From: Richard Jenks [rjenks@wi.rr.com]
Sent: December 3, 2008 7:41 PM
To: lpayette@nirb.ca
Cc: Strahl.C@parl.gc.ca; Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca; DShewchuk@gov.nu.ca
Subject: Uravan Garry Lake Project, NIRB File 08EN037

Dear Sirs:
 
I am writing to beg you to deny Uravan Mineral’s application for mineral 
development on the calving grounds of the Beverly Caribou Herd.
 
It is unacceptable to allow anything that would further jeopardize this iconic 
species and its habitat.  To even consider mineral development on the calving 
grounds goes against the overwhelming first priority of the NWT Barren-ground 
Caribou Summit of 2007 to, “Protect the calving grounds in the NWT and Nunavut”. 
  To do otherwise is to accept the decline of the caribou population as 
unimportant to people who depend on these animals, both physically and 
culturally.
 
The Beverly-Qamanirjuaq Caribou Management Board has just released the results 
of limited aerial surveys from last spring on the calving grounds of the Beverly 
Caribou Herd.  This study confirms what I experienced first hand in the Barren 
Lands this past summer.  The calving ground survey indicates that the Beverly 
herd has essentially, completely collapsed from its last census numbers of 
approximately 276,000 animals in the early 1990’s.  As an avid outdoorsman and 
canoe tripper, I wanted to see the last remaining large wilderness area in North 
America.  So, I traveled from the State of Wisconsin to join Canoe Arctic for a 
two week canoe trip on the Upper Thelon River.  This trip was positioned and 
timed to hopefully encounter the thousands of migrating caribou I had read 
about.  Since we only saw one caribou, it was as if the Beverly heard literally 
disappeared off the map.
 
I am trusting in you for a positive resolution to this matter and protection of 
caribou and their habitat for future generations.
 
Sincerely, 
 
Richard Jenks
 
W299 S10761 Pickering Dr
Mukwonago, WI 53149-9168
Phone 262-363-5220
Cell     262-853-6220
Fax     630-563-0416