Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

ECOZONE ECOREGION CODE
Pacific Maritime Mount Logan 184
Southern Arctic Yukon Coastal Plain 32
Taiga Plain Peel River Plateau 51
Fort Macpherson Plain 53
Muskwa Plateau 66
Taiga Cordillera British Richardson Mountains 165
Old Crow Basin 166
Old Crow Flats 167
North Ogilvie Mountains 168
Eagle Plains 169
Mackenzie Mountains 170
Selwyn Mountains 171
Boreal Cordillera Klondike Plateau 172
Saint Elias Mountains 173
Ruby Ranges 174
Yukon Plateau-Central 175
Yukon Plateau-North 176
Yukon Southern Lakes 177
Pelly Mountains 178
Yukon-Stikine Highlands 179
Boreal Mountains And Plateaus 180
Liard Basin 181
Hyland Highland 182
Figure 3.4 Ecoregions of the Yukon
* Yukon ecoregions and code numbers are part of a national
framework for the classification of ecoregions.
Wilderness Lands in the Yukon
The Yukon has vast areas of
undeveloped land. Approximately 77
per cent of the territory is within the
‘wilderness’ category (Figure 3.1).
Figures 3.2 and 3.3 illustrate the
amount of wilderness, natural and
developed land in each ecoregion.
Ecoregions with the most wilderness
are: the Yukon Plateau North,
MacKenzie Mountains, North Ogilvie
Mountains and Selwyn Mountains.
Three ecoregions, the Klondike Plateau,
Yukon Plateau North and Yukon
Southern Lakes contain the most
development. The Klondike Plateau
has substantial areas of placer mining,
while the Yukon Southern Lakes
ecoregion is dominated by development
in and around the City of
Whitehorse.
3.2 Protected Areas
“Our shared relationship with the
northern land, water, air and life
forms defines our character, sustains
our spirits and unites us as people of
the Yukon.
We have a duty to protect the
ecosystems and natural processes that
support this relationship.
We will meet this responsibility for the
benefit of ourselves and our children,
and also for the benefit of other life
forms and the earth as a whole – for
bio-diversity and the intrinsic value of
wilderness.
We will use the Yukon Protected Areas
Strategy to guide us as we set up a
network of protected areas based on
ecosystem management, conservation
biology, sustainable economies and
values and knowledge of Yukon
people.”–Vision Statement of the
Yukon Protected Areas Strategy 1.
The Yukon Protected Areas Strategy,
approved in 1998, guides the establishment
of a system of protected areas
by:
3 8 ❧ Y U K O N S T A T E O F T H E E N V I R O N M E N T R E P O R T 1999