Mines and Logging Versus Tourism
In the March issue,Traveler reports on familiar controversy in an unfamiliar place: the Taku River region of northern British Columbia, a Massachusetts-size wilderness just inland from Juneau, Alaska.
Here, where eagles soar and rafting ecotourists can see a bear around almost every river bend, a Vancouver company wants to reopen and expand a mine, complete with the Taku’s first road, a 100 miles long. Both mine and road pose environmental risks, especially to the salmon rivers, but some residents in this cash-poor region say the jobs are worth it. Others want the land left pristine, but wonder whether they could really make a living in ecotourism instead of mining.
Struggling backcountry communities in North America’s rural west and far north increasingly face this kind of choice: mining and timber job versus seasonal tourism work.
This month, the Tourism Forum asks:
Is it fair to ask people living near wilderness areas to rely on tourism for an
income, rather than on mining or logging?
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