Opponents to road will weigh their options

The Yukon government has approved Cash Minerals' application for a winter road along the Wind River, but has struck down the request for a new airstrip.

The Yukon government has approved Cash Minerals’ application for a winter road along the Wind River, but has struck down the request for a new airstrip.
Marg White, manager of land use for the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, released her seven-page decision Tuesday afternoon.
White explains in the document that it was felt there was not enough information provided to properly assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the proposed one-kilometre airstrip beside the Wind River.
Approval of both the 178-kilometre road and the airstrip was recommended by the Mayo office of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Board ( YESAB), provided the company lived up to 46 specific conditions to minimize environmental and visual impact.
The proposal by Cash Minerals has sparked passionate debate among pro-environment and pro-mining sectors. There were well over 250 submissions to the Mayo office by first nation governments, individuals, organizations and private companies.
Under the process, YESAB conducts its review and forwards its submission to the decision body, which in this case is the Yukon government because the proposal involves the use of territorial lands.
In accepting the proposal for the winter road, the Yukon government altered a number of the recommendations.
White said the company has been notified of the decision. Before Cash Minerals does any work, however, it must contact the lands branch and conduct a site visit with a government inspector to review conditions along the route prior to commencing construction, she said.
White said any additional concerns arising from the site visit open water, lack of snow will have to be addressed.
The company has not yet contacted the government, and senior company officials were in meetings this morning in Vancouver and unavailable for comment.
Cash Minerals is proposing to use the winter road over the next five years to transport fuel and equipment into three cache sites inside the Wernecke Mountains. It is planning to transport the goods on large freight sleighs pulled by D-7 Caterpillars.
Those in support of Cash Minerals proposal noted the winter road has been used off and on since it was first constructed in 1959, and is recognized in law as a winter access route. The company, they argue, has the right of reasonable access to work their mineral claims.
Opposition forces maintain the trail is largely grown in, and the pristine beauty of the area shouldn’t be jeopardized by a mining company looking to save money on air travel.
There are also existing wilderness and big game outfitters in the area whose business will be directly affected by greater industrial activity, it’s been argued.
But the Yukon Conservation Society and the local chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society vowed today to keep up their fight against the proposal.
The two conservation groups issued a letter to the government last week, suggesting the assessment process was flawed, and any approval of the project could invite a legal challenge.
Karen Baltgailis, executive director of the conservation society, said this morning they will review the decision this week, with an aim of deciding by early next week if a legal challenge will proceed.
‘I am quite surprised the decision document did not at least try to provide some mitigation for issues that we raised,’ Baltgailis said.
She pointed out information she has from a trapper in the area indicates a section of Nash Creek the company will have to cross doesn’t freeze because of a nearby hotspring, though the issue of a proposed open water crossing isn’t addressed.
The society, she said, still has a number of specific concerns. It has forwarded a letter to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to note those concerns, which the society believes could be a problem for DFO regulations, if not addressed.
Generally, Baltgailis added, the conservation society remains opposed to the project being approved while an extensive land use planning exercise for the Peel River watershed is ongoing.
The company has been using air travel to support its mineral exploration work in the Wernecke Mountains, and there is no reason it can’t keep doing so until a land use exercise is complete, she reiterated.
Mike Dehn of the wilderness society said today he shares the same outstanding concerns as Baltgailis and the conservation society, and objects to the approval without a complete land use exercise.
The government mustn’t continue its practice of weighing one project at a time, or the pristine landscape known worldwide as the Three Rivers area will be killed one project at a time, said Dehn.
He said the government needs to respect the land use process, rather than continue to undermine it.