Red Bluff Band to join pellet industry

Dec. 16, 2009, Quesnel, BC – The province of British Columbia has signed an Economic
Development Agreement with the Red Bluff Indian Band that will allow Red Bluff
to salvage mountain pine beetle-killed timber in the Quesnel area. “This
Economic Development Agreement strengthens the positive working relationship
between the province and Red Bluff,” says B.C. Forests and Range Minister Pat
Bell. “This agreement paves the way for new investment and jobs while improving
the use of beetle-killed wood that otherwise would be left to waste.”

The agreement will allow the Red Bluff Band to harvest 75,000 cubic metres/year of
mountain pine beetle-killed timber in the Quesnel Timber Supply Area for the
next 15 years. This timber has been dead for several years and consists
primarily of pulp-quality stands. The Red Bluff Band, working with National
Choice Bio Fuels, will build a new plant to process this low-grade timber into
wood pellets. The plant is expected to be operational by May 2010.

“This agreement will hopefully show what First Nations can accomplish when we work
co-operatively with government, industry, and other Nations,” says Red Bluff
Chief Geronimo Squinas. “Agreements like this one will hopefully free our
Nation from government handouts and become more self-sufficient.”

The Red Bluff Band, which is also known as Lhtako Dene Nation, partnered with
National Choice Bio Fuels Industries to form Lhtako Energy Corp. “This
agreement will allow the First Nation to take a direct, hands-on approach
towards long-term forest management, maximum use of forest waste, and
accelerating reforestation,” says Denis Pelletier, president and CEO of
National Choice Bio Fuels Industries.