The Strategic Engagement Agreement has a Natural Resource Council comprised of Kaska and BC Government. This Counicl meets 4 times per year to dicuss controversial land referrals and/or common projects. The Daylu Dena Council representative for this Council is Tanya Ball.
The Lands & Resources department is a member of the BC Aboriginal Land Managers, a group of other First Nation Land Managers that work together for common lands related learning & issue solving.
Land Guardians
The Dane Nan Ye Dah is the Kaska Dena Land Guardians for British Columbia. Vanessa works closely with the Land Guardians who assist her in monitoring and accompanying BC Government on inspections such as mining inspections. The Guardians play a key role in monitoring hunters on the land during hunting season. If you’ve seen something suspicious on the land whether it is an oil spill or wasted meat and you were not able to get a GPS location and picture, you could contact the Land Guardians at 250-779-3181.
Other Projects the Lands Department deals with
Hunting
Kaska are involved in a Fish & Wildlife Working Group with the Province of BC. Here we discuss wildlife management concerns including Hunting Regulation Changes. Kaska have a Notification to Hunt for hunters coming into Kaska Traditional Territory. We ask all hunters to fill out the Notification to Hunt. Kaska with the help of the Land Guardians are also taking wildlife samples.
Recycling
The Daylu Dena Council encourages all community members to recycle items. Items can be taken to the recycling trailer in Lower Post, or hauled to the recycling depot in Watson Lake.
Land Use Planning
Over the years Daylu Dena Council has participated in various Land Use Planning initiatives. These are plans completed:Over the years Daylu Dena Council has participated in various Land Use Planning initiatives. These are plans completed:
- North Liard Land Use Plan
- Salvage Management Plan (Firewood Plan Highway 37)
Bison
Five Bison permits are available per year for Kaska members only to hunt a Bison from the Nordquist Herd centered around Liard Hotsprings and area. Attached is application form.
CABIN
(Canadian Aquatic Biomonitoring Insect Network) Vanessa is a trained CABIN sampler. She works with the Guardians to collect water data and invertebrate samples on select streams in Northern BC.
FireSmart
Through the Lutz Creek Wildfire Recovery and based on our Community Wildfire Protection Plan, the community has applied for treatment dollars to make the surrounding forests around Lower Post safer and less risk to wildfire. All homes were assessed in 2019 and the majority of homes were at Extreme Threat for fire risk. We encourage our homeowners to do the following firesmart activities.
- Pile your firewood 10 meters or more from the side of your house.
- Keep grass and flammable debris cut within the 0 to 10 meters from your home
- Report the holes in your siding, missing fascia, etc to the capital department for repair.
- Do not build fences up to your house, or sheds within the 10 meter zone.
