Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 08/02) - Environment groups and nearby First Nation communities are calling the federal government's decision to protect Edehzhie -- also know as the Horne Plateau -- encouraging.

The government recently gave the 25,000 square kilometre land mass tucked north in between Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River a five-year interim protection status from development.

The region is now on the road to becoming a permanent wildlife refuge and area of historic cultural significance under the NWT Protected Areas Strategy -- an organization of government, non-government groups and First Nations which are working to safeguard certain areas in the territory from mining and development.

"It's an area used by the Deh Cho and the Dogrib," said John B. Zoe, Treaty 11 chief negotiator.

"It sustained people for a long time in the past, and it still being used by trappers on both sides in the area.

"It's one of the few areas that has an abundance of wildlife."

Edehzhie straddles the boundary between the Deh Cho and Dogrib regions. It is often referred to as a "giant sponge" because of the numerous lakes and wetlands that sit atop of it.

"The five-year interim land withdrawal allows us to carry out resource assessments, both renewable and non-renewable," said David Purchase, GNWT co-ordinator for the Protected Areas Strategy.

"What it does is allow both the federal and territorial governments to take a really good look at the area and not have to worry about whether there's going to be new developments are going to take place."

Provisions were made for the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline at the western tip of Edehzhie, but other than that, no other development will be allowed.

"If you want to have sustainable development in the North you got to take care of the conservation end of things," said Greg Yeoman, of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, a key supporter of Edehzhie.

"This is the other side of it -- the balanced approach."