ie) iA road too far? Alaskan advocates remain keen on the Bradfield despite lack of broad B.C. support Stories by JEFF NAGEL HE ALASKAN dream of a road link from the middle of the panhandle to B.C.’s Hwy 37 is far from dead de- ‘spite fierce opposition. And nowhere is the’ vision stron- gest than in the head of Robin Tay- lor, a former Alaskan state senator who is spearheading the effort from . [7 _ Wrangell, Alaska. _ He says the project’would boost ‘the fortunes of both southeast Alas- . kans and northern British Columbi- “ans struggling to overcome economic decline. ’ “T can’t understand,” drawls Tay- lor, who pronounces names like Tele- graph Crick, “Why we as neighbours aren’t reaching hands across the bor- der, saying ‘What the hell can we do to.get each other back on our feet?’” _ The dream of Taylor and others is a nightmare for both environmen- tal opponents, who fear the loss of. 2 ' pristine wilderness, and the District | - of Stewart, where officials fear los- ing port business to a new ’ tival in Alaska. =. Critics on both sides of the border have mounted a vocal campaign to ” block the idea. But Taylor isn’t deterred. ‘Although the road has been on the drawing board in various forms for ~ half a century, he predicts it will get built.” BENEFITS FOR BC The B.C. government is working on a new study of the benefits and im- pacts of the road on B.C., It’s not expected to be ready for a. couple of months, transportation ministry officials say. _ But Taylor doesn’t hesitate to forecast how good the road would be for B.C. “For every job this road would cre- ate in Alaska, it will create 15 to 30 jobs in British Columbia,” he said. Taylor sees dramatically increased logging, milling and mining in the Is- kat and Cassiar regions. ; . Those jobs will come extracting mining ‘and forestry inthe: northwest. vettPhe. real. question ‘is ‘whether. or not British Columbia wants to de- velop any of its mines and timber in .the Cassiar region,” Taylor says. “If it does, access to the Pacific will be critical to the success of those Proj ects.” WHAT ALASKA GETS One of the gains for Alaska is a new transportation route that doesn’t rely on its overloaded ferry system. Island towns like Wrangell, Pe- - tersburg and Ketchikan crave a road outlet that breaks their dependence on the Alaska Marine Highway. Advocates believe it will make Tahitan leery of Bradfield road proposal TAHLTAN leaders say they doubt the value of in butchering our country.” a new road through sensitive stretches of their traditional territory. Alaskan advoctates pushing for the proposed : Bradfield Road that would run from Hwy 37 west via the Iskut and Craig Rivers and down to the Pa- _ cific are frequently courting Tahltan Nation Devel- opment Corporation president Jerry Asp. His response is decidedly cool. “7 hear a lot of talk, but to be truthful I don’t see a lot of substance,” Asp says. “It’s like trying to nail Jello to a wall.” Asp said he’s told promoters like ex-Alaskan State Senator Robin Taylor the Tahltan will con- sider the. Bradfield proposal when there’s some- thing more concrete to discuss. In the meantime, Asp is blunt about his views on more roads in Tahltan territory. “We would prefer not to have any new v roads in “Proposed Bradfield Road route "valie“dade seafodd ‘ ‘transport more. “feasible as well ‘as expanded tourist traffic. Giving northbound Alaskan ferry traffic an escape hatch to Hwy 37, they say, will be attractive to tourists. They’ll be able to take a shorter circle tour that could take them back . through the Nass Valley and Terrace. “We believe that’s going to turn into quite a golden circle,” Taylor says. Another big plus is power. Alaska’s electrical grid. is pres- ,ently stranded, but if the road — and a power line — goes through, it will connect to the rest of the continental system. The state will then be able to sell cut up enough.” to clean that up.” our country,” he said. “We think that our country is i “We're not going to be saying yes to any roads without taking a very, very serious look at it.” Asp said the Tahltan remain unhappy with the now-closed Johnny Mountain mine, which he said is still generating acid-mine drainage into sensitive salmon habitat near the Iskut River. “It’s one of the absolute worst polluters in the province of B.C. today,” he said. “We’re not very happy about it. And I don’t see anybody rushing in The general policy he and others have tried to steer — and even that has sparked a band office oc- cupation by dissenters — is to strike agreements with resource developers when there’s a benefit to the Tahltan and it can be done safely. “We're not opposed to development, we just want it done right,” Asp said. “We're not interested iy its Surplus power on the grid. “And then there! s the resources. THE ROUTE Part of the Bradfield Road route - already exists. The Eskay Creek mine road splits off from Hwy 37 and runs west along the Iskut River. -It has just been extended another 10 kilometres to where Coast Moun- tain Hydro plans a run-of-river power station on the Iskut. From there, the road climbs up the » undeveloped Craig River watershed to the headwaters, where the road would go through a three-kilometre tunnel to the U.S. side. It would then descend to tidewater ‘at the Bradfield Canal, where ferries or else bridges would link to. towns . like Wrangell and Ketchikan. ‘It’s a mammoth project, requiring construction of twin 2.6-kilometre tunnels. Estimated at US $314 million on the Alaskan side and $70 million on the B.C: side, Taylor concedes it won’t be cheap. But despite that, the costs won’t be a big issue for this Province or his State. “Pm assuming the majority of the costs will be paid for by the U.S. . BOV- ernment,” Taylor said. “Our Congress already pays for | maintaining the Al-Can nieway