Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Nov 23/01) - There's potential for many industries in the Deh Cho, but First Nations don't want any of them operating in the Horn Plateau area, also known as Edehzhie.

Alison de Pelham, executive director for the Deh Cho First Nations, has been working towards achieving protected area status for Edehzhie, the Horn Plateau area. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

"It will still be accessible for traditional use -- hunting and trapping -- but there would be absolutely no development," said Alison de Pelham, executive director for the Deh Cho First Nations (DCFN). "We'd like to ensure that there will be one chunk (of land) that doesn't have an oil rig on it."

Edehzhie is home to fertile hunting and fishing grounds and is the site of numerous graves. Since First Nations passed a resolution nominating Edehzhie for protected status at the 2000 Deh Cho Assembly in Kakisa, it has progressed steadily in that direction. Most recently, funding has been made available through the GNWT's Protected Areas Strategy and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) to hire a co-ordinator for the project.

The Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), which has a branch in Yellowknife, has volunteered to act as a sponsor for the initiative. A DCFN proposal, to be submitted to CWS for review and formal acceptance, could lead to CWS requesting a five-year interim land withdrawal from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND).

Although the First Nations have gathered information on ecological, cultural and economic values of the area, the land withdrawal would give the area temporary protected status while further studies are undertaken. Those studies would include an in-depth assessment for minerals as well as oil and gas.

"It's part of our commitment under the Protected Areas Strategy that we'll consider all of the values of an area," explained Heidi Heder, manager of Parks and Protected Areas for the GNWT.

A working group will be established comprising members of the First Nations, the CWS, DIAND and the territorial government. They will make decisions based on the studies' findings.

The Dogrib First Nations, on the north side of the Horn Plateau, have also received protected areas funding for the Horn Plateau, but the Dogribs and Deh Cho haven't agreed on the boundaries, Heder said.

She estimates the entire protected areas process will take five to eight years. Although Edehzhie -- a land mass roughly the size of Prince Edward Island -- would be the Deh Cho's first protected area, de Pelham said the resources used in this initiative could also assist the Sambaa K'e First Nation, which is considering protecting the east side of Trout Lake and the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation, which wants Blackwater Lake protected.