The Issues

The Jumbo Valley, or Qat’muk in Ktunaxa, is nestled deep in the Purcell Mountains.  A beloved local wilderness area. A place of cultural significance. A passageway for grizzlies to move between habitats, provinces, countries. For more than a quarter century, local residents, biologists, conservationists, hunters, hikers and the Ktunaxa First Nation fought to keep it wild against the impending threat of a four-season ski resort. The reasons were many: the proposed resort is on sacred land, it was not economically feasible, it would have had a negative community impact, the democratic process surrounding land use planning was highly flawed and the potential impact to the grizzly bear population in the Purcells and beyond would have been huge.