northwest of Dawson Creek,” noted. “There’s been an ongoing under- ‘standing between our two: govern- ments that these highways are impor- tant and necessary to us.” Taylor traces that long history: back all the way to the treaties that determined the border between B.C.. * and Alaska. » Those treaties include provisions guaranteeing B.C. access to the Pa- .. cific from the rivers that originate in northern B.C. but flow out through Alaska to the ocean. “Our forefathers 179 years ago understood how critical these cor- -ridors would be for the economic development of. that region,” Taylor said. “They refused to sign a treaty to allow the border to be put into place where it is today unless’they were _ guaranteed to have access to the Pa- ° cific.” POLITICS The re-election of U.S. President . “George W. Bush for a second. term 4. gives fresh energy to. development- minded Republicans like Taylor. “I think we do have an opportu- , nity that probably never would have. existed under. a Clinton administra- tion,” he said.. The Alaskans likewise were en- thused when the B.C. Liberals top- pled the NDP in 2001, forecasting it would provide an unparalleled oppor- tunity to push the plan in B.C. ‘So far it hasn’t turned out that way. Four years later the Gordon Camp- bell’s government is going back to the polls and there’s been almost no sign” of action on the Bradfield Road. Skeena MLA Roger Harris all but dismisses questions about it. “I don’t have engineering details to know if it’s even possible to build’ it,” he said in an interview in Janu- The Stewart-Omineca Resource -Road is his top priority. “It works for Stewart. It works for everybody else,” Harris said..“I don’t want anybody to be distracted by oth- er projects.” The Tahltan have been pioneers in striking part- ritory. nerships in Canada between aboriginal groups and resource companies.. But the closure of the Golden Bear mine leaves Eskay Creek as the only operating mine in the ter- Attention is now focusing on a clutch of new mines proposed north of Stewart, including Nova- ‘Gold’s Galore Creek project. . Even so, Asp says the development corporation boasts 80 permanent full-time jobs for band mem- -bers in mining and associated work —a total payroll of $350,000 per month. Most of that is work for Eskay Creek, hauling concentrate, maintaining the road, catering and housekeeping. Thanks to that work, Asp said the band is essentially at full employment, with all — members who want work employed. ~ Opponents cite environment, economy CARVING a new road through the “Coast. Mountains to link Alaskan towns with Hwy 37 is too risky on a number of fronts, opponents charge. They warn habitat for coastal grizzly bears, spawning salmon, and even an isolated population of coastal moose could be threatened if a road is punched through the wilderness along the Iskut and Craig Rivers. Gil Arnold, an organizer’ with Friends ofthe Stikine, says studies of the area’s moose suggest it is region- ally adapted to the conditions there. “They’ve learned to work with very heavy snowfall and they’ve still managed to grub out an existance,” he said, “They’re part of the predatory- prey system out there.” Arnold, who is based in Rossland, said pushing a road through will bring industrial traffic, hunters, tourists and all the accompanying wastes and con- taminants. “Little Johnny with his hatchet, Aunt Emma with her tea bags,” he says. “Tampons, beer cans, bubble gum, urine. It all adds up.” The road would require 33 differ-_ ent creek crossings, he said, disrupt- - ing grizzly movements., To Amold and other opponents, the Alaskan road push is just one pos- sible threat as mineral exploration in northwestern B.C. gathers steam. _ “I don’t think we’ve seen a devel- opment spree like we’re seeing right now in the golden triangle mining dis- trict there,” he said. “The mining industry’s best case scenario resembles my worst case . scenario: a road to every developed prospect that looks like it’s going to happen.” For the industry, Arnold says, it makes sense to have another route to tidewater and the possibility of an- other port in Alaska competing with Stewart, Kitimat and Prince Rupert. “It would seem to me that would be their ultimate dream —to have ports competing for their business,” he said. If the road goes through, critics like Jim Bourquin forecast an outflow of. B.C. resources through the Brad-’ field. “The Bradfield Road would shift’ the economy to run east-west instead of north-south,” said Bouquin, the Is- kut-based founder of the Protect Our Ports committee.” “If a true cost-benefit analysis looked at the true effects on northwest - B.C. in terms of our routes to prosper- ity, we would be in a losing column for the long term.” Bouquin warns the northwest faces an unsustainable boom followed by a bust if potential new mines all go into production on stream simultaneously. Projects going through environ- mental assessment include the Nova- Gold’s Galore Creek gold project, Red _ Chris’ proposed copper mine, Fortune Minerals’ Klappan coal property, and Shell’s plans to drill for oil and gas in the Bowser Basin. “If you add up ali the proposed ’ jobs in the Stikine country, it would be a big boost for jobs over the next 30 years, but then it’s all gone, ”” Bour- quin said. It would be better if a plan was de- veloped to crank up those mines more sequentially, to generate steadier eco- nomic benefits for the region for a longer-period, he said. If they do all go ahead simultane- ously, he added, there will be all the more pressure for the development of the Bradfield Road. