Nahanni Supporters

Thousands of Canadians support our vision of protecting the entire South Nahanni watershed in an expanded national park.  A number of well-known Canadians have expressed their support by signing on to the following statement:

I support the expansion of Nahanni National Park Reserve to protect the entire South Nahanni watershed and Nahanni Karstlands. Such expansion is crucial to provide important habitats for wide-ranging, vulnerable wildlife like grizzly bears and woodland caribou, and to secure this globally significant wilderness for future generations of Canadians and for the world.

Signed:

Mike Beedell

“Steven Harper is to be commended for his expansion of Nahanni National park but the vision needs to go further. We must protect the entire watershed of this outstanding world heritage site. This landscape and its ecosystem is a treasure to mankind and it must be saved in its entirety from any kind of industrial forces.”

Mike is an internationally published photographer, videographer and wilderness guide whose life as a young person was tremendously enriched by guiding on the Nahanni river for many years. He is the author of the “Magnetic North” and a proponent of complete watershed protection for the Nahanni.

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Erik Blachford

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Terrapass, Inc., Erik Blachford was formerly President and CEO of Expedia, Inc. and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp’s travel division, IAC Travel, including online travel businesses Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Classic Custom Vacations and Interval International.

Previous positions include President, Expedia North America and Expedia Senior Vice President, Marketing & Programming. Erik serves as a board director at Terrapass, Inc., Zillow, Inc. (Seattle, WA), Farecast, Inc. (Seattle, WA) and Surfparks, LLC (NY, NY), and was formerly a board director at Sharebuilder Corp (Bellevue, WA), Expedia Inc (Bellevue, WA), and Points.com (Toronto, ON).

Erik holds a bachelor’s degree in English and certificate in theater from Princeton University and a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business.

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John Blachford

Mr. John Blachford is the owner and manager of a company that develops and manufactures industrial chemicals and noise reducing materials in plants in Canada and the United States. He has been a strong supporter of CPAWS for a number of years.

Mr. Blachford is an avid paddler and loves the whitewater. He grew up exploring the northern rivers in Quebec, but it was when he paddled the South Nahanni River with his wife Janet in 1998 that re-ignited his passion for the north and for paddling. Since then he has paddled a northern river every summer.

Although next year’s river trip destination is still undetermined, Mr. Blachford’s passion for wonder, wilderness and adventure remains strong. It is this passion that connects Mr. Blachford to CPAWS; he wants to ensure the very places he visits remain unspoiled and intact.

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Dr. Derek Ford

“The Nahanni North Karst is the most accentuated and important example of subarctic karst anywhere on the planet.  If mining were permitted in this area it would create serious hazards to the surface and ground waters, and to the flora and fauna in and around the South Nahanni River."

Derek Ford is a retired professor of Physical Geography and Geology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. He is a geomorphologist (student of landforms), hydrologist and groundwater geochemist specialising in "karst" landforms, which are those such as sinkholes and cave systems that are created by rock dissolution. He has conducted or supervised karst research throughout Canada and in many other nations and is considered a leading authority in the field.

In 1971 Parks Canada invited Ford to evaluate newly discovered caves in First Canyon, Nahanni National Park Reserve. In subsequent years he studied the geology, landforms and hydrology of all of the Park for Parks Canada, and explored and studied an extensive karst terrain that extends north of the present Park boundaries to Ram Canyon on the Ram River. The work within the Park was the basis for its being recognized as the first UNESCO World Heritage (natural) Site in 1979. (Read Dr. Ford's letter to the World Heritage Organization). The"Nahanni North Karst" is now recognized to be the most spectacular arctic or sub-arctic terrain on the planet.

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Wendy Francis

"The Nahanni River is a sacred place that represents the vast, wild landscapes that are so quickly disappearing around the world.  Protecting this treasure will be a great beacon of hope that it's not too late to do the right thing."
Wendy Francis  grew up loving the outdoors and decided to make protecting nature her full-time career in 1996.  Prior to that she pursued studies in biology and law, and worked as a secretary and then a lawyer.  She first volunteered for CPAWS' Calgary/Banff Chapter in 1986 and quickly took on more responsibility, becoming the chapter's Chairperson in 1989.  As a volunteer, she played a leading role in several of CPAWS' southern Alberta projects, including the campaign to protect the Whaleback and the Special Places 2000 process.  In 1996, she became the chapter's first full-time Conservation Director.  Moving east in 1999, Wendy operated her own environmental consulting practice until 2005, when she was hired as Director of Conservation and Science for Toronto-based Ontario Nature.  During that time she continued to serve in senior roles on the Boards of both CPAWS and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y).  This year (2007), Wendy returned to the mountains, her spiritual home, and became the Senior Conservation Program Manager of the Y2Y, based in Banff.

