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TuesdayFebruary2420157ENVIRONMENTWILDLIFECALLFORAPPLICATIONSHealthyChildrenInitiativeTheDepartmentofEducationCultureandEmploymentisnowacceptingapplicationsfortheHealthyChildrenInitiativefundingforthe2015-2016scalyear.HealthyChildrenInitiativeHCIisaresponsebytheDepartmentsofEducationCultureandEmploymentandHealthandSocialServicestoearlychildhoodinterventionneedsintheNWT.Thetermearlychildhoodinterventionreferstosupportsforchildrenwhoareatriskoforareexperiencingdevelopmentaldelays.Fundingisprovidedtocommunityorganizationsfortheenhancementordevelopmentofearlychildhoodinterventionprogramsandservicesthatwillsupporttheintegrationandinclusionofchildrenwhorequireadditionalassistance.ApplicationsmustbesubmittedtotheregionalECEServiceCentreandreceivedbefore300PMLOCALTIMEMarch272015.Pleasenotethatelectronicapplicationswillnotbeaccepted.FormoreinformationandtopickuptheapplicationguidelinescontactyourRegionalECEServiceCentreNorthSlaveECEServiceCentreAttnSherriHughsonNovaPlaza1stFloor501952ndStreetBox1320YellowknifeNTX1A2L9Phone867766-5107Fax867873-0423DehChoECEServiceCentreAttnTracyWaughAntoineDehChoRegionalEducationCentre980298thAveP.O.Box740FortSimpsonNTX0E0N0Phone867695-7329Fax867695-7351SouthSlaveECEServiceCentreAttnAnnKeizerSweetgrassBuilding177McDougalRoadBox1406FortSmithNTX0E0P0Phone867872-7425Fax868872-4507BeaufortDeltaECEServiceCentreAttnSallieRossGNWTMulti-UseFacility106VeteransWayBagService1InuvikNTX0E0T0Phone867777-7436Fax867777-7218SahtuECEServiceCentreAttnKarlaLennieEdwardG.HodgsonBuildingPOBox147NormanWellsNTX0E0V0Phone867587-7160Fax867587-2612ByMEAGANWOHLBERGAnapplicationtodrillforhighqualitysilicasandusedinhydraulicfracturingoperationsontheNorthArmofGreatSlaveLakewasforwardedtothereviewboardforenviron-mentalassessmentlastweek.HuskyOilrecentlyappliedforave-yearlandusepermittodrill50kmwestofYel-lowknifeforthenequartz-richsandneededinfrackingstartingthisspring.LastMondaytheWekeezhiiLandandWaterBoardconcludedthattheproposaltodoexploratorydrillingnearWhitebeachPointisacauseofpublicconcernandshouldbereferredtotheMackenzieValleyEnviron-mentalImpactsReviewBoardforafullen-vironmentalassessment.IntheBoardsviewthepublicconcernitidentiedinrelationtothisproposedlanduseoperationissubstantialandwidespreadreadsthedecisionhandeddownlastMon-day.Itshouldbeaddressedbeforeopera-tionsareinitiated.Theboardconcludedanenvironmentalassessmentwouldbeneededtofacilitatefurtherengagementbroadparticipationintheprocessmorethoroughconsiderationoftraditionalknowledgeandculturalim-pactsandevaluationofacomprehensivearrayoffactorsthatmaybecontributingtopublicconcern.Projectsarereferredtothereviewboardwhenitisdeterminedthataproposedde-velopmentmighthaveasignicantadverseimpactontheenvironmentorbeacauseofpublicconcern.StatementsofconcernwereissuedbytheTlichoGovernmentYellowknivesDeneFirstNationandtheNorthSlaveMtisAllianceaswellasnon-governmentalorganizationsandthegeneralpublic.ConcernscenteredontheareasculturalrecreationalandspiritualvalueforlocalAb-originalgroupsaswellastheneedforenvi-ronmentalprotection-concernsHuskydidnotadequatelymitigateinitsfollow-upre-sponseaccordingtotheboard.HuskyspokespersonKimGuttormsonsaiditistooearlytodeterminewhetherthedeci-sionwillimpactthecompanysgoingforwardwiththeproject.WewillwaitfortheMackenzieValleyEnvironmentalReviewBoardtooutlineitsprocessbeforedeterminingournextstepsGuttormsonsaid.Thecompanyhopestodrill200boreholesinsearchofsilicaanesandusedinfrack-ingtopropshalebedfracturesopeninordertoreleasegasoroiltothesurface.WhitebeachPointisjustonesitebeingcon-sideredbyHuskywhoseexplorationplansarebasedonresearchdonebyAuroraGeo-sciencesin2012whichalsoidentiedsim-ilarhigh-gradesilicadepositsintheLiardRivervalleyandalongtheMackenzieRiver.LastyearHuskywithdrewitsapplica-tiontodrillandfrackuptofourwellsintheSahturegionoftheterritoryindicat-ingitsdesiretopostponefortwoyears.Theregionallandandwaterboardhaddelayedadecisionontheproposaljustweekspriortoitsbeingwithdrawn.HuskyfracsanddrillingprojectsenttoenvironmentalassessmentINDUSTRYOILGASResearcherstestTBdetectionmethodsonwoodbisonAround200bisontobetestedkilledovernextthreeyearsByMEAGANWOHLBERGResearchersarecapturingwoodbisonintheSouthSlaveregionandWoodBuffaloNa-tionalParktotestnewmethodsfordetect-ingbovinetuberculosisandbrucellosisin-fectionamongtheherdwherethediseaseisepidemicandcurrentlynoteasytodiagnose.AdamHeringamastersstudentattheUni-versityofSaskatchewansschoolofveterinarymedicineandParksCanadawildlifehealthspecialistToddShurywereinFortSmithtotestseveralnewdiagnosticmethodsonbisonoverthepasttwoweekswiththehopesthatoneofthetestswillproveeffectiveincorrectlyidentifyingwhichanimalsareinfected.Thecurrentdiagnostictestsfortuberculo-sisarentveryaccurateandtheyalsorequirecapturingeachanimaltwice...whichisobvi-ouslychallengingHeringsaid.Thatcurrenttest-knownastheskintest-oftenproducesfalseresultsHeringsaid.Itisntaveryaccuratetestsoitsnotasuse-fulaswedlikeintermsoftryingtoimprovethewaywemanagetuberculosis.Ifweonedaywanttodecreasetheamountoftuberculosisintheparkwereallyneedbettertestshesaid.OverthenextthreeyearsHeringandShuryareplanningtotryvebloodtestsontheherdthatinvolveasinglecaptureunliketheskintesttoseewhichisthemostaccurate.Thosebloodtestshavebeendevelopedfordomesticcattlebutcouldworkonbisonaswell.ToadministerthetestsHeringandShuryheadedoutbyhelicoptertotheGrandDetourareaoftheSlaveRiverlowlandstondtheirtargetanimals.Forthescopeoftheprojecttheresearchersareonlytargetingolderbulls.TheyretheonesthathavethehighestamountofinfectionandalsoifweremovethoseanimalsfromthepopulationithastheleastimpactasawholeHeringsaid.Afterswoopingineachbisonistakendownwithastrongsedativedart.Theteamthentakesbloodsamplesaswellastheexistingskintestinordertocomparetheresults.Thebisonisalsogivenacollarandeartagsoitcanberecapturedinthreedaysforthesec-ondstepoftheskintestandsothathunterswillknownottoharvestoreatthoseanimals.Atotalof29bullsweretestedovertherecentperiod.NowHeringandShuryhaveplanstoreturninApril-afterthedrugswillhavehadtimetoleavethebisonssystems-withlocalhuntersandcommunitymemberstohuntthesamebisonandperformpost-mortemanalysistoseeiftheresultsofthetestswereaccurate.Killingtheanimalsistheonlywaytotrulyas-sesswhetherornottheyareinfected.Weneedtobeabletocutthemopentotakesamplesofabunchofdifferentlymphnodesanddoafullpost-mortemnecropsyHeringsaid.Anyanimalsthatarefoundtobefreefrominfectionwillbesharedasmeatwiththecom-munityandsamplesfrominfectedanimalswillbesenttolabsfortesting.Around200bisonareexpectedtobetakenoverthecourseoftheentirestudyhalffromtheSlaveRiverlowlandsareaandtheotherhalffromwithinWoodBuffaloNationalParkinAlberta.WhilethestudyisjustlookingattestingratherthantreatmentShurysaiditstillhasimpor-tantimplicationsformanagingthehealthofthediseasedherd.StudiesshowaroundhalftheherdisinfectedwithTBand33percentwithbrucellosis.Seventy-vepercentofthe29ani-malstestedlastweekshowsignsofinfection.Eventuallyitwillgiveussomeoptionsformaybemanagingsomeofthewildbisonherdssowecanmaybelookatdoingsometestandre-movalandreducingtheprevalenceofTBovertimeShurysaid.Rightnowtheonlyoptionthatsbeenproposedisdepopulatingtheentireherdwhichisnotaverysatisfactorysolution.AsidefromtheUofSandParksCanadathestudyisbeingsupportedbytheGNWTandlocalAboriginalgovernmentsandhasfundingfromtheAlbertaLivestockandMeatAgencyCanadianFoodInspectionAgencytheUSdepartmentofAgricultureandthebisonindustry.PhotoChristaCoetserResearchersAdamHeringbottomrightandToddShurytakebloodsamplesfromasedatedbisontotestfortuberculosis.Theduohopestotest200bisonoverthreeyears.