Reindeer games beset project
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Tuktoyaktuk (Dec 18/00) - A development proposal that appeared to have everything going for it -- making the most of a renewable resource, aboriginal ownership, and maintaining a traditional Inuvialuit way of life -- is being threatened by regulatory red tape, says the man advancing it.
Lloyd Binder is still hoping to take ownership of a reindeer herd now wintering about 40 kilometres from Tuktoyaktuk and move them to an area between Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik for the rest of the winter.
The environmental review of his application to relocate the herd has been going on for 18 months.
Even the chairman of the board responsible for reviewing the proposal said he sympathizes with Binder: "At times during this process he's had to have the patience of Job," said Robert Hornal.
"I'm in the process of trying to evaluate all the ramifications and steps that have to be taken," said Binder, president and general manager of Kunnek Resources Development Corporation, the company that is advancing the proposal.
The steps he is now reviewing are outlined in a series of conditions an Inuvialuit Environmental Impact Review Board panel attached to its recommendation Binder's proposal be approved.
Those conditions include:
- formation of an advisory group that would monitor the project's impact on caribou hunting
- Kunnek enter into a wildlife compensation agreement with the Inuvialuit game council outlining the procedures taken for wildlife losses
- Kunnek Corporation post a $30,000 security with DIAND to cover potential land restoration costs and provide a letter of credit for $11,000 with the game council to cover possible harvest loss
- that a study be conducted as soon as possible to evaluate the condition of the proposed range
An Inuvialuit beneficiary, Binder said if the proposal is approved, the company will be at least two-thirds owned by Inuvialuit.
Hornal said area hunters are very concerned about whether the wintering range Binder is proposing can support both the reindeer herd, which Binder wants to expand to 11,000-12,000 from 6,500, and the Cape Bathurst Bluenose caribou herd. Both rely on lichens during the winter.
Binder said the process his proposal was put through seemed designed for conventional development, such as oil, gas and mining, more than the comparatively benign pursuit of reindeer herding.
"There's an intense amount of scrutiny on the range, monitoring its carrying capacity," said Binder, noting reindeer grazed in the same area for years in the past.
William Nasagaluak knows reindeer. Since 1978 he has owned the herd binder wants to take over. For all but the last few years, when he's contracted the work out to Binder, he Nasagaluak has worked the herd.
"When you look at the land, animals are very environmentally friendly," said Nasagaluak. "They don't dig around like human beings and leave garbage."
The grazing area Binder wants to use includes both crown and Inuvialuit land, further complicating the process. The recommendations of the panel are now in the hands of the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and Inuvialuit Land Administration, which have 30 days to respond.
Binder said if it is to be moved to Richards Island this year, the herd will need to be moved within the next few months. If that does not happen, he said he will be re-evaluating his plans for the herd.
Nasagauak is now embroiled in a three-way lawsuit centring on the herd. His company, Canadian Reindeer Ltd., is being sued by the Inuvialuit for trespassing because the herd is occupying Inuvialuit land.
He, in turn, is suing the federal government for giving up the land for a reindeer grazing reserve, when it signed the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.
