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DEH CHO
Dehcho First Nations has won part of its court battle to overturn a government decision that has opened an area of land to potential underground resource development.

Recently, a federal judge rejected a motion by the federal government to dismiss the Dehcho First Nations' (DFN) case to restore protection to Edehzhie, an area which encompasses the Horn Plateau, Mills Lake and Willowlake River.

DFN launched the court action in November 2010 after the federal government withdrew sub-surface protection to the area. DFN has been trying to secure a National Wildlife Area designation for the region, using the NWT Protected Areas Strategy (PAS), since 1998.

In 2002, the area was granted surface and sub-surface protection as part of an interim land withdrawal. But the withdrawal, which had been renewed in 2007, was allowed to expire on Oct. 31, 2010.

The government decided to restore protection for about 57 per cent of the Edehzhie area in December 2011, after the DFN took the issue to court. As a result, in 2012 Canada sought to have the case dismissed because, it argued, the DFN's concerns had been addressed. The argument wasn't accepted.

"The court has totally rejected their argument and agreed with the position put forward by the DFN," Grand Chief Herb Norwegian said during a phone interview.

Norwegian said the DFN will renew its calls to the government to restore interim subsurface protection to the entire Edehzhie area. Edehzhie is culturally and spiritually significant to the Deh Cho.

"Just standing on the sidelines and watching it ferment is not going to make it happen. Physically you have to be in there probing people and stirring the pot and getting people excited and making sure that those protected areas are going to become real at the end of the day," he said. "The Harper government needs to do the right thing and restore protection for an area that they had previously agreed to protect. This is not a complicated thing."

The Government of Canada did not return a call for comment before press time.

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