Klappan Strategic Initiative (KSI) - Technical Report

From Tahltan Central Council:

“The Klappan is extremely important for the Tahltan community. It is our water, it is our food, it is our land. The report empowers our community by putting our values and  concerns into a document co-written and signed by the Province.”

In late December, the Tahltan Central Council (TCC) and Province of British Columbia jointly released a draft Klappan Strategic Initiative Technical Report.

The report was presented to the Tahltan communities last fall by the Klappan Strategic Initiative (KSI), which is partnership between the province and TCC designed to bring a collaborative approach to land and resource issues in the area. The draft report is now released to the public and gives all Tahltans more opportunity to review the report and provide your feedback.

The report explains both Tahltan and Provincial perspectives of the Klappan. It includes traditional cultural, environmental and economic values and concerns.

The report is not a land-use recommendation. It is a summary of both Tahltan and Provincial perspectives of the Klappan and will help facilitate an informed government-to-government discussion. By sitting down with the Provincial Government to outline our values and priorities, we are helping to ensure a long-term plan and protection for the Klappan.

In the report, the province recognizes that Tahltans are stewards of the Klappan. This will help the Tahltan Nation to ensure any proposed development in and around the Klappan will happen on Tahltan terms, and will be informed by values documented in the report.
 

More information can be found here: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/main/ksi

Source: http://www.tahltan.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/TCC_Newsletter_Jan2015_JF_v9_web.pdf

 

First Nations Clean Energy funding

From Tahltan Central Council:

“Tahltan must be part of decision making concerning land and resources as Tahltan people continue to exercise their inherent right to self government, including Tahltan land stewardship that protects Tahltan lands for future generations.”

TAHLTAN NATION RECEIVES $500,000 FROM FIRST NATIONS CLEAN ENERGY FUND

In early December, Tahltan Central Council learned that our Nation would be receiving $500,000 from a provincial fund called the “First Nations Clean Energy Fund” after submitting an application earlier in the year. The grant is the maximum amount that can be awarded. The funding will be used to help our Nation invest a total of $2 million in the Volcano Creek run-of-river hydroelectric project.

In addition to receiving money through revenue-sharing agreements, which is how we are compensated for most developments in our territory, we will be taking a large financial stake in Volcano Creek. As investors, our role as decision-makers, not stakeholders, is emphasized. Profit from the project belongs directly to the Nation, instead of first belonging to the company and then being given to us. Investing in Volcano Creek does not compromise any of the revenue-sharing agreements already in place.

Volcano Creek is expected to run for 60 years and provide a 7.95% return every year, meaning that an initial $2 million would grow to around about $13.2 million in 60 years.

This is in addition to existing revenue-sharing agreements in place. The project is very well managed, beginning commercial operations in late December, a full two years ahead of the original schedule.

This news is the latest result of respectful and fruitful ongoing relationships with the province and AltaGas’s run-of-river hydroelectric projects. Already there is an agreement in place to share the revenue that comes from the projects, and there are also impact benefit agreements (IBAs) between AltaGas, TCC, Tahltan Band Council and Iskut Band Council.

As well as allowing for investment, the IBAs provide jobs and training opportunities for our people while also making sure Tahltan people are involved in environmental protection and monitoring. This includes an Environmental Protection Committee that is made up of both Tahltan and AltaGas representatives.

Volcano Creek is a run-of-river hydroelectric project that delivers power to the Northwest Transmission Line. It is one of three AltaGas projects in Tahltan territory. The others are the Forrest Kerr and McLymont Creek hydroelectric projects.

Source: http://www.tahltan.org/sites/default/files/newsletters/TCC_Newsletter_Jan2015_JF_v9_web.pdf

 

 

Tahltan Nation accepts Co-Management Agreement with Red Chris mine

from

Tahltan Central Council

- April 19/15 -

Tahltan territory, BC – Members of the Tahltan Nation have voted to accept a ground-breaking Co-Management Agreement with the new Red Chris mine in Tahltan territory, which opened in February.

The Agreement was supported by 86.9% of voters, with 12.9% voting no. 0.2% of the votes were rejected.

The unique agreement ensures Tahltan oversight and control of environmental issues surrounding the mine. It also guarantees Tahltan training and careers and a revenue-sharing agreement to help build a strong and independent Tahltan future.

