What has happened to the salmon resource in the Pacific Northwest? Who is responsible and what can be done to reverse the decline in salmon populations? The responsibly falls on everyone involved - fishermen, resource managers and concerned citizens alike - to take the steps necessary to ensure that salmon populations make a full recovery. T

Executive Summary KGHM Ajax Mining Inc. proposes to construct, operate and decommission an open pit copper and gold mine adjacent to the southern limits of the City of Kamloops in British Columbia. The Ajax Mine Project would process up to 65,000 tonnes of ore per day over an operating mine life of up to 23 years. The Ajax Mine Project would have a footprint of approximately 1,700 hectares and would include an open pit, ore processing plant, tailings storage facility, mine rock storage facilities, and water and waste management systems. It would also include upgrades to an existing water intake on Kamloops Lake, a new 16 kilometre water line to transport water to the mine site, and a new 5.3 kilometre natural gas pipeline connecting with the Fortis pipeline near the community of Knutsford. A new 9 kilometre, 230 kilovolt transmission line would tie in with an existing BC Hydro power line near Knutsford to supply electricity to the Ajax Mine Project. The Inks Lake Interchange would be upgraded to provide direct access to the mine site from Highway 5 (Coquihalla Highway). The Ajax Mine Project was subject to review under both federal and provincial environmental assessment legislation, and a coordinated environmental assessment was carried out by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency) and the BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO). The Agency and EAO prepared a joint federal Comprehensive Study/provincial Assessment Report that meets the requirements of both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act, and which will inform separate environmental assessment decisions on the Ajax Mine Project by federal and provincial ministers.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) requires that wetlands be protected from degradation because of their important ecological functions including maintenance of high water quality and provision of fish and wildlife habitat. However, this protection generally does not encompass riparian areasâ€"the lands bordering rivers and lakesâ€"even though they often provide the same functions as wetlands. Growing recognition of the similarities in wetland and riparian area functioning and the differences in their legal protection led the NRC in 1999 to undertake a study of riparian areas, which has culminated in Riparian Areas: Functioning and Strategies for Management. The report is intended to heighten awareness of riparian areas commensurate with their ecological and societal values. The primary conclusion is that, because riparian areas perform a disproportionate number of biological and physical functions on a unit area basis, restoration of riparian functions along America's waterbodies should be a national goal.