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December 6 2023

Seeing With Our Own Eyes: Gladiator Metals Copper Claims around the City of Whitehorse

CPAWS Yukon Blog mining

Seeing With Our Own Eyes

Gladiator Metals Copper Claims around the City of Whitehorse

Written by Stephanie Woods, Conservation Coordinator | December 6, 2023

“It breaks my heart to see this. I’ve been hiking and biking here for 30 years. I’ve seen bears, caribou, snowshoe hares, wolverine tracks—all sorts of animals and birds. Yes, there’s some disturbance here but it’s not meant to be permanent. But disturbance is how the steamroller starts. People come and say ‘let’s do more.’”
– Sandy Johnston

Sitting behind the wheel of his well-traveled red pickup truck, Sandy Johnston drove us along rough backroads, passing piles of copper-laced blue waste rock, leftovers from the long history of copper mining in this area. All around us, highly flammable coniferous trees like spruce and pine had been removed or mulched as a part of a firebreak the Yukon Government has been installing around the perimeter of Whitehorse. Sandy sighed: the firebreak, which has required much of the forest to be removed and the ecosystem dramatically altered, has been a hard compromise for the communities of Cowley Creek, Mary Lake, Wolf Creek, and Mt. Sima. Although it was a tough sacrifice to make, Sandy, a long-time resident of Mary Lake, explained it is a necessary sacrifice to protect the city from the increasing risk of wildfire, and he’s optimistic the area will eventually recover from the disturbance.

He isn’t, however, as optimistic about the area’s ability to recover from a new copper exploration project and potential mine proposed by Gladiator Metals. The claims are within the traditional territories of Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, and near Carcross Tagish First Nation Settlement Land. Leading up to this excursion with Sandy, CPAWS Yukon heard from citizens of south Whitehorse concerned about the threat this project poses to the watersheds, landscapes, and wildlife that migrate through this area—and their own backyards.

In November 2022, Gladiator Metals, a mineral exploration company, acquired the Whitehorse Copper Project, a series of 314 claims spread throughout 5,380 hectares within the Whitehorse Mining District. The company’s claims stretch along the south and western shoulder-side of Whitehorse, from Cowley Creek, through Chasàn Chùa (McIntyre Creek), all the way to Crestview, falling within the historic Whitehorse Copper Belt, which was first discovered in 1897 and actively mined mostly between 1967 and 1982.

: Copper minerals in stone. Photo by Stephanie Woods.

: Sandy and Randi navigating at a site. Photo by Stephanie Woods.

: Mining claim. Photo by Adil Darvesh.

: Zoomed Whitehorse Copper Belt map. Created by Yukon government.

The southernmost claims are located close to the Cowley Creek neighbourhood and encroach on the neighbouring forests and beloved trails.

A long-time Yukoner and member of our board here at CPAWS Yukon, Sandy has a powerful depth of knowledge and genuine concern for the places within and adjacent to Whitehorse that are threatened by continued mining exploration. From our perspective, and that of many others within his community, Sandy is an active steward of this area he has come to know intimately, and his family has grown deep roots within its soil. On this day, Sandy rounded up some of our team–Adil Darvesh, Randi Newton, and myself–on a crisp early autumn morning to show us exactly what’s at stake.

We rumbled down the rough road, yellowing aspens and poplars shimmering in the distance, towards the first site we wanted to visit–Black Cub South. Black Cub South (locally known as the “Big Quarry”) is a former mining pit and now a current exploration target three kilometres west of the Cowley Creek neighbourhood. It is one of thirty-one historical mining turned current exploration sites through the project, each of which is known by its historical Whitehorse Copper Belt name.

A pit first mined in 1971 that has since filled with water and reflected a vibrant blue met us at the site. The colouration is likely due to copper carbonates released from previous mining. Black Cub South had clear signs of being used as a recreational site with a year-round trail network. A male bufflehead treaded gracefully through the water. Fireweed, wild rose, buffalo berry, and small bog cranberry lined the edges of the pit and neighbouring forest, revealing the native forest understory. Next, we traveled to Keewanaw (known locally as the “Small Quarry”), another old site last operational in 1971 and now a target for Gladiator Metals, where we walked the trails of mining past, seeing an old mining pit left and filled in with water, large areas of land cleared, and skeletons of machinery left behind. We listened to the rushing of water traveling over cobbles and the soothing sound of Wolf Creek, adjacent to the pit along the side of a rock road used for incoming and outgoing traffic.

: Drone view of Cowley Creek and its surrounding wetlands. Photo by Adil Darvesh.

: Old mining pit at Keewanaw. Photo by Stephanie Woods.

: Keewanaw. Photo by Stephanie Woods.

From there, we headed north to our final site of the day, Arctic Chief. The most disturbed site we had seen yet—Arctic Chief hosted a large open pit peppered with scrap metals, an old car, and garbage. Vegetation was sparse here as we overlooked the city limits. We had become quieter as the afternoon went on and we absorbed the emotional impact of what mining so close to town would mean, in a stressed ecosystem that hasn’t yet had enough time to recover.

: Deep thinking overlooking the pit. Photo by Stephanie Woods.

: The Arctic Chief, a landscape shaped by waste rock. Photo by Randi Newton.

: Sandy, Randy and Stephanie at the Arctic Chief site. Photo by Adil Darvesh.

There’s a delicate balance to be had between ecosystem recovery and community access to these environments, providing places not only to walk, relax, and play, but also to harvest traditional medicinal plants and foods, like yarrow, cranberries, and rosehips. This balance would quickly be lost with continued mineral exploration or resumed mining activities.

Mining exploration would bring in large and loud machinery, the noise of which has been well-documented to impact wildlife and the way they use disturbed areas. Exploration activities at Black Cub South will further fragment the remaining forests and vegetation not already impacted by the firebreak, and can have long-lasting impacts to water quality on the surface and in the groundwater system. Speaking for myself, it’s hard to envision further mining exploration in an area that is clearly trying to recover, an area that is important to so many: humans, animals, and plants alike.

