The New Brunswick Court of Appeal, in a decision that likely will rock the East Coast forestry industry, has ruled in favour of a Mi'kmaq logger who claimed he had a treaty right to harvest logs from Crown land.

The court said Thursday that Mi'kmaq logger Joshua Bernard of the Eel Ground Reserve near Miramichi, N.B., has a treaty right to harvest and sell tress growing on Crown lands that were historically occupied by native people in that area.

The decision, which is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, could have major ramifications for Canada's forestry industry.

It could force the industry to become more open to native participation in the same way that the Supreme Court's landmark Marshall decision of 1999 forced the fishing industry to allow more aboriginal involvement.

"The emphasis is on assuring that the Mi'kmaq have equitable access to identified resources for purposes of earning a moderate living," states the appeal court's decision.

However, the decision was not unanimous.

One member of the three-member panel, Justice Alex Deschenes, maintained there was no treaty right. He argued Bernard's original conviction for unlawful possession of Crown timer should stand.

But the other judges disagreed, including Justice Joe Daigle, who argued that not only does aboriginal title exist on the basis of historic use, but also that those rights have been infringed upon by the Crown with no proper justification.

The case began in 2000 when Bernard was convicted of illegal possession of 23 spruce logs harvested from Crown land not far from his reserve in the Miramichi area of central New Brunswick.

Because of the importance of the case, Nova Scotia intervened in the appeal, adding its weight to Crown arguments that Bernard's conviction should be upheld.

Alex Cameron, a lawyer representing Nova Scotia, told the New Brunswick court last year the question of aboriginal title was settled 250 years ago when the Mi'kmaq agreed to live on reserves set aside for them.

"The interesting thing to recall here is that aboriginal title or aboriginal claims to land are being dealt with now, again, 250 years after they were dealt with originally," Cameron said.

"The colonial governments at the end of the 1700s and the early 1800s, both in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, were dealing with native land claims."

Bernard maintained he has aboriginal title to the area of Crown land where he cut the logs, even though it is several kilometres from the reserve where he lives. The Mi'kmaq logger says that, historically, the land was occupied by his ancestors.