With the lack of exploration activity in the Sahtu last winter, much of the business-related news coming out of this region has been a little discouraging, but there are still plenty of bright spots.

In Norman Wells, North-Wright Airways is investing in massive improvements to its float base. This redesign is intended to make the facility much more user-friendly - particularly for tourists chartering flights on their way to world-class canoeing adventures.

North-Wright has also moved into a new home in Yellowknife now that construction of a new hanger is complete. Built and owned by Fort Good Hope's Yamoga Land Corporation and the Deline Land Corporation, this facility now stands as a shining example of Sahtu co-operation and economic development.

Shifting to the traditional enterprise of trapping, the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board's Glen Guthrie recently travelled to Toronto where he was honoured by the Fur Institute of Canada. Guthrie was the winner of the prestigious Lloyd Cook Award for his dedication to trapper education in the Sahtu.

He said news of the award left him feeling more than slightly embarrassed as the work he's involved in is far from a one-man show. There are elders in every Sahtu community, teachers and principals at each of the schools, representatives of several government departments, corporate sponsors, countless service providers and, of course, the students themselves who have all worked tirelessly to make the region's trapper training programs so successful, he is quick to point out.

"They all deserve part of the credit for this achievement," he said.

And finally moving from the traditional economy to one of the region's most senior entrepreneurs, Bern Will Brown is now the proud owner of a shiny new hip after his successful visit to Stanton Territorial Hospital.

The well-known artist, author and owner-operator of Colville Lake Lodge is now home following his surgery, and on his way to a speedy recovery.