FEATURE he fight to halt mining explora- tion in the wilderness of Van- couver Island’s Strathcona Provincial Park last week brought together a new environmental coalition dedicated to halting mining exploration in the park and to challenging the land use and resource management policies of the Social Credit government. The coalition, made up of Native and environmental groups as well as representatives of the New Democratic Party and the United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, was formally established Feb. 10 following a rally in the park called by the Friends of Strathcona. Nearly 300 people gathered at the Ralph River campsite to protest the exploratory drilling by Cream Silver Mines Ltd., begun earlier this year after the provincial government changed the park boundaries to permit new resource development. Some 40 people met after the rally to hammer out a joint statement which was signed by the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Tribal Council; the Green Party of B.C.; Friends of Strathcona Park; Frank Cox, UFAWU,; Kwagiulth District Council; 6 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 17, 1988 Valhalla Wilderness Society; Arrowsmith Ecological Society; New Democratic Party; Kwakiutl Territorial Fisheries Commission; Western Canada Wilderness Commission; and the Stein Wilderness Alliance. It declared the groups’ “diametric opposition to the policies of the provincial government in land use, resource management and other areas” and stated their agreement “to work together to establish an alternative agenda to that of the present government. “We support the Friends of Strathcona Park in their demand for: e “An immediate halt to exploratory drilling in the park; @ “Preservation of the quality of water and habitat in the watersheds of Strathcona Park; @ “Open public hearings which are unbiased, legally constituted, well- publicized and involve Native, union and environmental groups; @ “Restoration of the 1986 boundaries and status of Strathcona Park; e “An end to mining, logging and other industrial use of the park.” The statement also called for “respect and support for the right of the First By Sean Griffin Atleft, Cream Silver Mines’ drill rig in Strathcona Park; top right, Nuu-Chah- Nulth Tribal Council elder Archie Frank addresses rally in Ralph River park; bottom right, demonstrators march up to the drill site. TRIBUNE PHOTOS — SEAN GRIFFIN Nations to resolve the issues of aboriginal title and Native land claims. “We agree that preservation of the environment and creation of jobs are not incompatible. We will develop policies which foster both. “We recognize that the conflict in Strathcona Park is but one struggle representative of many in the province and we will work together on this issue and the others as well,” the statement said. It called on “other interested groups -- and individuals to join us.” The statement, which was signed by many groups which have participated in campaigns to save the Stein River wilderness and to halt logging on Lyell Island in the Queen Charlottes, echoed the increasing conflict over environmental issues that has been created by the Social Credit policies of allowing virtually unrestricted exploitation of resources. That conflict has become particularly acute in Strathcona Park following the government’s decision in March,1987 to change boundaries in the 77-year-old provincial park and to designate certain areas as “recreation areas” where mining and logging are permitted. The province’s oldest provincial park, Strathcona was originally created in 1911 under the Strathcona Park Act. The legislation specifically prohibited mining on the land set aside, although over the next 40 years that restriction would be : first lifted and then re-imposed. In 1965, the W.A.C. Bennett government designated Strathcona as a Class B park in which resource development was allowed. The decision was hailed by mining companies on whose behalf it was made. Westmin Resources and Cream Silver Mines Ltd., two companies which are now working claims in the park, staked them following the 1965 decision. In 1973, however, the NDP government imposed a new moratorium on mining in provincial parks, although it allowed Noranda-owned Westmin Resources which was by this time operating a copper-zinc-silver mine on Buttle Lake in the central part of the park, to continue. In 1979, Cream Silver launched a law suit against the provincial government for compensation on the mining claims that it was not able to work because of the moratorium. But the case was not heard until 1986 — and until another mining