Y.O.W! (Youth on Water)
At the heart of the SWCC Youth on Water program is our recognition of the immense value of the Skeena watershed and the Sacred headwaters. While ascribing to the mandate of SWCC, the Y.O.W. program will provide an opportunity for local youth to experience the grandeur of the Skeena River and the Sacred Headwaters through direct, water level, engagement. Y.O.W. will achieve its multifaceted goals through community partnerships, the utilization of committed volunteers, the unwavering commitment of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition employees, and, most importantly, through the efforts of the YOW participants.
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Sacred Headwaters Campaign
Northern BC’s Sacred Headwaters is a rare and special place. Here in a vast alpine basin, three of the Northwest’s greatest salmon rivers are born: the Skeena, the Nass and the Stikine. Stone sheep, caribou, grizzly bears and wolves call the Headwaters home, and the area is critically important to the local indigenous people, the Tahltan. Royal Dutch Shell wants to exploit the Sacred Headwaters for coalbed methane gas. Such a development would see the wild landscape of the Sacred Headwaters turned into an industrial maze of wellheads, roads and pipelines. Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition has been working since 2004 to protect the Sacred Headwaters from coalbed methane development. Our work has included conducting public outreach and education, mobilizing residents of the Skeena watershed, and engaging in dialogue with Shell and the BC government.
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Technical Studies
Our baseline inventory research is designed to contribute to the general understanding of the upper Skeena’s globally significant wildlife, wild salmon, and cultural heritage resources. These projects target selected wildlife, fisheries and cultural heritage features as well as locations of specific conservation concern. Due to a widely recognized deficiency of science-based knowledge specific to the remote upper Skeena ecosystem, there is relevant information that is not included in proposed development plans for the Skeena watershed. Baseline inventories provide an accurate record of the landscape and its components as they naturally occur, increasing the opportunity for effective sustainable development decisions to take place now and into the future.
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Skeena Awareness Project
A discovery expedition of the Upper Skeena lead by Director, Jim Allen. After completing a Swiftwater Rescue Technician course, the 10 person field crew completed 2 consecutive 10 day Upper Skeena River rafting expeditions in hopes of finding and reviving ancient heritage trails for archaeological documentation and development of eco-tourism. It was a joint project with Hereditary Chief, Gwinninixtkw, who lead the Cultural Heritage portion of the expedition. The project found and revived 12km of ancient Gitxsan trail as well as campsites for future use by outdoor adventurers Among these trails and campsites were ancient village remnants, fish pits and gravesites.
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Public Education
SWCC public education initiatives, including our popular Conservation Camps for Kids, provide accurate and updated information on current conservation issues and opportunities within the Skeena watershed. These programs take the form of film nights, slide shows, guest lectures, technical presentations, field courses and information brochures. They occur at all levels of the regional community including; schools, band councils, town councils, chambers of commerce, stakeholder groups and community meetings. The Skeena watershed is a large complex ecosystem on an internationally significant scale. The recent pace of development proposed in the Skeena is challenging for any one person or group of people to keep with. Our public education programs utilize a well connected network of government, industry, NGO, First Nation and community service groups to deliver forward moving education and outreach products.
