Abstract
Four environmental assessments of small uranium exploration projects in Canada's Northwest Territories resulted in recommendations to reject the projects. This result was based on potential cultural impacts of a cumulative nature, due largely to the spiritual significance of the setting in which the projects were proposed. A broad weighing of evidence with respect to reasonably foreseeable future developments played a role in these rejections. Four lessons of broad applicability to EIA practitioners are offered. One of these is: It is the scale of the issues, not the scale of the project, which may matter most.