In a unanimous board decision last Thursday, Dec. 5, Takshanuk Watershed Council resigned from the Chilkat Mining Forum Committee with board president Ben Kirkpatrick saying the mining committee “was not worth the effort we were putting into it.”
Takshanuk is the fourth organization to resign from the mining forum committee since 2017. The Chilkat Indian Village and Lynn Canal Conservation resigned in the fall of 2017. The Haines Economic Development Corporation resigned last month. LCC and HEDC cited issues with the committee’s requirement that it meet a 70 percent threshold for approval.
“I have appreciated getting to know the other members and hearing their concerns and issues,” Kirkpatrick wrote to the mining committee in the resignation letter. “However, the time commitment and lack of consensus leads TWC to the conclusion that it would be best for TWC to operate outside of the committee.”
Takshanuk’s suggested speaker at last year’s event, Greg Erikson, was voted down during last year’s planning phase. In response, Takshanuk organized its own forum with Erickson as speaker. Kirkpatrick said he’s still open to working with the committee outside its formal processes when planning public education forums, but that Takshanuk would rather act independently.
Takshanuk last month proposed that the mining committee limit voting rights to nonprofits, and remove voting rights from groups that stand to profit from a mine, including Constantine Metal Resources and the Palmer family. The motion lacked support.
“We feel our job is to bring in alternative viewpoints,” Kirkpatrick said this week. “We’ll try to work with them as they develop their topics and speakers to try and have an alternative viewpoint.”
Mining committee member Liz Cornejo, also vice president of public relations for Constantine Metal Resources, said she invited Takshanuk to suggest speaker ideas for the March forum. “Certainly Constantine, and hopefully the other committee members, will include them in discussion and consideration.”
She also said the committee has discussed creating a community-at-large position on the mining committee, an idea that might be revisited at its next meeting.
Current members include Constantine (Cornejo, Sheri Maust), the Palmer Family (Jessie Badger, Linda Palmer), Haines Miners Association (Diana Lapham, Richard Clement), Haines Chamber of Commerce (Tracey Harmon), Haines Sportsman’s Association (no member seated), Haines Borough (Jan Hill, Ed Coffland), Haines Gilnetters Association (Ryan Cook, Marty Smith) and United Southeast Alaska Gilnetters (Stuart DeWitt).