In the far northwestern reaches of British Columbia and flowing into Alaska, is the magnificent Taku River Valley, the largest unfragmented and as yet unprotected watershed on the Pacific Coast of North America. It encompasses 18,000 square kilometers and is incredibly rugged and remote:
The Taku Wilderness
Save this wild jewel from being opened up to industrial development
After the Fraser and Skeena Rivers, the Taku is the largest salmon-producing river in Canada. A world-class wilderness, the Taku River watershed contains some of the richest wildlife habitat in North America, roaming with grizzly, wolves, Stone’s sheep, moose, woodland caribou, migratory birds and healthy populations of salmon. The Taku is also the traditional territory of the Taku River Tlingit people who have developed their own land-use plan for their territory and insist that conservation-based planning should take place before any major development is allowed to proceed.
The Vancouver-based mining company, Redfern Resources Ltd., has been seeking approval to build a 160 kilometre road through the heart of the Taku River Valley from Atlin to Tulsequah. The road would provide access to the Tulsequah Chief Mine, which Redfern intends to reopen. It is evident that the access road will lead to further industrial exploitation of the Taku Valley such as Redfern’s Big Bull claim and facilitating clear-cut logging. The facts are simple: once the road is in place, any other industrial user has a legal right to use the road, and once the access is provided, it will be almost impossible for the BC government to order the road decommissioned.
Federal DFO minister Geoff Regan recently signed on to environmental assessment to the internationally controversial project. Under pressure from the mining industry, DFO has stated that the project is "unlikely to cause significant adverse environmental effects" - contrary to common sense and concerns raised by the government's own scientists in the Canadian Wildlife Service, by fisheries biologists, and by the Independent Science Panel. What concerns species at risk; the COSEWIC-listed East Atlin caribou herd (status threatened) is likely to be eliminated from road kill, increased hunting, and habitat disruption if the road is created. In 2004, Canadian Wildlife Service officials wrote that "we are concerned that the project could have significant impacts on the East Atlin Caribou Herd." In addition, the federal government ignored the results of its own public input process, where 99% of 4200 submissions opposed the project earlier this year.
The game is far from over - Redfern still needs to obtain 200 permits (road and bridge construction etc.), which the federal and provincial governments must issue if the project is to proceed. The project can still be halted and even thrown out by the government if the political will is there. But every concerned citizen must make their concerns known to the decision-makers.
