Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 17/99) - Inuvik's Bobbie Jo Greenland is off on an adventure -- one that could have positive results for all of us.

A member of the Gwich'in Renewable Resource Board, Greenland has been selected by Environment Canada to be one of 14 youth representatives from across the country to participate in the year-long Youth Round Table on the Environment project.

"I didn't know about the project until a guy from the Old Crow Gwich'in Council approached me in Whitehorse," she said. "We were there meeting about the Porcupine caribou herd and he began asking me about my work with the resource board."

Greenland, 23, said she checked out the project Web site at www.ec.gc.ca/ youth.yrt and was excited by what she saw.

"I applied to sit on the YRTE because I care about the environment," she said. "I am concerned about the direction we are heading in caring for the land and resources in our region -- the area in which we live today is one of the few remaining places on this Earth that is still a clean, healthy, natural wilderness."

Greenland said an important bonus is that she'll be able to keep her job with the Gwich'in board while she participates on the project.

The round table had its first conference-call meeting at the end of July and Greenland travelled to Ottawa this week for the first face-to-face discussions.

"We'll meet four times this year, so that will take a month in total, plus conference calls every four to six weeks," she said. "We had a little meeting here at the board and they're glad I'm participating -- so long as I bring certain topics to the table and make reports to the board, I'll be keeping my job here."

Greenland said regional topics she wants to bring to the national forum include the protection of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds, a high cancer rate, the air and water quality, cleanup procedures and the storage and disposal of PCBs and other poisonous pollutants and pollution and littering control.

Greenland said her involvement in environmental issues is a bit of a fluke. She said she'd always been interested in native law and it was only through exposure to

"I feel the environment is an important thing and this is where I'm happy," she said. "All the pollution down south will eventually affect the North and it's important to keep the environment here as stable as possible -- plus I enjoy working with elders and traditional knowledge and putting it together with western science."

Greenland said she's already received input from local individuals and groups and that this week's conference will include a meeting with the new federal environment minister, David Anderson.

"First, I want to find out how informed he is on environmental issues in the North and then keep him up to date on everything and get some real action going," she said.

"If he can persuade other department heads to act, I'll be happy."