Commenting on the news, Tahltan Central Council President Chad Day said: “This is a big step for our people, for all First Nations and for all British Columbians. Tahltan people have been living on our land for more than 10,000 years, so it makes sense for us to be involved in making sure our lands, waters and wildlife are protected for everyone without affecting our Title and Rights.

“The Agreement also brings local jobs, careers and training for our people and their families. That’s good for our Nation and it’s good for the mine. By sharing tax revenue from the mine, we can build our programs and services for a stronger Tahltan future and to better operate as a government in our territory.”

He added: “I would like to thank mine owner Imperial Metals for working with us in developing the Agreement, as well as everyone else who has made is possible.”

Now that the Tahltan Nation has ratified the Co-Management Agreement, work begins on making sure commitments are followed through in an efficient and transparent way. This will be a subject at upcoming discussions, including at the Tahltan Annual General Assembly from July 2-5.

SOURCE: http://www.tahltan.org/news/tahltan-nation-accepts-historic-co-management-agreement-red-chris-mine#sthash.mImwT8Wt.dpuf

Odyssey to the Sacred Headwaters

In a rugged knot of mountains in northern British Columbia lies a spectacular valley known to the First Nations as the Sacred Headwaters. There, three of Canada's most important salmon rivers—the Stikine, the Skeena, and the Nass—are born in close proximity.

Now, against the wishes of First Nations, the British Columbia government has opened the Sacred Headwaters to industrial development. Imperial Metals is building an open-pit copper and gold mine called the Red Chris mine. This is all taking place while the Mount Polley mine disaster in August 2014, a mine also owned by Imperial Metals, is at the forefront of public debate.

Professor Wade Davis describes the beauty of the Sacred Headwaters, the threats to it, and the response of native groups and concerned citizens as part of UBC Reads Sustainability.

Davis’ message: no amount of gold, copper or methane gas can compensate for the sacrifice of a place that could be the Sacred Headwaters of all Canadians, and indeed, of all peoples of the world. Part book club, part lecture, Davis’ presentation goes beyond the visually stunning text, The Sacred Headwaters (2011), a collection of images by an array of photographers portraying the splendor of the region.

LEARN MORE: HERE

Royal Dutch Shell's threat to the Stikine area continues

New Water Act may help protect endangered Sacred Headwaters

By Karen Tam Wu

The last Sunday of September marks Rivers Day, the day when people around the world celebrate one of the planet’s greatest resources — our rivers. This Rivers Day in British Columbia, however, may be one to mourn.

In May of [2014], the headwaters of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers, an area known as the Sacred Headwaters, were declared the most endangered rivers in our province. Royal Dutch Shell’s plan to drill for coal-bed methane (CBM) is the biggest threat to three of our greatest salmon rivers.

During his keynote address at the World Energy Congress in Montreal last week, Royal Dutch Shell CEO Peter Voser extolled the virtues of unconventional sources of natural gas as the answer to worldwide hunger for energy, and he claimed the risks associated with extraction were worthwhile. Voser dismissed public concern about the impact of hydraulic fracturing, a technique used to drill for natural gas, on freshwater resources. Voser called for relaxing of regulations to allow natural gas development to “reach its potential.”

Seen somewhat as the messiah who can lead the world to B.C.‘s wealth of natural gas, Bill Bennett, B.C. minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources, became an instant celebrity at the congress.

Given Bennett and Voser’s comments last week, it sounds like B.C. is going full speed ahead in the natural gas business. While some risks of development may be mitigated, ecologically unique and sensitive areas, such as the Sacred Headwaters, should never be endangered in the first place.

The Sacred Headwaters is an intricate complex of lakes and streams, amid delicate alpine meadows, lush with alpine shrubs and flowers. The Skeena is the second longest river in the province and the second-most productive salmon-bearing river in North America. Subjecting an area so abundant with pure freshwater to gas extraction and the subsequent impacts on the local and downstream communities, wildlife and fish that depend on the rivers — the arteries of the landscape — is cause for grief.

Well pads, pipelines and roads associated with CBM would transform this picturesque landscape into an industrial checkerboard. Burying our heads in the sand would only review an equal, if not worse horror underground.

