In a rare victory against an oil company, Shell has withdrawn
its plan to drill for gas in British Columbia's Sacred
Headwaters and the government has permanently banned oil and gas
drilling there. Now the majesty and wildness of the Sacred
Headwaters will not be scarred by thousands of Shell's gas
wells. For five years, Canada's First Nations and nearby
communities, who rely on the pristine waters and wild salmon
where the mighty Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers come together,
battled Shell's plans to drill more than 4,000 gas wells in the
Sacred Headwaters. Nearly 100,000 people signed petitions, sent
letters and supported ForestEthics in helping the Tahltan First
Nation, on whose territory the Sacred Headwaters are found in
northwest British Columbia. This vast, pristine landscape is
home to rich populations of grizzly bears, caribou and mountain
goats. It is the place where creation stories originate for
First Nations like the Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Haisla and Haida.
Shell's plan to drill for coalbed methane in