There’s a tendency for people, companies, and governments to look at a place like Black Cub South and undervalue it because it isn’t ‘pristine’ anymore—it’s already been disturbed by industrial and human activities, so what’s the harm in a little more? This perspective not only undervalues the ecological and community value of recovering environments but is also a slippery slope, says Sandy.

“Steamrolling ahead once an ecosystem is already disturbed can act as a gateway for further environmental destruction”
– Sandy Johnston

Personally, after working for parks and protected spaces around human settlements at both the municipal and federal levels, I’ve seen this first hand: healthy ecosystems degraded from overuse and development leading to severe habitat fragmentation–and sadly, very sadly in some cases, the complete loss of an ecosystem. Stressed ecosystems on the borders of large urban centers do not need more ground disturbance, noisy machinery, human traffic, vegetation loss, or water contamination—they need protection, restoration, and stewardship to recover.

Further mining exploration and potential future activity around the city’s perimeter will further stress these locally treasured places. Gladiator Metals has already recommenced drilling activities at the Cowley Park target by late September. They have most recently been issued a Class I exploration permit for diamond drilling on some of their claims within city limits. As concerned citizens and local residents, your voices are important. Join the Citizens Concerned about the Copperbelt Facebook group, a space that brings the community together to share concerns and stories, ask questions, and learn more. We will continue to keep our ears to the ground, support community members, and advocate for the health of shared landscapes, wildlife, medicinal plants, and sacred water.

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October 25 2023

Where We Stand on the Arctic Refuge and What You Can Do

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogArcticRefuge Arctic Refuge, Porcupine caribou

Written by Laurence Fox, Campaigns Coordinator | October 25, 2023
A shortened version of this post appeared in the Wednesday, October 18th, 2023 edition of the Yukon News.

The cancellation of the remaining leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this past September was, and is, wonderful news for the Porcupine Caribou, the Gwich’in which have worked tirelessly to protect them, and everyone who loves, cares for, and wants to preserve wild places.

What comes next, though, for the Arctic Refuge?

Honestly? That’s hard to say. It’s a complicated process, legally and politically speaking. Where we’re at with the Arctic Refuge is largely contained within an 800-plus page report written in a mix of industrial mining jargon, data sets, and legally-nebulous bureaucratese that the average person needs a pot of black coffee and a thermal lance to break into, which certainly doesn’t make understanding things any easier. Having spent the last three weeks up to my eyeballs in this report I can tell you, however, that the nuts and bolts of the situation is this:

If you care about the Porcupine Caribou, wildlife conservation, climate change, First Nation rights and sovereignty, Canadian-American relations, the fundamental principles of democracy, or any combination thereof you should be paying attention to this.

Photo by Peter Mather.

Here’s why:

Way back in 2017, the Trump Administration passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which, as the name implies, was mostly about cutting taxes and creating jobs in the name of incentivizing economic growth. As you would quite reasonably expect, cutting taxes means less money for government spending, and the Tax Act was expected to cost around US$1.9 trillion, or about the same as the total GDP of Canada for the same year.

To help offset the upfront costs of this, the Trump Administration slapped a rider on the tail end of the Tax Act (page 182 of 185, specifically) authorizing the sale of oil and gas leases in the “1002 Area” of the Coastal Plains within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge–around 1.5 million acres of sea-swept, mountain-rimmed Northern wilderness which also happens to contain the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, sacred to the Gwich’in.

(Not to spoil the ending for you, but the first round of lease sales generated a paltry US$16.5 million, or about one percent of what had been expected.)

To make these lease sales happen, however, the legislation which governs the Arctic Refuge, had to be altered. Prior to 2017, the Arctic Refuge had four express purposes: to conserve animals and plants in their natural diversity, to ensure a place for subsistence hunting and gathering activities, to protect water quality and quantity, and to fulfill international wildlife treaty obligations. When it passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the Trump Administration added a fifth; to “provide for an oil and gas leasing program within the Coastal Plain.”

The Act also directs the Secretary of the Interior to “establish and administer a competitive oil and gas program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas in and from the Coastal Plains,” making it a legal obligation to ensure lease sales happen.

What that means is that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act makes oil and gas leasing an express, legal purpose of the refuge, regardless of who the President or the Secretary of Interior is. To this end, it specifies not only how much of the area must be put up for oil and gas leasing– a minimum of 400,000 acres, or an area about the size of Tombstone Territorial Park–but also requires no less than two leasing sales be held, the second of which must be held no later than December 2024.

In other words, the U.S. government unilaterally decided to not only start an oil and gas leasing program in the middle of a wildlife refuge, a move in direct conflict with the original intentions of the Arctic Refuge, smack dab in the middle of the Porcupine Caribou Herd’s calving grounds, but made it illegal not to do so.

Under American law, when something like oil and gas leasing in the Arctic Refuge is proposed, it triggers the need for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). An EIS assesses the potential impacts of a project on both people and the environment and then makes recommendations about whether or not that project should proceed, and with what mitigations in place. Moreover, the government agency proposing the project is in charge of compiling the EIS and deciding if what it wants to do is okay after the EIS is complete. Although all projects have to work within Federal, state, and local environmental laws, it’s up to the agency–in this case, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)– to determine their application within its EIS.

An EIS is supposed to look at all the potential environmental and human costs and benefits of a project, design ‘alternatives’–imaginary scenarios used to create baseline expectations about how a project might impact an area under differing development situations–consult scientists, experts and the community about those situations, and then make a decision based on those alternatives and the feedback around them. In this case, however, the administration wasn’t looking at whether or not the leases should be issued, but under what conditions they would be issued.

The Trump Administration had made it a foregone conclusion that those leases had to be offered up for sale, whether anyone wanted them to be sold (or wanted to buy them) or not.

If this sounds a bit like telling students to turn in their homework, grade their own assignments, and then decide if they’ve passed or failed the course, that’s only because it is– and that’s exactly what happened with the initial EIS issued in 2019 under the Trump Administration.

The 2019 EIS ultimately recommended all 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plains be put up for leasing, with the fewest restrictions and the most aggressive development options possible. Most of the recently canceled leases–there were seven of them, all held by the State of Alaska, a handful and a half of the 11 sold in early 2021–were all issued under the original EIS. That EIS was, as you would expect, found to be so legally, methodically, and scientifically flawed that the Biden Administration ordered the whole thing binned like Tuesday’s tuna sandwich on a Friday afternoon.

