I find the continued efforts to give the Chilkat River a Tier 3 designation disturbing on many levels. This idea has been brought to various boards and committees and otherwise discussed and it has been voted down every time. I think it is clear that most Haines residents are against or at least very concerned about what this would mean for the valley. With the current laws and restrictions that are in place, you can’t even spit in the Chilkat without 15 permits from various agencies. What is going on right now that a few folks feel that the river is so threatened? I’ve been here since 1983 and it all looks about the same to me. Is this about a mine that may or may not even happen in 10 or 15 years? Are we going to restrict ourselves to the highest level of federal and state bureaucracy for something that in the distant future may or may not even happen? I remember Chicken Little screaming that Kensington was going to ruin the whole Lynn Canal but we’re 10 years in, and that hasn’t happened. I also take offense as a resident that a group from Sitka is endorsing this proposal. I don’t think the residents of Haines need Sitka, California, Washington D.C. or Timbuktu telling us what we should or shouldn’t do in our town. I also find it odd that Klukwan had no environmental concerns about spawning streams and fish when Klukwan, Inc. pretty much clearcut Long Island some years ago. They made huge money from that. God forbid someone else might want to harvest or make use of the state’s natural resources.
Matthew Boron
I find the continued efforts to give the Chilkat River a Tier 3 designation disturbing on many levels. This idea has been brought to various boards and committees and otherwise discussed and it has been voted down every time. I think it is clear that most Haines residents are against or at least very concerned about what this would mean for the valley. With the current laws and restrictions that are in place, you can’t even spit in the Chilkat without 15 permits from various agencies. What is going on right now that a few folks feel that the river is so threatened? I’ve been here since 1983 and it all looks about the same to me. Is this about a mine that may or may not even happen in 10 or 15 years? Are we going to restrict ourselves to the highest level of federal and state bureaucracy for something that in the distant future may or may not even happen? I remember Chicken Little screaming that Kensington was going to ruin the whole Lynn Canal but we’re 10 years in, and that hasn’t happened. I also take offense as a resident that a group from Sitka is endorsing this proposal. I don’t think the residents of Haines need Sitka, California, Washington D.C. or Timbuktu telling us what we should or shouldn’t do in our town. I also find it odd that Klukwan had no environmental concerns about spawning streams and fish when Klukwan, Inc. pretty much clearcut Long Island some years ago. They made huge money from that. God forbid someone else might want to harvest or make use of the state’s natural resources.
Matthew Boron