Antoine takes on two jobs
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Liard (Dec 08/00) - Don Antoine is a man who knows how to juggle responsibility.
He is the training and employment co-ordinator for Acho Dene Koe, and he also manages Nahendeh Environmental Services.
He inherited the title of manager of Nahendeh when the band formed a partnership with Alpine Environmental Ltd. in March.
Since that announcement, the band has undertaken about a dozen projects with most of the clients being the oil and gas companies working in the Fort Liard area, Antoine said.
Several people have gained casual employment with Nahendeh, and the majority of them provide traditional knowledge about a proposed industry work site.
"It's not steady work a lot of the times. Sometimes we get surveyors looking for a local person so I'll go find that person," Antoine said.
"We're kind of getting off to a slow start, but people are getting to know we're there. Companies are saying, 'Yes, we'll use your rates...' Companies are starting to work more closely with the communities that way."
With administrative assistance from Alpine Environmental in Grande Prairie, Alta., Nahendeh offers soil sampling, pipeline monitoring, pre-construction assessments and environmental assessments. The company also acts on land-use applications in the Liard area and consults with the Acho Dene Koe band on them.
In the case of a disaster, such as a oil spill or gas leak, Alpine officials from Fort Nelson of Fort St. John would arrive on the scene to lend their expertise, Antoine said.
"As soon as they come here they're working for Nahendeh," he said.
Antoine said three or four people may be employed full-time with Nahendeh within the next year. A few geographical information systems (GIS) workers will likely be needed as well.
Using a program called Arc View, Antoine demonstrated how detailed geographical maps can be updated to include traditional knowledge.
Employees would input relevant information regarding local trails and traplines, hunting grounds, moose calving and fish spawning areas as well as archaeological and sites of value.
"We're totally into capacity building. We're trying to get people interested in this kind of work," he said. "The environment is always going to be here. You have to have someone take care of it, and it's better if it's the local people themselves... Later on the benefits could pay off if people just commit themselves."
