Yukon gov't submits recommendations on draft land use plan for Dawson region

The government of Yukon has submitted its recommendations and proposed modifications to the latest draft of the Dawson Regional Land Use Plan.

Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation and the Yukon government have been working together for the past five years to develop the land use plan. It's an objective under Chapter 11 of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in final agreement, to exercise their right to participate in the management of public resources within the First Nation's traditional territory.

In 2022, the Dawson Regional Planning Commission released its latest draft of a land use plan which would lay the groundwork for how roughly 10 per cent of Yukon's land mass should be co-managed in the future.

Both the Yukon government and the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation were then tasked with reviewing the plan, and deciding whether to accept, reject, or recommend changes to the draft plan.

The First Nation submitted its recommendations to the planning commission in August, and on Monday the government did as well.

During a technical briefing on Tuesday, the territory's planning director Kaila de Boer said the main focus of the government's recommendations is ensuring the land use plan can be implemented, "from a legal, financial, technical, administrative perspective." 

She said another goal is to support sustainable development in the area.

According to the government, key areas of agreement include the designation of 15 out of 21 sub-divided smaller forest planning areas; the protection of undisturbed bogs, marshes and fens throughout the region; and the development of a joint Upper Indian River Stewardship Plan with the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Government and other parties.

The territory's submission proposes increasing conservation areas from the recommended 39 per cent to 45 per cent of the region, with nearly 40 per cent of public lands designated for conservation and 90 per cent of all protected areas situated on public lands. 

Other proposals in the submission include enabling sustainable development, adjusting boundaries and designations for some areas, and supporting staking withdrawals and conservation in areas deemed special management areas.

According to de Boer, the First Nation and territory have aligned on many of the recommendations, however there are still some things to be negotiated.

"There's not consensus right now on the removal of interim staking withdrawals in integrated stewardship areas," she said. "There's not currently consensus on the government of Yukon's proposal to change surface disturbance thresholds for integrated stewardship areas."

De Boer said now that the planning commission has received recommendations from both parties, it's time for the commission to review them and draft up the final recommended plan.

De Boer said it's taken a lot of hard work to get to this point in the process and she is confident that the work will continue and the Dawson Regional Land Use plan will eventually be implemented.

"At this point it's back with the commission," de Boer said. "And then we will move through the process outlined in the final agreement, of public engagement and consultation and working with Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in to achieve consensus and ultimately sign a final Dawson Regional Land Use Plan."