Chief Kevin McGinty of the Selkirk First Nation says the First Nation is opposed to a hydro dam on the Pelly River.

McGinty said in an interview this week the First Nation passed an official resolution last August at its annual general assembly stating its opposition.

The dam would most certainly be another blow for the already troubled Yukon River chinook stocks, he said.

The chief said it would flood precious hunting grounds and traplines, historical village sites and five grave sites they know of.

“We have various reasons for not supporting the project, such as the fish and wildlife,” McGinty said in making Selkirk’s first official announcement about its opposition to the Pelly River dam option.

“Above the dam structure and where the reservoir would be is our bread basket and that is where a lot of our history is.”

Three of six options being considered as the site for the next major hydro dam are on the Pelly River; two are on the Stewart River in the traditional territory of the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun; and one is on the Francis River north of Watson Lake, in traditional Kaska territory where there are no aboriginal land claim settlements.

Premier Darrell Pasloski and his cabinet provided the Yukon Development Corp. with $2 million in 2013 to research and recommend one or more options for the next major hydro dam to provide for growth over the next 50 years.

As part of its platform, the Yukon Party committed to advancing the next major dam development to provide for a long-term source of renewable energy.

The corporation was scheduled to have its recommendation to cabinet by the end of the year, though the work is months behind schedule.

The government and the corporation have clearly stated nothing will go forward if there is no support from the affected First Nation.

Justin Ferbey, the newly-appointed president of the development corporation, said Thursday the corporation has received the resolution from the Selkirk First Nation.

The team guiding the Next Generation Hydro project used historical studies and current research to narrow down options for the next major dam to six sites.

Chief McGinty said the Selkirk First Nation has been hearing about the potential of Granite Canyon as a dam site for years, going back to the 1960s.

“This is nothing new to us,” he said. “We were aware of it, and we had two meetings with the ministers and with the chair of the Yukon Development Corporation.

“The people we needed to talk to we did, and we have put our views across to those individuals. I just want to acknowledge we understand the process that is going on. To say that we agree with it is another story.”

McGinty pointed out 15 per cent of the Yukon River chinook of Canadian origin spawn in the Pelly River watershed.

A dam across the river would prevent most of those fish from travelling up the Pelly.

That would have a huge impact on the Pelly people and their way of life, he said.

McGinty said the Next Generation Hydro team did give the First Nation a heads-up that Granite was included in the final six options, from the previous shortlist of 16.

“But it’s noted we do not support moving forward with that.”

The chief said they’ll have to wait until they see the development corporation’s recommendation to the territorial cabinet, but they are hoping for a favourable response.

The Granite Canyon option would involve a dam across the river standing 60 metres high – the Whitehorse Rapids Dam is 18 metres.

It would involve flooding 173 square kilometres of the Pelly and MacMillan rivers to create a storage reservoir – the Schwatka Lake reservoir is 1.4 square kilometres.

A dam across the Teslin River was among the shortlist of 16 but was removed in the last cut.

The project team says it was removed because if didn’t stand up to the technical requirements.

But one local research scientist, Donald Reid of Wild Conservation Society, told the Star recently he suspects the Teslin River option was removed not for technical reasons but because of the very obvious opposition coming out of the Teslin Tlingit Council.

Ferbey said yesterday it was removed for technical reasons.

He said the Next Generation Hydro team has not received a formal position from the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun and the Kaska about the options for a hydro dam inside their traditional territories on the Stewart and Francis rivers.

They do know there are community concerns and the project team will be meeting with the communities as it works to prepare its recommendation for cabinet in the coming months, he said.

Frank Patterson of the Mayo District Renewable Resource Council did tell a workshop hosted by the project team last January that his First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun is strongly opposed to a dam on the Stewart River, a chinook spawning river.

See commentary.