August 22 (Iskut, BC): Members of the Iskut First Nation blockaded Royal Dutch Shell yesterday, preventing the company from gaining access to the Sacred Headwaters (Klappan) area to resume its coalbed methane project. The blockaders are opposed to Shell’s project because they fear it will damage their traditional territory, which they depend on for hunting and trapping.

First Nations elders from Iskut first evicted Shell from their territory in 2005. Shell cancelled last summer’s drilling program due to widespread opposition. Last month, 14 environmental groups including Greenpeace, Sierra Club, NRDC, and the David Suzuki Foundation sent a letter to Shell urging the company to back off its coalbed methane plan in the Sacred Headwaters. To view pictures from the blockade, click here.