The Opportunity
Something extraordinary has happened.
Even now, after the Industrial Revolution, after a global human population explosion, after a century in which environmental destruction has become ordinary; the Taku Watershed is, as it has been for millennia: whole, wild, and vast.
At 18,000 square kilometers, the Taku is as big as 23 New York cities, and it has no roads. The watershed is the heart of the Atlin-Taku region, which is an area roughly the size of Vancouver Island, that spans diverse landscapes of high alpine, boreal and temperate rainforests, river networks, broad, fertile valleys, and high mountain peaks.
The Taku Watershed is home to grizzly and black bears, caribou, wolves, moose, sheep, goats, seals, and, occasionally, whales. It is a land of a thousand rivers, and all five species of wild Pacific salmon find refuge in its cool northern waters, making it a critical salmon stronghold in the face of climate change. It is also the traditional territory of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation.
Something vital is at stake.
The BC government and the Taku River Tlingit are engaged in a land use planning process that will determine the potential types, locations, and intensity of industrial development allowed in the Atlin-Taku region. Mining currently poses the most significant industrial threat, and other industries could look to develop here in the future.
The Taku watershed encompasses more than half of the Atlin-Taku planning area. As the region’s ecological lifeblood, the Taku has the most to be lost if mining interests get a foothold. It is essential to protect this vital habitat in large, interconnected expanses.
As part of the land use negotiations, the Taku River Tlingit released their Tlatsini (places that make us strong) proposal outlining areas of cultural and ecological significance. The Tlatsini is an excellent foundation for a conservation vision. And with wide public support, we aim to augment this proposal with even more encompassing protection.
Something different can happen here.
These negotiations are about the Taku and its surrounding region, but what the outcomes say about ecosystem stewardship, wilderness values, protected areas, and culturally significant places will have far-reaching and permanent implications.
It is time for our biggest ideas, time to radically raise the bar of ecosystem stewardship, and time to recast our relationship with the wild, starting in the Taku, this extraordinary place; this sanctuary, where wild salmon begin life, and come home.
