Out of sight (I)

As a public service, here’s an image of one of the landscapes, conveniently far from the seat of the media universe in St. John’s, and conveniently less famous than Gros Morne, that may be impacted by NALCO(R)’s proposed Lower Churchill project, as described in the recent environmental filings.

For the benefit of those who don’t know, this is Mokami, a prominent monadnock on the north side of “The Bay” (aka Lake Melville). It rises abruptly near the mouth of the Sabeskachu River, with its base just above sea level, rising to a barren top just under 1600 feet. It commands a view of almost the entire Bay, and is visible from ships passing up from Rigolet long before any other land at the head of the bay emerges from beneath the curvature of the earth.

It is the subject of a world-famous, all over Labrador, song by the late "Fiddler" Chaulk.

At one point, Mokami was under consideration as a provincially protected area, before the provincial government lost all pretence of interest in actually protecting any areas of ecological, scenic, or cultural importance.

It is also near the northern terminus of one of the routings proposed for the Gull Island electrode line. The electrode line, according to the NALCO(R) documents, would be cut through the forested hills in the foreground of this picture.