Proposed area for Thaidene Nene ‘could shrink’: negotiator – Northern Journal
April 13, 2015
Lutsel K’e, GNWT expect to settle plan for protected area this summer
Mineral interest around the East Arm of Great Slave Lake could see the current land withdrawal for the creation of a national park reduced following negotiations with the territorial government, according to the negotiator for the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation (LKDFN).
Negotiator Steven Nitah told The Journal last week that ramped up talks between the First Nation and the NWT government over the last six months could see a final land management plan for Thaidene Nene completed by the end of the summer, but that the agreed-upon area could be smaller than the approximately 33,000 square-km set aside for the protected area.
“It won’t be the entire area, but it will be significantly close to it,” Nitah said. “It may shrink a little. The mineral interest on the outskirts is something that LKDFN has already agreed to be outside of the protected area.
