Yukon Lawmakers pledge to support Gwitch'in Fight in ANWR

Wednesday, 25 October 2017 08:56

Premier Sandy Silver says his government will fight any and all measures to open the Refuge to oil and gas development.

As U.S. Republicans prepare to try to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska’s North to oil and gas development, the Gwitch’in Nation and the Yukon government are launching shots over the bow, intending to fight any and all measures to permitting such development. The Porcupine Caribou Herd migrate each year to ANWR to calf there. Also, the Gwtich’in depend on the Herd for sustenance and have been successful in block any attempts to development for close to 40 years.

In the Legislature Tuesday Premier Sandy Silver (Klondike) reaffirmed his commitment to protecting the Herd. “We support the protection of the Porcupine caribou herd calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the Alaskan coastal plain. We are adamantly opposed to ANWR being opened up for drilling.”

U.S. plans to lift a decades-old ban on exploring and drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are underway, with both the White House and Congress working on regulations and legislation to make it happen. The U.S. Geological Survey suggests as many as 10.4 billion barrels of oil lie beneath the surface, but other than a brief period of exploration in the 1980s, the area has been largely untouched by the oil industry.

Silver says the government will continue to support the Vuntut Gwitch’in First Nation in its efforts to keep ANWR closed. “We have signed an agreement with the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation to continue the government’s financial support of the lobbying work that they do with passion and with determination. We are meeting on Thursday with representatives from the Gwitch’in Nation, both within Yukon and the Northwest Territories. I have raised this issue with federal ministers on several occasions, ensuring that Ottawa is aware of the importance of protecting ANWR.”

“For those seeking to open ANWR for drilling, there are many, many steps still required and the Yukon government is committed to fighting against this at each and every step.”

Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Chief Bruce Charlie says he plans to reach out to Trudeau in a meeting already scheduled for early November, hoping the prime minister will flex some international political muscle with Trump to keep it that way. "We'll fight to the very end for this." Charlie called the refuge "the Serengeti of the Arctic," home to breeding grounds for Porcupine caribou as well as waterfowl from several continents, polar bears and wolves. He said seismic testing to locate the oil and the drilling itself, could have devastating impacts on the wildlife including the caribou upon which the Gwitchin people rely for sustenance and culture.

"This area is in the extreme Arctic and the environment is so fragile that even [if the exploration is done] in the surrounding area it will make a difference," said Charlie. "Once you disturb that permafrost. then anything can happen for miles and miles."

Yukon Party MLA Wade Istchenko (Kluane) pressed Silver to get ANWR included in environmental protection in current North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations. “We would like to know whether or not Yukon has asked the federal government to include ANWR as something we want protected as part of the environmental chapter of NAFTA.” Silver did not answer directly about NAFTA, but pledged to raise the issue nationally when he can.

New Democrat leader Liz Hanson (Whitehorse Centre) committed her party to supporting the Gwitch’in efforts. “We stand united with the Gwich’in people, along with the millions of other people who understand that destruction of sacred places like the calving grounds in order to access a few months’ global supply of fossil fuel is folly.”

Silver says his government intends to raise ANWR protections with Canada’s Environment Minister next week. “We will be drafting a letter to the Minister of Environment, Catherine McKenna, to reaffirm our support.” “We’re working with the federal government to determine a targeted letter campaign addressing key Congress people in the United States who can help as well, and I urge everybody in this Assembly to reach out to those key Congress people as well.” “The Minister of Environment will be attending the ministers of environment meetings next week in Vancouver and will be bringing up the issue at that table as well.”

(With files from the Canadian Press)

(Dan Jones Whitehorse, Oct. 24, 2017)

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