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SAMBAA K'E/TROUT LAKE
After six years of work the community of Trout Lake is moving closer to protecting an area of land surrounding their lake.

Community elders directed Trout Lake to protect the land surrounding the community's namesake lake. The community is currently moving the Sambaa K'e candidate protected area through the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy. - map courtesy of the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy

Since 2004, the community has been using the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy to get protection for an area known as Sambaa K'e. The candidate protected area covers approximately 10,600 square kilometres. However, the community has agreed to reduce the size of the area to approximately 8,200 square kilometres.

Elders directed the community to protect Trout Lake, the body of water the community sits on the banks of, said Sambaa K'e Dene Band's Chief Dolphus Jumbo.

As early as the late 1970s and early 1980s the elders were concerned about future developments. They also saw the need to map and protect important cultural areas and burial sites, Jumbo said.

The boundary for Sambaa K'e was drawn to encompass Trout Lake's watershed. In addition to being culturally important, the area is also a valuable core habitat for boreal caribou, a species at risk.

"We need to protect these animals' environment," Jumbo said.

After six years, the Sambaa K'e Candidate Protected Area Working Group is nearly ready to produce a recommendations report, said Peter Redvers, a consultant who is helping Trout Lake work through the PAS.

In the report, the working group will explain the designation, boundaries and management of Sambaa K'e. The completed report will be used for public consultations and be given to Dehcho First Nations for review and approval. The report will then be sent to the federal government with a request that Sambaa K'e become a protected area.

The working group is aiming to have the report to the federal government by next January.

"It's a long process," said Redvers.

The working group still has to address a number of outstanding issues including the land designation for Sambaa K'e. The Canadian Wildlife Service has agreed to sponsor Sambaa K'e, meaning the area would become a national wildlife area. However, decisions still have to be made whether both surface and sub-surface protection will be requested, Redvers said. The boundary for Sambaa K'e also needs to be finalized.

The working group met in Trout Lake from Jan. 12 to 13 to review the socio-economic assessment, the last of the assessment reports to be finalized for the area. Next the community will hold internal meetings in February to discuss the boundary and designation and then the working group will continuing drafting the report in the spring, said Redvers.

"It's the community that's really wanting to move this forward," he said.

Jumbo said he's happy about the stage Sambaa K'e has reached.

"The land is a very sensitive issue," he said. "When you deal with it you have to deal with it very carefully."

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