With the Province ruling that the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipeline was ‘substantially started’ back in June of this year, clearing the way for construction to proceed, Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs from the Gitxsan Huwilp Government say that over the next two months they’ll be engaging with interested parties and governments on a draft management plan for the proposed 8800 hectare Ganeda Indigenous Protected Area.
Wilp Watakhayetsxw and Wilp Gamlakyeltxw, both house groups within the Gitxsan Nation’s Ganeda Clan, are leading the engagement efforts on a draft plan for the area that’s been in the works since August of last year, coinciding with the establishment of the Ganeda Checkpoint on the Cranberry Connector.
That checkpoint was in place for four months, and had screened local traffic in the area to prevent industrial work crews from accessing works sites within the Ganeda Lax’yip.
The planned route of the PRGT Pipeline would see it transit ecologically and culturally sensitive lands within Ganeda Lax’yip, something the Ganeda Wilps and the Gitxsan Huwilp Government are strongly opposed to, citing social and environmental fallout from the construction phases and ongoing environmental concerns focused on the Ksi Lisims LNG Terminal the pipeline would feed.
The Hereditary Chiefs are also opposed to the possibility of further gas exploration in the Bowser Basin, and have shared their concerns that the pipeline’s development, and the associated densification of forest service roads, would pull out all the stops for the industry and lead to just that.
Nazginkw, aka Tara Marsden, the Wilp Sustainability Director with the Gitxsan Huwilp Government explained that the establishment of the Geneda IPA would not affect Wilp members’ access to the land, adding that non-Indigenous people would still be welcome too – provided they respect and follow the Gitxsan’s ancient and traditional protocols.
The Gitxsan Huwilp Government adds that the Province was unable to provide them with a list of affected parties with operations within the Ganeda Lax’yip, so instead, they’ve asked the Province to distributed the draft plan for Ganeda IPA to those affected on their behalf.
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