Protect Peel for the future

Wednesday August 25, 2010

By Yukon News

I would like to share with you our plea to protect the Peel Watershed on the basis of 100 per cent protection, not the 80 per cent protection now proposed by a planning committee.

We speak to you as interested outdoor enthusiasts who have enjoyed the extraordinary opportunity of having participated on three wilderness canoe trips in the Yukon during the past four years, on summer holiday, each guided by Blaine Walden, Walden’s Guiding and Outfitting Ltd., Whitehorse.

The first was on the Big Salmon, the next, the Teslin, and, most recently, the Wind River.

Last week, my partner, Renate Hermes, and I returned home to the Maldives from our Wind River trip.

As repeat tourists to the Yukon, we appreciate the unspoiled natural beauty of the Peel Watershed, the primary reason that we plan to return again to experience the adventure of the other river areas in this region.

I speak as someone who has worked for more than 40 years, my entire career in beach resort hotel management, in some of the most beautiful and popular dive destinations on this planet, ranging from the Caribbean to Central America, Polynesia, Micronesia, the Indian Ocean and more.

I speak as someone who has always been a committed advocate of marine conservation; to preserve the coral reefs and the related marine environment.

I speak as someone who has waged battles against commercial interests whose actions destroy nature for the sake of short-term profit.

I speak as someone who has succeeded, in some cases, to overcome the greed of a few to provide a better life for many.

The Peel Watershed should remain intact, untouched by development.

To encroach on this wilderness, no matter how little, is a travesty that cannot be overcome in the foreseeable future.

We should leave this as a legacy for future generations to enjoy, as we do, now.

I ask you to fulfil your responsibilities as guardians of this fine land and establish a true preserve.

David S. Feinberg

chief executive officer

Crown and Champa Resorts

Republic of Maldives