One of the first things incoming-President Joe Biden did in 2021 was throw a hold on all development in the Arctic Refuge and order a Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) be undertaken. This SEIS restarted the consultation process–if not from square one then from square two or three–which technically makes it a mulligan more than a “supplement.”

This brings us to where we are now, being asked to comment a second time on an environmental assessment which is inherently flawed because it legally has to conclude that leasing in the Arctic Refuge will take place.

Okay… so now what?

The bad news is that there’s no way to stop the lease sale–no matter what happens, they are going to put a minimum of 400,000 acres up for potential development. The law says they have to. The only way to stop it would be to change the law, and the political will doesn’t exist for that in Washington.

The good news is while it’s not perfect, this EIS is still better than the original, and offers better alternatives with more restrictions on development. Of the three alternative development scenarios being practically considered by BLM, one (almost) fully protects the Porcupine Caribou Herd’s calving grounds from development.

Moreover lease sales are not the same thing as development in the Arctic Refuge. They don’t just get a piece of paper that says “sure, go ahead and drill here” and start building oil wells the next day–they may buy a lease and never develop it. Likewise, when the first leases were made available, it was with the fewest possible restrictions on development, and even then the industry found them about as appetizing as a wet bologna sandwich and made very few bids. Just because leases are made available doesn’t mean anyone is actually going to buy them. The ultimate hope is that decision makers will choose the most restrictive scenario that best protects the Porcupine Caribou Herd and all the other treasures of refuge, a scenario that is at odds with making developing the Arctic Refuge a good business choice.

This is all… frustrating at best, but the fight isn’t over. There’s still time for action. For one thing, you can actually go and comment on the SEIS. Tell the U.S. government you won’t accept any development in the Arctic Refuge. You can pop over to the CPAWS Yukon website and sign our campaign letter, or you can write your own.

Photo by Ken Madsen.

You can also support the Arctic Refuge and the Porcupine Caribou by talking about the Arctic Refuge; share a post, tell your friends, tweet about it.

A bunch of rich people want to roll into what’s ostensibly a wildlife refuge and start putting holes in the ground where the Porcupine Caribou raise their babies so they can slurp up oil and gas and walk away a little bit richer than they were before.

Does that seem right to you? Does that seem like something that’s good? Do you think it’s possible to have a wildlife refuge remain a refuge if you turn it into an oilfield?

I don’t think that’s even remotely possible, I don’t think that’s right and I don’t think that’s good.

If you don’t either, then say something. The Arctic Refuge needs you too.

September 29 2023

How Conservation and Reconciliation are linked

CPAWS Yukon Blog

How Conservation and Reconciliation are linked

IPCA’s as part of the journey of Reconciliation

Written by Joti Overduin, Outreach Manager | September 29, 2023

The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is nearing. My thoughts about what it means are rising and falling to the sound of waves, and the smell of the Pacific rainforest – from Tla-o-qui-aht lands and waters, or ha-houlth-ee in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. Most folks are familiar with this area as Tofino, or Clayquot Sound.

The reason that this area has clean waters and healthy rainforests is because of the vision, courage, and determination of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. Almost 40 years ago they declared the first Tribal Park in Canada – Wah-nuh-jus – Hilth-hoo-is, (Meares Island), after it was slated for clear cutting in the 70’s. Because of this declaration, and the years of work that came after, the trees that the Tla-o-qui-aht people have lived alongside, and in deep relationship with long before colonization, are still standing.

I have been able to spend time in this place during this important week of reflection, learning with the Iisaak Olam Foundation at the Clayoquot Campus about Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. While here I have had the opportunity to listen and learn from Elders and other Tla-o-qui-aht members, whose lives have been and still are intertwined with the creation of that first Tribal Park in 1984.

In speaking with people here, Elders and others, the impacts of Residential Schools and the other destructive strategies in the Indian Act, a piece of Canadian law meant to control and eradicate Indigenous cultures, continue to be felt deeply by all. Here, and on that same island was where The Christie Residential School was built and run 1900.

At a very young age, children were taken away from their families to attend the school, where they would be treated as less than human, neglected, and even abused. Many died there. The school only officially stopped operating in 1983 – the longest in BC, and only one year prior to the declaration of Wah-nuh-jus – Hilth-hoo-is, Meares Island Tribal Park.

When listening to the Elders and others here, and back home in the Yukon, what is clear is that true Reconciliation is more than a one-day event. While having a national day of recognition is important, it’s only a very small part of the dramatic shifts and changes needed for Reconciliation to have meaning.

Governments have been inconsistent, slow and sometimes outright resistant or obstructive when it comes to taking the deep and meaningful actions and policy changes that would truly support meaningful healing and reconciliation for the harms done, and continue to unfold.

CPAWS Yukon, and other conservation organizations also have a dark and destructive past with Indigenous Peoples that we need to reconcile. Colonially founded organizations like ours have taken part either directly or indirectly in the removal of Indigenous peoples from their lands, or at the very least perpetuated the narrative that people are separate from nature. There is a long history of behaving in a harmfully paternalistic way when it comes to conservation and Indigenous Nations.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report states: “Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. In order for that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, an acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes and action to change behaviour”.

For those of us who are not Indigenous, guests on the lands we live and work in, we can wear an orange shirt, or read an article to learn more about the heart-breaking truths of residential schools. These are important parts of the journey, to see the invisible constructs and harmful worldviews that we live in and amongst.

We also need to understand that our Indigenous hosts and friends live orange shirt day every single day. One important lesson I’ve heard from many different teachers and cultures, is that none of us are separate. We are all connected, and what harms some of us, harms all of us.

Indigenous cultures and teaching recognize this interconnectedness, and have for time immemorial. As we all face the insurmountable crises of climate change, and biodiversity loss, it’s Indigenous peoples that have the knowledge, wisdom and relationships with the natural world we are also a part of that could lead us back from the brink of destruction. Reconciliation doesn’t end with Indigenous peoples, it also needs to happen with the rest of the planet that is being harmed. It’s no coincidence that these are linked.