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - A5 e ; debates, a Canadian blood sport.. CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Picking role models" | can be tricky Dear Sir: Tam writing in response to Catherine Tanski’s recent . letter concerning Theresa Marie Fenger. My previous letter was not only an opinion, but also a strong expression of my values. I did not express jealousy, _ nor did I intend*to say Theresa Marie Fenger was a poor singer. To say that jealousy compelled“me to oppose _ Fenger’s actions is to undoubtedly disregard the fact that I ‘have my own personal dreams and aspirations. Moreover, . I do not believe Fenger is a poor singer ~ I merely do not agree with her way of attaining funds for her personal © goals. ' Tt ‘is unfortunate that Catherine Tanski overlooked one of my main issues I brought forth in my last letter — the:meaning of “role model.” A role model, contrary to popular culture, is not necessarily from Hollywood. In essence, a role model is one whom you genuinely admire and aspire to become like. If a’ teen routinely designates. celebrities’ as “role models,” this will be primarily on the basis of fame, fortune, and body image — values that, unfortunately, | dominate our western lifestyle. ‘However, although such teen behaviour is common, it does not necessarily mean it, is worth emulating. =” In my last letter, I mentioned Craig Kielburger | founder of Free the Children — as a great role model for _ Canadian teens. Tanski’s initial response to this ‘appeared - rather ironic, as she mentioned that many of our teen role ; models are “getting targeted criticism for everything from” > their tattoo choices to their driving skills.” illustrates that, Tanski-is blatantly misinformed of the © This clearly . a incredible contributions Kielburger has made to the i issue _ : of children’s rights. In her letter, Tanski stated, “we need music ‘and music -needs us.’ , ” Although I agree with Tanski to an extent, I fee] that “need” is a very powerful word and must be . used with care. Music plays a big part in the formation of. many cultures and is also an important source of personal expression. However, in a world with extensive (and — increasing) global inequality and human rights violations, I feel that we need not another Shania Twain, but another ; Mother Teresa. Next week’s top 30 hits will be a rather insignificant : contribution to the world compared to that of many § aid ., workers out there today. ; ° Vanessa Urbantke, Terrace B. om “There « are bigger i issues. — than same. Sex Dear Sir: a It appears that the NHL Hockey soap opera has come to an end, none to soon for someone like me who finds it difficult to get excited over two groups of millionaires fighting over the spoils. , With hockey out of the way we can now concentrate on the real Canadian national. sport, same, Sex. marriage So who are the defenders of the sanctity of traaitighal marriage; and what is it about? The head coaches of this neo conservative team are the Pope and bishops they who are threatening politicians and other people taking a liberal approach, with eternal damnation and burning in hell. . This punishment makes the Bertuzzi suspension look like three strokes with an ostrich feather. The traditional marriage that these folks insist on and are part of has a 50 per cent success rate meaning that statistically half of their group has been divorced at least once. Some sanctity. __, Of course our neighbours to the south who never miss a chance to spread their particular brand of freedom and - democracy are now fully engaged. Many churches are self destructing over this issue. Politicians, and news ‘media - are devoting most of their time and - effort to this to the detriment of the real issues. . ‘If I was cynical or paranoid I would believe that this debacle is orchestrated by the neo- conservatives to distract all of us world. Whether this is so or not, . the fact is that what is not talked about or dealt with are the disasters of biblical proportions all over the -world and at home. Millions of people in Africa who could be saved from Aids and John densen ; hundreds of thousands dying from: malaria could be cured for 25 cents each. Of course, since these victims are not white « or even brown we are not that concerned. Thousands of children as young as five are child soldiers getting killed or are sex slaves exploited by adults including North America tourists. Closer. to home, ‘nearly to one million Canadian children live below ‘the poverty line, while the kids of the generation that were promised child care and the end of child poverty are now looking for non-existing child care for their children. Child care and poverty is once again is to be wrestled to the ground, this time by a hockey goalie minister. Meanwhile, we are spending millions on submarines that must be transported on-decks of foreign freighters, a billion or more on gun control that has zero impact on criminals, ministers misplacing one billion dollars and hundred millions unaccountable for'at the same time as - we are choking the earth and air with pollution and using the oceans as a giant dumping ground, eliminating wild ‘salmon stocks, by fish farms, bad logging practices and oil explorations and so on. The whole same sex marriage thing is nothing more than a smoke screen. Whether my neighbours are a same ~ sex couple or not has no impact on me or our society. It does not make them good or bad, just neighbours. To the people hiding in this smoke screen, politicians, Knights of Columbus, bishops and right wing zealots; give your head a shake. Live and let live and concentrate your energy on ‘the issues that actually matter. , John Jensen, Terrace, B B.C, About the Mail Bag The “Terrace Standard welcomes letters. Our address is 3210 Clinton St. Terrace, B.C. V8G 5R2. You can fax us at 250-638-8432 or e-mail us at newsroom @terracestandard.com. No attachments, please. Name, address and phone number required for verification. from the real issues facing the»