The Takshanuk Watershed Council apparently won’t facilitate stakeholder meetings and community forums on the potential development of a mine near 40 Mile.
The council, Haines Borough and Chilkoot Indian Association decided to remove Takshanuk from consideration following a negative public response to its involvement.
CIA tribal administrator Dave Berry said perceptions of bias could have spoiled the project from the outset. “What we were concerned about – and Takshanuk was concerned also – was that there were some misgivings or concerns in the community on Takshanuk doing it and they didn’t want to create any controversy before the process started.”
Two months ago, Mayor Stephanie Scott and assembly member Debra Schnabel solicited a draft proposal from Takshanuk for the project, which aims to explore the economic, environmental, social and transportation-related impacts of development of the Palmer Project 40 miles northwest of Haines.
According to the $20,000 proposal, Takshanuk would have developed a list of speakers, coordinated stakeholder meetings and organized community forums.
During a June meeting, assembly members weighed in on the proposal. Assembly member Diana Lapham said she received calls from constituents concerned about Takshanuk’s potential involvement. “They do not trust Takshanuk Watershed Council,” Lapham said.
Scott said if the group of sponsors decides to hire an external facilitator, it will put out a request for proposals. Takshanuk could still respond to the RFP and be selected, she said.
“The decision to hire a specific facilitator at this state of the game is premature,” Scott said.
“We just looked at the sense of the community that we had gathered so far and decided that we wanted to be as transparent and collaborative and open as possible,” she added.
Berry said CIA wants to participate in the project, and hopes the Chilkat Indian Village will follow suit. “I think it would be wise to have all three governments in the valley participate in this program,” Berry said.
Scott said she is trying to determine whether Chilkat Indian Village will participate and in what capacity. “Once we figure that out, we’ll be able to make a plan,” she said.