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Jacques Gérin

Jacques Gérin, a civil engineer with a master’s degree in Regional Planning, is a consultant on Sustainable Development strategies and Environment. He has been a manager and a consultant in the fields of natural resources management, economic development and the environment in both the public and private sectors, in Canada and internationally.

Formerly with the Government of Canada, he was Vice President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Deputy Minister of Environment Canada and Deputy Minister of Northern Development.

In 1999 he chaired the Panel on Ecological Integrity of Canada’s National Parks.

Jacques served as the interim Executive Director for CPAWS in 2006.

He is currently member of the Board of Engineers Without Borders and the Executive Secretary of an Independent Panel established by the World Bank to oversee a major oil development project in Chad, Africa.

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Becky Mason

“The beauty of the Nahanni is mind-blowing. Because I’m an artist the visual memories I have of it are vivid–the milky green of the water, shimmering whites and subtle greys from the slate and sandstone, and a narrow slice of pure cerulean sky. The whole river reminds me of the most stunning film; you paddle through these huge canyons of bold formations and awe inspiring cliffs, float past hot springs and ancient caves and explore unique karst formations. If you’re really lucky you might see Dall sheep, woodland caribou or even grizzlies.

There's an amazing feeling that comes with following a ribbon of water through the mountains from its source, but what makes it truly profound is knowing that it is and always will be protected. My dad (filmmaker Bill Mason) loved this river. So much so that with cancer and only months to live, his final wish was to be with his family for one last trip down this beloved river. Dad died shortly after that last trip down the Nahanni in 1988. If he were still with us, I know that he would be actively working to improve the protection of one of his favourite places.” 

www.redcanoes.ca
Becky participated in the CPAWS Nahanni Forever Tour in Ottawa.

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Neil Hartling

As an outfitter and guide for Nahanni River Adventures, Neil Hartling has served as an ambassador to thousands of Nahanni visitors for more than 20 years. Neil has paddled the Nahanni more times than he can count and perhaps more than anyone - period. Along the way, he has accumulated a gold mine of experience and stories. He is author of three Nahanni related books and has many stories to share on the geography and climate from deep in the canyons of the Nahanni wilderness.

Neil participated in the CPAWS Nahanni Forever Tour.

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Dr. David Schindler

David Schindler is Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.  From 1968 to 1989, he founded and directed the Experimental Lakes Project of the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans near Kenora, Ontario, conducting interdisciplinary research on the effects of eutrophication, acid rain, radioactive elements and climate change on boreal ecosystems.  His work has been widely used in formulating ecologically sound management policy in Canada, the USA and in Europe.

His current research interests include the study of fisheries management in mountain lakes, the biomagnification of organochlorines in food chains, effects of climate change and UV radiation on lakes, and global carbon and nitrogen budgets.

Dr. Schindler teaches limnology, the philosophy, sociology and politics of science/science and public policy in Canada, and environmental decision making.

Dr. Schindler paddled the South Nahanni River in 1975 and participated in the CPAWS’ Nahanni Forever Tour in Edmonton.

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Dr. John Weaver

“Nahanni National Park Reserve is simply too narrow and too small to support healthy populations of wide-ranging, vulnerable wildlife species such as grizzly bears and woodland caribou.  To secure the ecological integrity of the area, Nahanni National Park reserve should be expanded to include the entire South Nahanni River watershed and adjacent Nahanni Karstlands.”

John Weaver graduated from the Honors program at Utah State University and earned a Ph.D. in wildlife biology from the University of Montana for his research on wolves in Jasper National Park. He has conducted research on a variety of carnivores in North and South America. John served in several leadership positions for grizzly bear management in the United States.  

Currently, he is a conservation biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada with field projects on woodland caribou and other wildlife in western Canada, including research in the South Nahanni River watershed. He lives on a small ranch in Montana where he raises and trains horses.

For more information on Dr. Weaver's research in the Greater Nahanni visit the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada.  

Dr. Weaver participated in CPAWS’ Nahanni Forever tour.

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