From: Christine Smith [chsmith2001@gmail.com]
Sent: December 5, 2008 9:46 AM
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
To Whom it May Concern,

I am writing in opposition to Uravan Mineral's application for uranium development on the calving grounds of the Beverly caribou herd, the area along the Back River just south of Garry Lake.  With the catastrophic decline in Beverly herd numbers (98% decline), now, nor is any other time appropriate to develop calving grounds.  Of all places to develop this is the worst and most sensitive.  To preserve the north and the lifestyle of the people that live there, caribou must be protected and managed carefully, mining on calving grounds is not a way to do this. I am writing is strong opposition.

Please, as an American you may easily dismiss my voice, but what you have in Canada is rare not just in North America, but the world.  There are only 4-5 places left on the planet relatively unspoiled and the barren lands is one of them.  I beseech you to have this perspective, not just one of profit for one mining company, but what is at stake for the indiginous people and the world.  Please, please do not do what Americans have done to Alaska, another, but declining wildland lost due to greed and too many people.

I have canoed this are extensively (>20 trips) and I am intimately aware of what is there and what will be lost.  I have seen thousands of caribou along the Back River and was astonished at this spectacle of nature and immediately upon seeing them worried about their future, and now only 4 years later that herd has crashed and a development plan has moved in.  For this and many other reasons feel in your heart the wisdom of retaining what you have that has mostly been lost from our world due to the relentless advance of people and greed.  I am well aware of the threats of climate change and that a counter argument will be that uranium supports nuclear power which is carbon neutral, but don't mine it in the calving grounds!  There are other already developed places to mine, not a pristine one.

Know too I am not one of those easily prompted to write types that send a letter every time an environmental group organizes a campaign, no that is not me, I have written a handful of letters like this in my life (I am 48) and I think deeply about each one.  I believe as strongly as anything I believe in my life that the expanses of the north, the people there, the caribou there, the rivers, and perhaps most of all the precious calving grounds need to be considered for the sake everyone.  What would life on this planet be like if there was nothing left truly wild.  We collectively killed off the bison, herds running into the millions, please don't let the caribou go. You got it, please, please take care of it, for all our sakes.

Very truly yours,

Douglas W. Smith
P.O. Box 902
Gardiner, MT 59030
USA