Devon NEC Corporation Pike 1 Project Volume 2 – Environmental Impact Assessment June 2012 SECTION 14.0 – TRADITIONAL LAND USE AND TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 14.0 TRADITIONAL LAND USE AND TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE ............................................................................................................. 14-1 14.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 14-1 14.2 Study Area ........................................................................................................ 14-1 14.2.1 Spatial Boundaries ........................................................................... 14-1 14.2.2 Regional Overview ........................................................................... 14-2 14.3 Assessment Approach ..................................................................................... 14-2 14.3.1 Traditional Land Use and Traditional Environmental Knowledge Issues ............................................................................................... 14-2 14.3.2 Selection of Valued Environmental Components ............................. 14-5 14.4 Methods ............................................................................................................ 14-5 14.5 Baseline Case .................................................................................................. 14-6 14.5.1 Existing Development ...................................................................... 14-6 14.5.2 Regional Historic Context ................................................................ 14-7 14.5.3 Traditional Land Use and Traditional Environmental Knowledge .... 14-8 14.6 Application Case .............................................................................................. 14-8 14.7 Traditional Land Use and Traditional Environmental Knowledge Study Summaries ....................................................................................................... 14-9 14.7.1 Saddle Lake Cree Nation Traditional Land Use and Traditional Environmental Knowledge Study Summary ..................................... 14-9 14.7.2 Whitefish Lake First Nation #128 (Goodfish Lake)Traditional Land Use and Traditional Environmental Knowledge Study Summary ........................................................................................ 14-13 14.8 Monitoring ....................................................................................................... 14-14 14.9 Summary ........................................................................................................ 14-14 14.10 References ..................................................................................................... 14-15 Table of Contents – Page i Devon NEC Corporation Pike 1 Project Volume 2 – Environmental Impact Assessment June 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont) PAGE LIST OF TABLES Table 14.2-1: First Nation and Métis Communities in the Project ISA .................................... 14-4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 14.2-1: TLU/TEK Study Areas ...................................................................................... 14-3 Figure 14.7-1: Saddle Lake Cree Nation Traditional Territory and RSA ................................ 14-10 Table of Contents – Page ii Devon NEC Corporation Pike 1 Project Volume 2 – Environmental Impact Assessment June 2012 14.0 TRADITIONAL LAND USE AND TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL KNOWLEDGE 14.1 Introduction This section presents the baseline conditions and an evaluation of potential impacts of the proposed Pike 1 Project (the Project) on resources used for traditional purposes, as well as traditional environmental knowledge (TEK) related to the Project. The Project is located within the Lac La Biche County in northeastern Alberta, approximately 25 km southeast of Conklin, Alberta. The Project is generally located southeast of the Devon Jackfish projects. Traditional knowledge studies have two components: traditional land use (TLU) and TEK. TLU focuses on sites and areas of cultural significance and historical and/or current use of the land (i.e., settlement locations and gathering sites, resource harvesting sites and locales, trails and spiritual areas) that could overlap with the Project footprint. TEK focuses on Aboriginal communities’ understanding of the natural environment, which might be used to enhance analyses of a project’s environmental effects and project planning. TEK includes a variety of plants and animals harvested for dietary or medicinal uses; traditional use activities include trapping, hunting, fishing as well as spiritual practices such as ceremonies. Oral traditions connect family histories and stories to the