Yellowknife (Feb 06/04) - For Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison it was a journey they'll never forget.

The husband and wife adventurers stopped in Inuvik as part of a continent-wide tour. They are taking their story on the road in the hopes that others won't forget about the plight of the Porcupine Caribou herd.

Beginning last April, the couple set out from the Yukon community of Old Crow to join the herd on its annual migration to calving grounds at the edge of the continent on the Beaufort Sea. For five months, they stayed with the caribou and documented the entire journey.

"We wanted to give a voice to a group that didn't have one," said Heuer of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, whose well-being would be in jeopardy were the United States to open up oil and gas exploration in the herd's calving grounds.

"It didn't seem right that the herd was protected on one side (of the border) and not on the other."

As a warden for Parks Canada, Heuer became acquainted with the Porcupine Caribou while working for two years at Ivvavik National Park.

Located at the northwest tip of the Yukon, the park is part of a refuge for the animals, which extends into Alaska.

Though the Bush Administration -- by way of its new energy bill -- has been trying to open up part of that refuge for oil and gas exploration, the bill was and continues to be defeated by "thin margins" in the Senate, said Heuer.

At Ingamo Hall on Sunday, they presented a slide and video show of their rewarding, yet gruelling, trip amidst the Porcupine Caribou Herd.

At the outset, the couple said, they were unsure if they could even keep up with the herd after periodically losing sight of the animals. These concerns soon turned to constant worries about having enough food and warding off the grizzly bears that were also tracking the caribou.

"It was a huge mental game and we didn't know how long we'd be gone," said Heuer.

However, as the days turned to weeks and then months, the couple say that at times they felt "as one with the herd."

"After three months, we got to a mental place that despite the hunger, felt totally comfortable," Allison told those in attendance Sunday. "I think part of it was the strain of the journey, but also the realization that we were part of this ancient animal movement and we just got swept up in it."

More projects

In addition to making presentations to spread the word about the importance of protecting the herd, Heuer is currently working on a book and Allison plans to make a documentary for the National Film Board of Canada about their journey.

They hope that all of these efforts will do much to raise the profile of the Porcupine Caribou herd and, hopefully, stave off the push to bring heavy industry to an already delicate eco-system.

"Right now, 95 per cent of the Alaskan coastline is open to oil and gas exploration, so do we need to tamper with the remaining five?" asked Heuer. "This is an emotional story and we wanted our trip to help make some sense out of it all."