Ktunaxa Nation statement on Zincton
Nation-led research shows unacceptable risks from proposed resort
For Immediate Release
December 9, 2025
The Ktunaxa Nation Council and Yaqan Nuʔkiy (Lower Kootenay Band) maintain opposition to the proposed Zincton All-Season Resort project and have not concluded engagement with the Province on the resort application.
“We have expressed our opposition to the project from the outset,” said Kathryn Teneese, chair of Ktunaxa Nation Council.
“And we have subsequently done extensive, Ktunaxa-led, scientifically sound research which indicates our opposition is well-grounded.”
Cumulative effects research
The Ktunaxa Nation conducted a two-year cumulative effects research project to understand the potential impacts of past, current, and proposed future land-use activities within the area, including impacts from intensive recreational uses. Researchers combined Ktunaxa knowledge systems with cutting-edge computer model simulations (using ALCES software) to map the predicted changes to ecosystems caused by various disturbances.
The Ktunaxa Nation Council published the research report in 2023. Its findings show a project of this size, in this vital wildlife corridor, would significantly diminish habitat quality for key species.
The research findings indicate the project would trigger unavoidable population-level impacts to wildlife, including grizzly bear and wolverine.
Most important, it recommended a more regional-scale, long-term stewardship planning approach be taken to prevent further negative impacts to the area, which was mined extensively in the past.
The report can be found here: ʔaȼp̓u Project A Ktunaxa Cumulative Effects Initiative and Evaluation for a Portion of ʔamakʔis ʔaȼp̓u (North Slocan).
Researchers recently published a related, peer-reviewed article in the scientific journal Springer Nature. The article, “The Wolverine Project: Evaluating Cumulative Effects Within the Land of Ktunaxa Using the One Heart Method,” is open access.
Status of the resort proposal
In July of this year, B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office issued a statement that the proposed Zincton resort was not reviewable under the Environmental Assessment Act. This means the project application will not be required to go through an environmental assessment process.
That keeps the Zincton application in the early review stage with the Mountain Resorts Branch of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport.
The Mountain Resorts Branch is now the provincial ministry to decide whether to approve or deny the proposed 1,700-bed, all-season resort.
This leaves the fate of the area in the hands of a ministry that hasn’t been tasked with assessing impacts.
The Ktunaxa Nation’s Strategic Engagement Agreement with the Province of British Columbia confirms a Provincial commitment to work collaboratively with the Nation on the basis of recognition of Ktunaxa First Nations’ title and rights in ɁamakɁis Ktunaxa.
“The Ktunaxa Nation has been clear in expressing opposition to the proposed project,” Teneese said. “I encourage anyone who is interested to review these research findings to learn more about our reasons. We advocate for a long-term approach to stewardship in our homelands that considers effects at a regional scale.”