geographical locations that support these resources and activities, as well as cabins, trails, campsites, burials, settlements and culturally used landscape features. During early planning for the Project (Q3 2010) Devon made a commitment to better understand TLU/TEK information and to plan the Project in a manner that minimizes potential impacts to TLU/TEK resources. The strategy to address this commitment required identifying early in Project planning the communities to be involved in TLU/TEK studies, engaging those communities and comprehensively and flexibly addressing the preferences of individual communities. The result of this strategy was the identification of seven First Nations and one Métis community for involvement in TLU/TEK studies. A consultant was retained in Q4 2010 to assist in the development, planning and execution of TLU/TEK studies and to initiate contact with the identified communities to obtain community support for studies and understand community preferences. Devon initiated contact with each community in January 2011. The evaluation of TLU and TEK for this assessment includes an update to the status of the TLU/TEK studies for these First Nations and Métis communities. 14.2 Study Area 14.2.1 Spatial Boundaries Spatial boundaries for the TLU/TEK studies were developed to include areas where potential Project effects could occur and incorporated input from Aboriginal community representatives. Three study areas are considered for the TLU and TEK studies with each Aboriginal community. Page 14-1 Devon NEC Corporation Pike 1 Project Volume 2 – Environmental Impact Assessment June 2012 The first is the Pike lands, which is defined as the local study area (LSA); the LSA is approximately 48 222 ha in size. The second is the intermediate study area (ISA) which encompasses the Devon Pike and Jackfish lands. The ISA is approximately 125 000 ha in size (Figure 14.2-1). Areas within individual Aboriginal communities’ traditional territories beyond the ISA boundaries, deemed by community representatives and study participants to be of interest in relation to the Project, are included in the community specific regional study areas (RSAs). The boundaries of the RSAs are developed by each community and will vary by community. As the RSA boundary is unique to each community, RSA information is not included in Figure 14.2-1. 14.2.2 Regional Overview Devon has identified eight First Nations and Métis communities with defined traditional lands that overlap the ISA including: Beaver Lake Cree Nation (BLCN), Chipewyan Prairie Dené First Nation (CPDFN), Cold Lake First Nations (CLFN), Heart Lake First Nation (HLFN), Fort McMurray #468 First Nation (FM#468FN), Saddle Lake Cree Nation (SLCN), Whitefish Lake First Nation #128 (Goodfish Lake) (WFL 128) and Métis Nation of Alberta Conklin Local #193 (Table 14.2-1). The socio-economic assessment (Volume 2, Section 17.0) and Aboriginal consultation and public engagement summary (Volume 1, Section 5.0) also present issues, concerns and potential effects on these Aboriginal communities. 14.3 Assessment Approach Individual Aboriginal community TLU/TEK studies are being completed to address the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Project. TLU/TEK studies have been initiated with four Aboriginal communities: HLFN, FM#468FN, SLCN and WFL 128. The TLU/TEK studies for each community have been designed to include the extent of lands with traditional use potential within the LSA, ISA and RSA. In addition to TLU/TEK collected and reported by Aboriginal communities, local cabin, spiritual, graves and other traditional use sites considered as historic resources under the Historical Resources Act are presented in Volume 2, Section 15.0. These resources may also be considered as part of community specific TLU/TEK studies, if deemed appropriate by individual Aboriginal communities. 14.3.1 Traditional Land Use and Traditional Environmental Knowledge Issues The consideration of potential effects of the Project on traditional lands is of cultural, environmental and socio-economic relevance, because it pertains to the well-being of Aboriginal communities. Page 14-2 ± CLEARWATER 175 (FM#468FN) Fort McMurray GREGOIRE LAKE 176B (FM#468FN) GREGOIRE LAKE 176A (FM#468FN) GREGOIRE LAKE 176 (FM#468FN) COWPER LAKE 194A (CPDFN) S JANVIER 194 a s (CPDFN) A k a l b t c e h WINEFRED LAKE 194B r t e a (CPDFN) w a Conklin n Christina Lake Winefred Lake Grist Kirby Lake Lake HEART LAKE 167A (HLFN) HEART LAKE 167 (HLFN) Lac La Biche COLD LAKE 149C (CLFN) h t i m S . BEAVER LAKE 131 I COLD LAKE 149B - t s (BLCN) y l (CLFN) a n A Cold Lake d x WHITE FISH LAKE 128 m . 2 COLD LAKE 149A 1 l (WFLFN#128) i r p (CLFN) A 9 _ s a e r BLUE QUILLS FIRST NATION INDIAN RESERVE A _ y d (SLCN, HLFN, CLFN, BLCN ) u t S St. Paul K E T _ U