This vast region in northern British Columbia is the birthplace of three iconic salmon watersheds: the Skeena, Stikine, and Nass Rivers. Local Tahltan people call the area Klabona, which loosely translates as “headwaters.”

The Sacred Headwaters is an area of cultural and ecological significance. But the region is also rich in mineral and energy resources, including coal and coalbed methane. Several industrial development projects were proposed for the area, such as Fortune Minerals’ open-pit Klappan Coal Mine and Royal Dutch Shell’s Klappan Coalbed Methane Project.

Between 2004 and 2009, Shell Canada proposed to develop thousands of wells to extract up to as much as 8.1 trillion cubic feet (230 km3) of coalbed methane gas.

These projects would have threatened the water supply and destroyed sacred cultural sites. Due to these threats and other community concerns, resource development in the Sacred Headwaters was halted. However, this victory was not without its challenges; a group of Tahltan elders and leaders were arrested for blocking the road leading to the proposed mine site. The arrests sparked a decades-long movement that eventually protected the area.

In 2019, The B.C. government and Tahltan Nation signed the historical Klappan land-use plan that advances reconciliation and embraces the Klappan Valley’s significant social, cultural, environmental, and economic values. 

Collective community efforts helped safeguard vital salmon habitats and ensure the area’s cultural heritage is preserved for future generations.