Dyson warns of fallout from ANWR opposition in visit to Whitehorse

More than 200 protestors sent a blunt message to Alaska politicians in the Yukon capital of Whitehorse on March 29 and got one in return.

They rallied on the steps of the territorial legislature, during a visit by an Alaska delegation, to voice their opposition to allowing exploration of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaska Sen. Fred Tyson, R-Eagle River, was reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. as warning that the demonstration could harm other Alaska-Yukon issues.

He said the protest would show “how difficult it is to getting anything done and will be arguably used to say Canadians don’t want a gas pipeline or a railroad.

“Linkages of the disagreement on ANWR will be used by people who want to build an all-Alaska pipeline and keep the Yukon from getting the benefit of a multi-million project” across the territory, he said.

One of the demonstrators, Phillipe Leblond, said caribou could be driven to extinction, destroying the lifestyle of the Gwich’in for the sake of finding more oil to feed the U.S. “war machine.”

—Gary Park