While this may seem like a challenging path, or one that needs a path to follow, there has already been much work done, like the recommendations from the Indigenous Circle of Experts. Despite governments not always moving fast or steady enough when Indigenous groups give clear recommendations, organizations like CPAWS Yukon and individual Canadians can all help move this work forward. We can support Indigenous Nations in both Reconciliation and Indigenous-led conservation and land guardian initiatives.

If you don’t know already, learn the history of which Indigenous Nations’ homelands you are living and working in, and always include that when you tell others about where you live. Get curious about the people who took care of the land on which you live and what initiatives these Nations are currently pursuing. A simple place to start for a national context is by reading the first two pages of We Rise Together. Open your heart to being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and recognize we need to understand our past to know not only our present, but also a path forward.

September 25 2023

Leases Have Been Canceled In The Arctic Refuge–Now What?

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogArcticRefuge

Leases Have Been Canceled In The Arctic Refuge–Now What?

The Announcement Is Great News For The Refuge–But The Fight Is Far From Over

Written by Laurence Fox, Campaigns Coordinator | September 25, 2023

On September 6, the Biden Administration canceled the seven remaining– and much-contested– oil and gas leases within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd.

Undeniably, this is a huge win not only for the Arctic Refuge itself, but for Gwich’in on both sides of the border, their conservation allies, and the thousands of animals–caribou, polar bears, Arctic foxes and 200-some species of migratory birds, to name a few—which breed, feed, and live on the coastal plains. It’s the strongest move towards protection for the Arctic Refuge–and the Porcupine caribou– since the Trump Administration first announced it was reopening the region to oil and gas extraction in 2017.

Wildlife of the Arctic Refuge. Photos by Malkolm Boothroyd.

So. What does that mean?

It means celebrations are in order, along with gratitude for the decision, the political will behind it, and the tireless advocacy spearheaded by the Gwich’in Steering Committee, which made it possible.

It also means that, although we may have won this particular battle, the work is far from over.

The fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been long, fraught, and complicated. What we need to understand right now is that just because these leases have been repealed does not mean the Arctic Refuge is protected – it just means these specific leases in these particular places are no longer on the table at this time, with the previously agreed upon buyers.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into action by the Trump Administration in 2017 not only mandated the sale of the oil and gas leases within the 1002 area of the Arctic Refuge–smack dab in the heart of the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd–but requires the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior to “establish and administer a competitive oil and gas program for the leasing, development, production, and transportation of oil and gas in and from” the region. The Act also requires that no less than two lease sales be held. As long as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is in effect, those sales must take place. The Department of the Interior is obligated to hold them.

What that really means is that, unless something dramatically changes–and fast– it’s not a matter of if another lease sale will be held, but when.

Once we’ve all taken a breather, the next matter to turn our attention to is the Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), which was mandated to address the noted flaws and blatant favouritism the previous Environmental Impact Statement showed towards oil and gas development. The report will help determine where, when, and how aggressively drilling for oil in the Arctic Refuge will take place, and heavily impact the number, type, and environmental oversights in place on the next round of leases.

Porcupine Caribou Herd in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Porcupine caribou herd. Photo by Peter Mather.

In the coming weeks, we at CPAWS are going to be diving deep into the SEIS to understand what, exactly, this second round of environmental assessments has found–and if it’s any more sound than the original. Please be patient with us while we do this, because at nearly 700 pages, this report is huge (and that’s just Volume One). Sign up for our newsletter to stay updated.

Send a Letter to Protect The Arctic

Repealing these leases is a win in that it rights a wrong; realistically, however, we’ve simply broken even. Our own complacency is the strongest weapon that those who would see the Arctic Refuge torn up and exploited for oil and gas extraction in the name of profit have to wield against its would-be protectors. To make real gains, we need to do more than hold our position–we need to push back against the front lines. If we learned anything from the decades-long battle to protect the Peel Watershed, it’s that until we have legislation that fully, permanently, and legally protects the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas extraction now and into the future, we’re not done fighting.

The lease cancellation is a welcome gift–one that could become a Trojan horse, however, if we don’t continue to work together to see the Arctic Refuge permanently protected from oil and gas extraction.

September 20 2023

Connecting to the Land Through Plants

CPAWS Yukon Blog

Connecting to the Land Through Plants

Native plant reclamation with the First Nation of Na-Cho-Nyäk Dun and Yukon Seed and Restoration

Written by Stephanie Woods, Conservation Coordinator | September 20, 2023

The wild Ninchún (prickly rose) was just starting to open from bud to bloom as we turned onto the dirt road that meandered through an old forest fire burn site and traveled into a rich forest full of k’i (paper birch). The ts’ok denéht’ro (black spruce), t’o (trembling aspen), and blooming ts’ago (Labrador tea) guided the way to Ethel Lake, a sacred and alive place, on the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (FNNND).

Ninchún (prickly rose), ts’ok (spruce), and k’ay (willow) at Ethel Lake.

A few weeks prior, CPAWS had joined the FNNND gathering to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of signing their Final Agreement. Helaina Moses, a Councillor with FNNND, excitedly shared her passion for native seed, restoration, and youth training around the lunch table.

“You should come to see it for yourself,” she encouraged as she invited us to join the first three days of an eight-day youth training program.

Aiden, CPAWS Yukon’s summer intern, and I arrived the evening prior, providing time and space to introduce ourselves to the hosts, land, and water. I sat on the shores of Ethel Lake, breathing it in, while Aiden took the plunge into the cold and welcoming lake. We both took in the peace of the elements on the porch that evening, listening to the rustling of leaves in the wind and the evening song of birds. We said sweet dreams to the mosquitos and turned in for the night, excited for the following morning.

Aiden on the porch at Ethel Lake and a welcome sign he created for the arriving students. I worked on my first beadwork project before training started.

Northern Tutchone youth gathered for the event to learn about native plants and reclamation on their traditional territories. The program was developed in collaboration with Yukon Seed and Restoration, a First Nations-owned environmental restoration company, and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

Youth learned about plant identification, technical field skills, and planning for fieldwork in remote places. The group learned how to distinguish the layers of vegetation, for example, the difference between a herb, shrub, and tree layer when analyzing a 1m x 1m plant plot. Traditional Ecological Knowledge was woven through the technical teachings as the group learned the Northern Tutchone names for each plant, as well as how to harvest seeds in an honourable and reciprocal way — when we take, we give back.

