The Ktunaxa Nation Council was joined by Scott Niedermayer in the B.C. Legislature on Tuesday, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Qat'muk Declaration, and urge the provincial government to stop the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort.

Speaking from Victoria, Kathryn Teneese, Ktunaxa Nation Chair, said the Qat'muk Declaration (pronounced got-mook) has been an ongoing process over the past year. The intent of Tuesday's celebration was to celebrate the one year anniversary, and to reiterate the message behind the declaration.

Niedermayer travelled from California to join Teneese and the Ktunaxa representatives to lend his support.

"I'm very proud of my home area," Niedermayer told the Townsman. "The wild places that we have, to me they're extremely important."

Niedermayer has been a vocal opponent of the Jumbo Glacier Resort in recent years, and said the pristine wilderness in the Kootenays is special to the area and needs to be protected.

"Every time I (go back) there I am more and more amazed by the wild places there," he said. "You don't see a lot of places like that in the world, and we need to hold on to it."

One of the major concerns for the Ktunaxa council has been the grizzly bear territory that will be destroyed should the proposed mega-resort be approved.

"If we can be any part of ensuring that grizzly bears continue to exist, we want to be a part of this," Teneese said.

At the Victoria event, the Ktunaxa screened a video which showed the nation's connection to the land, traditionally called Qat'muk. Teneese said that the current proposal for a ski resort in the Jumbo Valley would not only be costly to wildlife - but it is not economically responsible.

"The project as it's presently described really doesn't make any economic sense," Teneese said.

Niedermayer's support of the Ktunaxa Council is has been great, Teneese said. They have appreciated the support of the four-time Stanley Cup winner, who has loaned his name and support to the Jumbo Wild campaign on numerous occasions.

"He grew up in our territory and is aware of all of what our territory has to offer," Teneese said. "We're most appreciative of the fact that he has chosen to stand beside us."

Niedermayer said he is happy to support what the Ktunaxa Nation Council is doing in Victoria.

"I'm here - gladly here - to support them in that," he said. "I think people in the Kootenays are proud of where we live. I want to keep it that way - it's as simple as that."

The Ktunaxa Nation Council hosted an event in Windermere on Tuesday evening, where the video previously presented in Victoria was shown at the Akisqnuk First Nation Community Hall.

The Qat'muk Declaration, signed on Nov. 15, 2010, states the Jumbo Valley's cultural and spiritual importance to the Ktunaxa Nation, and calls for the provincial government to halt the proposed Jumbo Glacier Resort. In the declaration, the Ktunaxa Council proposes the creation of a management plan that will be developed with the input of local governments and other stakeholders.

Glacier Resorts Ltd. is proposing a year-round lift-accessed ski resort located 55 kilometres west of Invermere. The resort would be built in three phases, and when completed would have 5,500 tourist beds, plus 750 beds for staff.

Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett has been an advocate for Jumbo resort. Bennett notes that the Shuswap First Nation, which claims to be the closest aboriginal community to the Jumbo glacier, supports the resort proposal and asserts its own detailed territorial claim.

Bennett also notes there is an existing helicopter-skiing operation on the Jumbo glacier, a road to the region built 50 years ago, and the year-round resort is proposed for an abandoned sawmill site.

In a December 2010 letter to the B.C. government, Shuswap chief Paul Sam described the Jumbo Basin as a dead end with no traditional food gathering or travel function.

"Throughout the long review of the Jumbo basin, all First Nations agreed that it carried little significance to our respective to our respective traditional uses," Sam wrote.

Forests Minister Steve Thomson, said he has been meeting groups, including the Ktunaxa, since last summer, but couldn't say when the government will make a decision on the future of the development.

"It's extensive," he said about the 20 years of development plans behind the Jumbo proposal. "This project has been ongoing for many years."

With files from Tom Fletcher/Black Press and the Canadian Press