Torrent of responses greets Wind River road proposal

The proposal for a winter road to haul supplies up the territory's Wind River has cascaded into a mammoth debate.

The proposal for a winter road to haul supplies up the territory’s Wind River has cascaded into a mammoth debate.
It also prompted a second extension until midnight last night to the time allotted by the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) for public input.
The first extension to Dec. 6 was made because of the rapid increase in interest since Cash Minerals Ltd. first applied for the the winter road permit on Oct. 23.
The board’s Mayo district office granted a further four-day extension to the end of Monday to provide enough response time for those who attended last week’s open house sponsored by the company.
The company is seeking a permit to build a 178-kilometre winter road up the Wind River to haul and cache supplies at different sites to support the company’s exploration for gold, silver and uranium at four drill sites.
There were 268 submissions by the deadline, with 42 arriving just yesterday.
There is feverish opposition to the winter access using D-7 bulldozers pulling freight sleighs. However, there is solid support from the mining sector and those who rely on it for employment and business opportunities.
Submissions have been made by a large number of individual wilderness enthusiasts who want protection of the Bonnet Plume, Snake and Wind rivers, an area which is recognized and known around the world as the Three Rivers.
A number of conservation groups, from home and abroad, maintain it’s of the utmost importance to preserve the pristine and breathtaking nature of the expanse stretching northwest of Mayo to the Yukon-Northwest Territories border.
Existing wilderness and big game outfitting businesses say the winter road will hurt their business by re-establishing a transportation route and tainting the visual landscape, which is now seen as mostly untouched.
There is opposition by the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission, the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun, the Mayo renewable resource council and more.
On the other hand, support is coming from the mining industry, the community of Mayo, and Yukon businesses and individuals who work or benefit directly and indirectly from the territory’s exploration and mining industry.
Four Yukon government departments and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans maintain the proposal can proceed safely, provided the assessment board orders the company to take certain measures.
Others simply emphasize the Yukon’s strong bond to the mining sector, and plead its importance to the territory’s overall economic well-being.
Supporters of the proposal argue the Wind River trail has been used in the past to support transportation of supplies, as far back as 1959, when it was first established, and as recently as last year.
Opposition forces maintain whatever it was in years gone by has been largely erased by new vegetation.
Cash Minerals is looking to use the trail this winter to move in 2,000 barrels of diesel and Jet B helicopter fuel, along with drilling equipment and supplies. It’s expected 20 trips will be required.
The company is also applying to build an airstrip next to the Wind River, a specific aspect of the proposal which has also drawn staunch opposition.
The company’s application is being handled by the YESAB’s district office in Mayo. It has 14 days until Christmas Eve to forward its recommendation to the decision body, which in this case is the Yukon government.
The district office can recommend approval of the application, approval with conditions attached or rejection.
It can also recommend the application be bumped up into the assessment board’s main office in Whitehorse for a more thorough review at the board’s executive level.
Several who’ve made submissions suggest the proposal opens a Pandora’s box, so therefore must undergo the highest level of scrutiny.