Once disturbed, the natural evolutionary makeup of native plant communities is nearly impossible to replicate and return to its original state. The relationships between plants, soil, and the elements are intricate and complex, having evolved and found balance over large scales of time. Successful native plant reclamation requires a connection with the land, technical and thoughtful planning, as well as consistent monitoring.

Helaina threaded stories and insights throughout the training. She shared the history of the FNNND culture that encompasses a deep and interwoven connection with the land and plants. Adrienne Hill, a FNNND citizen and respected member of the community, shared information and feelings on the complex political context of signing their Final Agreement and what that looks like now. There was space held for healing that recognized the traumatizing and painful history of colonialism and environmental destruction. Traditional Ecological Knowledge, western science, and space holding spun together to provide this unique offering of healing and learning on the land. FNNND citizens echoed motivation throughout the teachings for youth to become involved in environmental reclamation and monitoring, as well as land guardianship that protects their values within the Northern Tutchone region.

On the evening of the second day, we gathered ts’ok tips to make spruce-tip tea, and ts’ago flowers to make Labrador tea. The plants became a part of us with each sip. Nanette Richard of Silverberry Pro’s truck (right) brought the message home.

Future land use planning in the Northern Tutchone region will include restoration and reclamation guidelines. Training and paid opportunities such as these empower youth to conduct Indigenous-led land guardianship and protection now and in the future.

The voice and active participation of Indigenous youth are needed more than ever. Mining sites are extensive, land developments are ongoing, and there is a clear need for native plant reclamation on these disturbed sites. Native plant reclamation is not only a phase of a project or development but an essential and empowering part of the healing process on the land and within the community.

It was our privilege to be part of, and actively participate in this opportunity, learning alongside youth. I feel gratitude for being invited to such an event and working with an organization, such as CPAWS Yukon. CPAWS supports on-the-land and on-the-water opportunities for Indigenous peoples on their traditional territories, committed to being of service where appropriate and needed.

Group activities included identifying three parts that make up each species of plant and the cultural practice of dreamcatcher weaving.

Before we departed Ethel Lake, Aiden and I participated in a group activity that we had helped prepare for throughout our stay. We were instructed to gather three separate parts of each species of plant, for example, the stem, leaves, and buds of Ninchún (prickly rose), or the cones, bark, and tips of degay ts’ok (white spruce), and so on. While harvesting, I offered a strand of my hair in reciprocity – when we take, we give back. During the group activity, each part of the plant, like each strand of a braid, came together to form the visualization of one whole species of plant.

The cover of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s famous novel Braiding Sweetgrass comes to mind. Traditional Ecological Knowledge, western science, and plants are the strands of a braid that are highly interconnected and stronger when woven into one. Each strand helps heal and strengthens the other, for we are in this work of healing, learning, and restoring, together. As we turned back onto the paved road back to Whitehorse, we marveled at all of the purple Shràttha (bear root) and yellow tl’o nan ka neshį’ (locoweed) in bloom on the roadside, lighting our way home.

The Northern Tutchone Seed Collection and Reclamation Training Initiative would not be possible without the dedicated support from our funders. This initiative is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Skills and Partnership Fund.

August 9 2023

Op-Ed: Unsteady ownership made Minto a disaster waiting to happen

CPAWS Yukon Blog, Uncategorized

Written by Malkolm Boothroyd | August 6, 2023
Photo from Google Earth, Minto Mine and Yukon River.

Read the full editorial as published in the Yukon News on August 6th, 2023.

—

Unsteady ownership made Minto a disaster waiting to happen

This spring the Minto Mine shuttered, leaving dozens out of work and tens of millions in unpaid bills and royalties.

The Yukon public is on the hook for much of the clean up costs. Many explanations have been offered up for the financial struggles that ultimately sunk Minto.

People have blamed volatile copper prices, the pandemic and spring snowmelt straining the mine’s capacity to treat water. One contractor suggested investors were scared off when the Yukon government requested a higher security bond from Minto. Minto may have been the victim of volatile circumstances, but mining is a volatile business. One study found that around the world, as many as three quarters of mines close unexpectedly or prematurely.

There is a simple explanation for what went wrong at Minto. The company that bought Minto had no business owning a major mining operation and the territory’s outdated mining laws could do little to safeguard the Yukon against the inevitable collapse.

The Minto mine got a new owner in 2019. At the time of the sale, Minto had been operating for over a decade and was nearing the end of its life. Still, the mine was in reasonably safe hands, as far as covering environmental costs went. Back then, Minto was owned by Capstone Mining Corp. Today, Capstone is valued at nearly $4.5 billion, putting it among the world’s 100 wealthiest mining companies. Capstone certainly had the financial resources to care for Minto. It could have implemented the mine’s clean up and closure plan, and the Yukon public wouldn’t have had to foot the bill. Instead, the company chose to sell Minto. As Capstone wrote in annual reports, it sought “value maximizing alternatives” for Minto, and for the company to have “no further obligation with respect to the closure” of the mine.

Capstone found a buyer in UK-based Pembridge Resources. The two companies could not have been more dissimilar. At the time of the sale, Capstone was a fully fledged mining company that also operated mines in the US, Mexico and Chile. Pembridge had never operated a mine before.

Pembridge got off to a rough start. The company’s initial attempt to purchase Minto collapsed after the company failed to raise enough capital. Pembridge was eventually forced to take millions of loans from American hedge funds, in return giving up ownership of nearly 90 per cent of Minto. A Pembridge subsidiary, Minto Metals Corp subsequently took control of the mine.

Minto restarted production in 2019, but without functional water treatment facilities. Contaminated water steadily accumulated, while the mine’s water storage capacity shrunk, eventually falling below the minimum levels required by its water license. In 2022, due in large part to water treatment issues, the Yukon government requested an additional $18 million in financial security, which Minto failed to pay. That same year, Minto announced it would invest $8 million in water treatment, but was unable to resolve its water crisis. This spring Minto Metals’ Board of Directors resigned and the company abandoned Minto.

