Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

On Tuesday, the Washington D.C.-based river advocacy group American Rivers named the Chilkat River on its annual list of the 10 Most Endangered Rivers in North America.

“The rivers chosen face some sort of threat where a decision is going to be made in the coming year that could make or break the river,” American Rivers representative Jessie Thomas-Blate said.

For 34 years, endangered rivers have been selected in an open nomination process based on the magnitude of the threat they face, the significance of the river to people and nature and a critical decision-point in the coming year.

Haines resident Gershon Cohen nominated the Chilkat River, which was one of 19 proposed rivers this year. Cohen, a project director of Alaska Clean Water Advocacy (ACWA), said he nominated the Chilkat River because of the threat a potential mine could have on the local ecosystem.

“Any runoff, leakage or even permitted discharges from the mine would significantly alter the water quality and chemistry of the river, and threaten the Chilkat’s salmon runs forever,” Cohen said. “The immediate threat is Constantine’s 2019 plan to dig a mile-long tunnel into the mountain. They are saying it’s for exploration, but they know this tunnel would be the entrance to any future mine.”

American Rivers says the nomination program is aimed at encouraging citizens to lobby law makers to protect rivers they see as threatened.

The organization takes aim at DOWA Holdings Company, a Japanese mineral investment firm that backs Constantine Metal Resources’ exploration project.

Constantine is a Canadian mineral exploration company that has been searching for copper and zinc at the Palmer Project 30 miles north of Haines since 2014.

“DOWA claims on its website to commit to ‘hand over the sound global environmental to the next generation through our business activities’” American Rivers’ press release says. “We are challenging DOWA to live up to its claim of protecting the environment.”

American Rivers now has an action letter on its website that people can sign and send to urge DOWA’s board of directors to stop funding the Palmer Project.

Citizens can change the language, or just sign their name and send as-is, American Rivers’ Thomas-Blate said.

Cohen said he believes the nomination is going to allow people across the country to learn about the Chilkat Valley and the value the Chilkat and Klehini Rivers hold in the community.

Last week, ACWA sent a letter translated into Japanese to DOWA board of directors with 16 signatories from Klukwan Village, fishermen, tour operators and business owners asking them to withdraw funding from the Palmer Project.

Additionally, they sent a video produced by ACWA highlighting Native reliance on the Chilkat River, with Japanese subtitles. Cohen said they have not yet received a response.

Thomas-Blate said the organization sees about a 30 percent success rate over time for positively affecting listed rivers.

In 2017, two rivers named among the top 10 most endangered by American Rivers received robust environmental protection. Last April, a public utility in Washington canceled a project proposed for the Skykomish River after seven years of activism and two consecutive listings among American Rivers’ top 10 most endangered rivers.

The first most endangered river, the Gila River flowing through New Mexico, is listed for a government proposed diversion project that threatens to dry out the last free-flowing river in the state.

A second Alaskan river, the Stikine, ranked tenth on the list because a nearby mine is owned by Imperial Metals which also owns the Mount Polley mine in British Columbia through its subsidiary Mount Polley Mining Corporation. The mine experienced a dam failure in 2014. The breach polluted downstream lakes and rivers with toxic waste.

A Canadian publication’s investigative report in 2017 revealed that tax payers are responsible for $40 million of the Mount Polley clean-up costs, which is roughly half the total expense. Imperial Metals suspended operations at the mine in January due to declining copper prices.

Rivers in New Mexico, New York, Missouri, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Arkansas also made the list.