Destroying the Yukon,

one river valley at a time

We don’t throw our used engine oil on city streets anymore, so why do we let the mining companies destroy our river valleys?

Why are we selling our minerals for one per cent royalty when we should be receiving at least 10 per cent if a mine could be operated in an environmentally safe way?

A friend of mine said, “The Chinese haven’t seen wilderness like this in 5,000 years or more, so what was the rush to sign a deal with them to explore the Yukon?”

Imagine a nine-storey copper heap-leach pile on Grey Mountain.

Picture the acid running down through Miles Canyon into our water supply.

Now how good does that taste in your morning coffee?

Do you like drinking that waste?

You may say that is the price of progress. Well, it is too high a price. You can never restore the wilderness.

You’re killing the fish. The Spirit of this place is dying too.

We all become poorer except for a few moneygrubbers who don’t care about the rest of us.

Come on, Yukoners, we can do better and we expect the people running this place to stop taking the easy way out.

Learn to say “no” to mining companies.

Just because they donated to the last election campaign doesn’t mean politicians can forget how to think for themselves.

I came here for the freedom and stayed 30 years because I love this beautiful, natural land and I think many Yukoners feel the same way.

Dennis W. Murray

Whitehorse