Still, not everyone lost out as a result of this mess. Pembridge’s CEO earned the equivalent of $1.5 million Canadian dollars the year of the Minto sale. Capstone sold Minto for $20 million US and got to walk away from the mine.

Just six years after Yukon Zinc walked away from the Wolverine Mine, the Yukon has been saddled with another abandoned mine to care for. There are parallels between Minto and Wolverine — both allowed too much contaminated water to pile up, both were plagued by financial hardships and both failed to pay tens of millions in financial security to the Yukon government. A report by the accounting giant PWC detailed what went wrong at Wolverine, parts of which could be cut and pasted into a report about Minto. For example, PWC wrote that Yukon Zinc was a small, risky company, whose profits were vulnerable to changes in metal prices. Yukon Zinc “allowed liabilities to increase at the site, a decision that was influenced by their financial difficulties.” According to PWC, the Yukon government was unaware of many of the financial troubles at Yukon Zinc. The firm wrote that the Yukon should be conducting comprehensive risk assessments of mining companies before granting them licenses.

The Yukon government wanted to see Minto’s life extended, even if it meant a more fragile company taking control of the mine. After Pembridge’s first attempt to purchase Minto fell through, the then premier told the legislative assembly that his government was “hoping that [Capstone] can strike a deal with Pembridge.”

Five years later, the public is responsible for cleaning up Minto. Many red flags might have appeared had there been a risk assessment on Pembridge Resources prior to the sale of Minto. Unfortunately, as currently written, the Yukon’s mining laws don’t require checking to see if a company is a financial disaster waiting to happen.

Hopefully the Yukon government’s lawyers are figuring out if Capstone, or any of the American hedge funds that bankrolled the Minto purchase, can be held accountable for some of the clean up costs. At the same time, the Yukon should make sure that this can’t happen again. The Yukon is in the midst of rewriting its archaic mining laws and new legislation should prevent risky companies from undertaking massive environmental liabilities. Before issuing permits, the Yukon government should assess the financial stability of the companies responsible. Mining companies with moderate financial risk should be required to post higher security in advance. Corporations with high financial risk should not get permits unless they can find more robust companies to guarantee their projects.

Money, of course, is only one dimension of mining. It’s impossible to put a price on salmon runs, healthy caribou herds or the connections that people hold with the land and water. Minto’s financial story is easier to work out, but we have to learn the right lessons from it. Some will try to paint Minto’s downfall as the result of exceptional circumstances. The truth is mines fail all the time. Companies like Pembridge shouldn’t be trusted to oversee massive environmental risks if they can’t withstand a couple of rough years. It’s time to update our mining laws to help ensure that more mines don’t end up in the hands of volatile companies.

August 1 2023

StoryMap: Coexistence & Caution

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogMcIntytreCreek

July 31 2023

A journey of carving and dance for caribou

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogArcticRefuge

Written by Aiden Duncan, Conservation Intern
July 31, 2023

Tansi! As a Cree/Metis 2spirit man originally from Manitoba my culture is very important to me, so I have always had a passion for protecting the environment. My grandmother attended Indian day school so my family suffered a loss of culture, but as I have gotten older I have started learning about my peoples traditional views on conservation and how that ties into modern day science, and my love for the environment. Over the years I have done everything I can to reconnect with my culture. Whether it be through art, ceremony, teachings, nature or other evolving practices.

This summer I want to gather people from all different walks of life and cultures, and to celebrate our individuality, spirit, and passion for what unites us. There are so many different interests, hobbies, and beliefs that can all be connected to conservation and protecting the environment. For me that is my culture, art, and the land that we share with all the other beings that walk among us.

As part of my internship with CPAWS Yukon, I will be carving a traditional Indigenous transformation mask and sharing my journey with you. For centuries Indigenous people have shared knowledge in a way that today can sometimes get lost. Teachings were not kept on paper, but passed on through music, dance, and art.

Draft mask design by Aiden Duncan.

It is a common misconception that Indigenous people want to return to living completely off the land in teepees. That kind of lifestyle isn’t a reality anymore due to climate change, environmental issues, and how society runs today. We want to keep our culture alive and remind people that it’s important to look at traditional ways of living when talking about conservation in today’s world. Sometimes “conservation” can be difficult to grasp, but approaching big daunting ideas through traditional teachings and community is key to understanding.

The mask will be accompanied by a series of powwow dances that tell the story of the Porcupine caribou and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, located just across the Yukon-Alaska border. Often referred to as “America’s Serengeti,” the Arctic Refuge is an essential space for over 200 different species from the mighty Ice bear to the smallest baby loon. The area is home to many animals, and a sacred and safe space for many who may just need a temporary home, like the Porcupine caribou.

Photo by Peter Mather.

The refuge provides protection and stability for the Porcupine caribou. It is an important stop along their journey of 2400 kilometers, the longest land migration in the world, through Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Here they give birth to their calves, and the amazing wild space provides nutrients for the calves and moms to stay strong and grow.

Not only does the Arctic Refuge keep the caribou alive, it is also a lifeline for Indigenous people like the Gwich’in who depend on them. These animals nourish communities in need and help them keep their culture alive. The Porcupine caribou herd is one of the healthiest in the world thanks to the Gwich’in peoples efforts to protect these beautiful animals and their wild spaces, all while treating them with respect and honour.

Back home in Manitoba, boreal caribou are listed as a threatened species provincially and federally. Their population is decreasing, and the caribou aren’t traveling as far south as they used to because of urban development. When I visit museums and see beautiful historical creations using caribou hide, I feel disconnected from my ancestors. One of the most important reasons to protect these animals is to preserve the traditional teachings in northern communities. It can be hard to grasp just how much that could affect a person, but I know. I live in a place where those teachings have been lost over time, although many people are trying to revitalize and preserve them.

The population of Porcupine caribou is increasing by 3.7% per year, so sometimes it is easy for us to push loss out of our minds. Unfortunately, that can change quickly and drastically. As barren-ground caribou, their species is considered threatened across Canada. While there isn’t any active drilling in the Arctic Refuge right now, oil and gas development has long threatened the refuge. The herd is very vulnerable.

