Ahousaht.

A recently signed Memorandum of Understanding between mining company Selkirk Metal Corp. and the Ahousaht First Nation could set off a firestorm of protests, reviving the heady days of environmental activism in the Clayoquot Sound region of Vancouver Island.

The MOU was signed in April and allows for the exploration of copper on Catface Mountain on Ahousaht territory. The mountain is within an area with biosphere reserve status, and in a region that became the focus of international attention when forestry companies attempted to log off old growth forests in the 1980s.

The mining company has been courting the community for years for access to the mountain, and have been denied, but economic pressures and social concerns have tipped the scales in the community, and Ahousaht took a small step, allowing exploration in return for jobs for a few of its people.

But the Friends of Clayoquot Sound have sought the support of the nearby tourist town Tofino to actively oppose the move.

The Friends say a copper mine in Clayoquot Sound would be detrimental to the wild fishery, the environment and tourism, and while Ahousaht's economy is bleak, a few people working for a few years will not be worth a lifetime of environmental damage.

Chief Councillor Keith Atleo said the community has agreed only to exploration, not to the development of a mine. It will be years before a mine may be proposed, and a referendum on the issue would be held in the community before it would be considered. In the short term, however, the chief is pleased that some of Ahousaht's members will be gainfully employed.