 

READ MORE: HERE

 

Hunting and History in Northern B.C

.
‘But We Are Still Native People’: Talking about Hunting and History in Northern Athapaskan Village

by Thomas McIlwraith Ph.D

Abstract:

My dissertation is a study of hunting in the northern Athapaskan village of Iskut, British Columbia, Canada. Hunting serves as a cultural system uniting Iskut people in a place where ethnic identity is not as easy to identify as outsiders might expect. Moreover, non-natives sometimes suggest that Iskut hunting activities reflect cultural and economic poverty. Still, interest in Iskut knowledge about animals and the land persists in and outside of Iskut. Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is in demand in bureaucratic settings, for example, but Iskut knowledge about food and animals resists easy interpretation. I turn to the ‘ethnography of speaking’ as a way of learning about hunting and of moving beyond the fact-finding often associated with bureaucratic TEK projects. I attend to hunting stories and group history to understand why Iskut people talk about hunting with such passion. Studying talk of hunting and its etiquette reveals a wide range of lived experiences and practices at Iskut Village. It shows how Iskut people draw their history into contemporary resource conflicts. And, it illustrates a cultural system in a place where different family histories exist.

Read More (PDF): Here
.

The Sociality of Water

.

As concerns over climate change intensify, anthropologists have emerged as key participants in conversations about water use. Such work is crucial not only to assess the implications of floods, droughts and water rights conflicts today, but also the ways in which water has always been a mediated resource, and how communities’ relationships with water might change in the future.

.

The following commentary series focuses on water governance and management, examining water access and power relationships, development initiatives, water conservation and availability, water as commons and commodity, and emerging trends in sustainable water management.

John Wagner
Water Governance Today

Barbara Rose Johnston
Water, Culture and Power Negotiations at the UN

Antina von Schnitzler
Gauging Politics: Water, Commensuration and Citizenship in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Eleanor E Shoreman
Muddy Waters: Water Conservation and Environmental Ethics in the Mississippi Delta

Ashley Carse
Moral Economies of Water Management: Tensions in the Panama Canal Watershed

Jessica Cattelino
Citizenship and Nation in the Everglades

Carla Roncoli
Participatory Models and Exclusionary Frames in Water Management* More photos by Carla Roncoli related to this article are available on Flickr.

Kathryn Hicks, Nicole Fabricant and Carlos Revilla
The New Water Wars: Collective Action after Decentralization in El Alto, Bolivia

Nan Bress
The Water Spigot: Water Access, Safety and Perception Near the Ashokan Reservoir* More photos by Nan Bress related to this article are available on Flickr.

Simanti Dasgupta
Transactions in Transparency: Water, Market and Politics in the Indian Silicon Plateau


SOURCE: http://aaanet.org/publications/articles.cfm
.

Iskut-Stikine Watershed in Crisis

Overview of the Iskut-Stikine Watershed

.
The transboundary Iskut-Stikine watershed is one of North America’s largest and most intact wild salmon watersheds. The Stikine, meaning ‘The Great River’ in Tlingit language, covers a diverse range of climates and geography from alpine tundra to ancient coastal rainforests. John Muir described part of the Stikine as a “Yosemite 100 miles long”. It is 52,000km2/20,000 square miles, making it larger than Switzerland.

It is the traditional territory of the Tahltan First Nation, and supports thriving sport, commercial and subsistence fisheries, guided and subsistence hunting, and a variety of other cultural, recreational and economic activities.

The Stikine River is 640km/400 miles long from its headwaters in BC’s Spatsizi Plateau to its estuary near Wrangell, Alaska. The Iskut River, the largest tributary of the Stikine, flows for 236km/145 miles from Kluachon Lake near Iskut, BC to its confluence with the lower Stikine River near the US/Canada border.

Despite substantial protected areas, the Iskut-Stikine is one of the continent’s most threatened watersheds. Several mining and energy projects are in development while about a dozen companies are negotiating with the Tahltan First Nation for other projects to begin. The scope and pace of development proposed in the Stikine is unprecedented. In 2006, 50% of all mining exploration activity in Northwest BC was taking place on Tahltan territory. Alaska continues planning the transboundary Bradfield Road and an electrical intertie with Canada, both of which would go through important roadless areas and drive resource exploitation to unsustainable levels.

Read More: Here

.

‘Sacred Headwaters’ Endangered

.
The headwaters of the Skeena, Nass, and Stikine Rivers – so important in Tahltan history and culture - have made the annual list of endangered rivers, compiled by The Outdoor Recreation Council of BC. The Council lists the headwaters at #6 due to the possibility of coal-bed methane mining.

Source: Tad McIlwraith
.