My project will share the story of the Porcupine caribou. I hope it draws people in and peaks their curiosity. The mask will represent the circle of life, and the dances will share the migration, strength, and beauty of the caribou, along with the struggles they face. I believe when people learn a meaningful story or even make a small change to live a more eco-friendly life, it can deepen other connections to the land and the wildlife that live among us. Nature is something that connects all of us together, and it isn’t too late to protect the Arctic Refuge. We need to take steps towards a better tomorrow for ourselves and for our future generations.

Photo by Malkolm Boothroyd.

June 29 2023

Embracing intuition and connection at COP15

CPAWS Yukon Blog

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Written by Joti Overduin, Outreach Manager
June 29, 2023

I feel so grateful for the opportunity to witness, fully listen, and learn at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in the unceded territory of the Kanien’keha:ka, Montréal. I witnessed so many inspiring people generously share their stories. All of them working so hard for what they believe in – for many things that align with my beliefs and that I want to support.

My first morning at COP15 I walked in disoriented and ungrounded from the jet-lag, exhausted from the unrelenting months prior, and with a heart broken from the tragic and unfair death of a beautiful First Nation woman that I care about very much.

I need to start with this because I’ve learned that it’s important to situate oneself, on multiple levels. How I came into those rooms in Montréal matters. How each of us enter into all spaces matters.

Everything we hear and work to understand is filtered through our life experiences. Throughout COP15 I was trying to understand the role of CPAWS Yukon, and my role personally in our collective work addressing the twin crises of our time, climate change and biodiversity loss (aka massive losses of life across the globe). My mind and heart were also working to process and make sense of the loss of a dear friend, and trying to find some healing from the sufferingthat her death highlighted. She is one of too many beautiful young people that have been lost here in the North, and the pain and grief is reverberating throughout so many families and communities. I don’t see these crises as separate to this.

This is why I am so grateful for what I encountered on my first day after stumbling my way into COP15 and navigating through police-armed entrances with airport-style security screening. In the brightly lit and spacious Nature Positive Pavilion, I was relieved to find an empty seat beside friend and colleague Katie Morrison (one of those strong, talented and very quiet, humble leaders), from the CPAWS Southern Alberta Chapter.

Soon after sitting down, Patti Saulis, member of the Maliseet tribe of Indigenous people, was introduced to open the event. Patti wore a long skirt with a very large and beautiful salmon sewn onto the front. She later explained that this was very much intentional, as she and her people are working very hard to bring their salmon back from the brink of extinction, and having that salmon with her gives her strength.

Patti first explained to everyone that what she was doing with us was more accurately described as an invocation. An invocation goes beyond an opening ceremony and accesses our intuition. We were all about to have important stories, perspectives, and experiences shared with us, she said, something that requires and deserves us to listen with more than our ears. This immediately brought me back to my first week in the Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Program with Iisaak Olam and Victoria Island University where we were welcomed into Tla-O-Qui-Aht Lands by Gisele Martin, Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks Guardian and educator, outdoor guide, public speaker, land vision coordinator, and artist. Gisele welcomed us in her Nuu-chah-nulth language, and explained that part of what she said was a request for us to listen, not just with our ears but with our whole body, mind, spirit, heart, and intuition. This is what allows for real understanding.

Speakers at the CPAWS Panel included Patti Saulis, Matthew Munson, Stephanie Thorassie, and Wanli Ou.

Patti’s invocation was a song, she referred to it as the River Song, one that connects us to our own waters, and brings our grandmothers and grandfathers here with us and all of their wisdom as we talk about the future. As Patti so generously sang and shared this invocation with us, I was brought out of my head and back into my soul. I felt grounded into my whole being, allowing me to fully listen and see and understand what was about to be shared with me over the course of my next five days at the conference. I felt the presence of my ancestors, none who had roots in Canada but nonetheless rooted to waters in other parts of the globe, and my own deep connection to water throughout my life. I thought about people who lived, traveled, and have such deep knowledge and connection to the clear, beautiful and powerful mountain rivers throughout the North. Tears flowed down my cheeks silently and steadily, not unlike a river. The first of multiple times throughout the conference.

This was not what I had expected coming into a UN Convention. But why not? Why shouldn’t we all expect this – to open in a good way? To invoke all of our intuitions collectively so that we can be fully present as we work together on some of the most important issues of our time?

It was clear from the first moment of my first day that the world has an opportunity to learn a great deal from Indigenous neighbours and friends. I felt, and continue to feel, hopeful after witnessing this inside of such a large and seemingly impenetrable and political conference.

Many things that seem separate or have separate titles, policies, working groups, and government departments are so much more clearly interconnected. Reconciliation, inclusion, respect, solving the crises of our time, and healing ourselves – these are not separate things. There is no small number of people impacted by these things, and no small number who care. Finding more ways to work together and support each other has already proven how much can be done, and I am excited to find more ways of doing this in my own life.

May 31 2023

Op-Ed: Poor water management, not Mother Nature, to blame for Minto mine’s water woes

CPAWS Yukon Blog mining

Written by Randi Newton | May 31, 2023
Photo from Google Earth, Minto Mine and Yukon River.

Sources for this letter are either hyperlinked or available on the Yukon Water Board’s website Waterline. Click on the links or hover over any other green text for the title of the source and other information. You can find steps to access these sources from Waterline at the bottom of the page.

Read the full editorial as published in the Yukon News on May 31st, 2023.

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Poor water management, not Mother Nature, to blame for Minto mine’s water woes

The departure of Minto Metals has saddled the Yukon with another abandoned mine. Employees were abruptly let go, royalties and many businesses left unpaid, and the Yukon government has been burdened with huge pits of contaminated water.

The government is now rightly focused on managing the site to ensure snowmelt doesn’t overwhelm the tailings pits. Otherwise, contaminated water could flow into Minto Creek, and ultimately the Yukon River. Later it will be time to unravel what went wrong, identify weaknesses in the territory’s regulatory regime, and hopefully put meaningful changes in place.

