Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 01/99) - In its third year, the West Kitikmeot Slave Study continues to prove a successful blend of corporate and government-sponsored research.

Conceived during the early stages of the diamond- staking rush, the WKSS was designed to answer questions about the environmental impact of mining on the barrenlands.

It provides those answers by generating the fuel of research -- money.

Since it began three years ago, the study has channelled about $6.2 million into environmental research focusing on the impact of diamond mining on the barrenland environment.

All existing projects will continue this year, reported study director John McCullum. Of four research proposals submitted, two have been approved.

"We have never cancelled a project," said McCullum. "In fact, we've never considered cancelling a project."

Extensions were approved of a study investigating the impact of winter diamond drilling through ice on water clarity and organisms living on the bottom of lakes, as well as a traditional knowledge study of caribou calving grounds in the Bathurst Inlet area.

A request was made to extend a three-year study of eskers as wolf denning habitat, and a new proposal was put forth to study the movement of caribou across the Dolphin and Union Strait between Victoria Island and the mainland.

The board has also requested more information on proposed studies of the Beverly caribou herd and the identification of potential conservation areas.

The federal government and territorial government each kicks in a dollar for every dollar the study gets from non-government contributors.

Each government has put a $750,000-limit on its contribution.

In the 1996-97 fiscal year, the study raised $750,000 from private contributors. In its second year, it raised $650,000. This year, as of last week, $670,000 had been raised.

McCullum said 1998-99 research obligations require $700,000 from private sources.

That includes in-kind and cash donations, plus direct government funding to projects approved by the study.

Diamond mining companies, particularly BHP and Diavik, are by far the study's biggest donors. BHP has contributed $225,000 annually since the study began. Diavik is the only company to make a formal five-year commitment to the study, promising $200,000 each year.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. is the biggest non-mining contributor, providing $50,000 per year.

Intended as a five-year project, the study is currently scheduled to wrap up in March, 2001.