To figure out the right solutions, we need an accurate picture of the factors that led to the surplus of contaminated water and the mine’s eventual downfall. However, some of the current narratives about the mine’s water woes place too much accountability on Mother Nature, instead of poor water management. A good example is Minto Metals’ press release from April 20th. It paints a picture of the company being overwhelmed by a monstrous snowmelt, despite undertaking Herculean water treatment efforts. The release notes that Minto had faced a snowpack of 417% above normal, but still managed to discharge over 1.4 million cubic metres of water in 2022, “more than double what was cumulatively discharged over the prior 7 years.”

However, this leaves out key pieces of the story. For much of those prior seven years, Minto mine did not have a functioning water treatment plant and, year after year, was treating and discharging very little water.

Minto’s annual records show that the water treatment plant started to struggle in 2017 , when the mine was still owned by Capstone Mining. Challenged by low copper prices, Capstone put the mine into care and maintenance in 2018 and did not operate the plant that year. Pembridge Resources purchased the mine in June of 2019. The company restarted milling ore by October, but didn’t treat or move any water offsite that year.

While milling allowed Pembridge Resources to start making revenue, milling also contaminates a lot of water which then needs treatment before it can be safely discharged. If not treated, this water has to be stored, but tailings pits can only hold so much water.

Minto mine has faced water challenges in the past. Capstone relied on emergency discharges in 2009, so it’s puzzling why the new operators waited so long to try restarting the plant. It wasn’t until the spring of 2022, nearly three years after purchasing the mine, that the water treatment plant was finally brought back online by Minto Metals (who had by then taken over from parent company Pembridge Resources). But these efforts came too late.

Minto Metals had already notified the Yukon government in December 2021 that the mine’s water storage capacity had dropped below 1,000,000 cubic metres. That’s a safeguard required by the mine’s water licence, meant to reduce the risk of spring snowmelt overwhelming the mine’s tailings ponds.

In a follow-up memo, Minto Metals further explained that water had been allowed to accumulate at the mine since 2017 and that the setup of the existing water treatment plant “was insufficient to consistently remove water from site.” The company noted that their efforts to treat water in spring and summer of 2021 were not successful, leading them to hire a firm in the fall to improve the water treatment plant.

The Yukon government recognized the mine’s climbing liabilities, and in early 2022 increased Minto Metal’s financial security by $21 million. When the company missed the payment deadline, the government put the mine on restricted operating conditions. This allowed the mine to operate but not reduce its water storage capacity (meaning that if tailings were placed in the pits, at least as much water needed to be treated and discharged).

Minto Metals did not meet the conditions, failing to treat enough water to offset the tailings it continued to place in the pits. This April, a government mining inspector noted that the mine had lost over 200,000 cubic metres of storage. This was the result of continuing to deposit tailings and contaminated water, in a year the mine was meant to be gaining water storage capacity.

By the time Minto Metals abandoned the mine this May, storage capacity had plummeted to 318,000 cubic metres, less than a third of their water licence requirement. The Yukon government now sits ready to pump spring flood water into a previously mined pit. While this effort will likely keep contaminated water from spilling into the Yukon River, it also means that the site’s water liabilities will continue to climb for some time. Fortunately it appears that the Yukon government kept a much more watchful eye on Minto than the Wolverine mine, and was able to quickly jump into action.

This water management saga at Minto is akin to filling a bathtub with water, only to pull the plug and realize the drain was clogged. To make matters worse, the nature of mining meant that the tap kept flowing. While spring snowmelt added to the tub each year, so did water from the mill and from dewatering the underground mine. Save for a break of a few weeks, Minto continued to process ore, which added large amounts of contaminated water to the tailings pits year after year.

So while it is true that Minto Metals eventually managed to start treating and discharging water, and did face challenging years of snow, the full picture is that the efforts to treat water came too late, and the high snow years simply exposed the mine’s failure to manage risk.

While running the water treatment at the outset and shutting down the mill for a longer stretch would have obviously bought more time to focus on water treatment, it also would have gouged Minto Metals’ revenue. Companies are built to generate profits but managing environmental risks, like contaminated water, can be expensive. I say this not to excuse what happened, but to point out how important it is for the regulatory system to drive companies to act responsibly and avoid reaching a point where few good options exist.

Minto mine is certainly not the first mine in the Yukon to manage water poorly, and this letter isn’t intended to point fingers at specific individuals. The mine has had a number of changes in senior leadership since it was purchased in 2019, making it difficult to trace accountability. But Mother Nature and years of high snowpack aren’t the culprit – instead, they’re conditions the mine should have been managing for.

Fortunately, development of the new minerals legislation provides the Yukon with a chance to act on lessons learned and work towards transformational change. I hope we can now all agree that mining companies can’t be counted on to always make responsible decisions, and it would be a shame not to develop a regulatory regime that can better shield the territory from negligence.

Some of the sources in this letter are only available on the Yukon Water Board’s website Waterline and don’t have direct hyperlinks. You can hover over any green text for the title of the source and other information. Follow these steps if you’d like to access them:

Use this link and then hit the “Guest” button.
Copy and paste QZ14-031-2 into the search bar, then click on the link below to access Minto Metal’s documents.
Most documents cited are available under the “Reports” tab on the left. One document noted as an “Exhibit” is available under the “Exhibit List” tab.

Blog

Seeing With Our Own Eyes

Gladiator Metals Copper Claims around the City of Whitehorse

“Steamrolling ahead once an ecosystem is already disturbed can act as a gateway for further environmental destruction”– Sandy Johnston

How Conservation and Reconciliation are linked

IPCA’s as part of the journey of Reconciliation

Leases Have Been Canceled In The Arctic Refuge–Now What?

The Announcement Is Great News For The Refuge–But The Fight Is Far From Over

What that really means is that, unless something dramatically changes–and fast– it’s not a matter of if another lease sale will be held, but when.

Connecting to the Land Through Plants

Native plant reclamation with the First Nation of Na-Cho-Nyäk Dun and Yukon Seed and Restoration

Unsteady ownership made Minto a disaster waiting to happen

Poor water management, not Mother Nature, to blame for Minto mine’s water woes

“Steamrolling ahead once an ecosystem is already disturbed can act as a gateway for further environmental destruction”
– Sandy Johnston