Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

within the study area in February 1998,
and some of the claim holders have
let their holdings lapse. In the fall of
1999, there were 75 valid quartz claims
within the draft park boundary. In
December 1999, the Yukon and
Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in governments
approved the park boundary and permanent
mineral staking withdrawal will
be requested.
In the summer of 1999, a lapsed mineral
interest was re-staked (6 claims)
within an area of interest for “Goal
one” protection under the Yukon
Protected Areas Strategy. The location
of the claims within the headwaters
of the Fishing Branch River, has raised
concerns regarding the potential risk to
water quality. In December 1999 the
Yukon government approved the entire
Fishing Branch watershed as a Wilderness
Preserve. The existing mineral
rights will be respected.
Protected areas: A Canadian and
Broader Perspective
The Government of Canada issued a
Statement of Commitment to complete
Canada’s Network of Protected Areas
by the year 2000. This commitment to
complete a system of representative
parks in each jurisdiction requires the
cooperation of federal, provincial, and
territorial governments 4.
The Yukon still needs adequate
representation in 16 of its 23 ecological
regions according to the Yukon Parks
System Plan and the Yukon Protected
Areas Strategy. The National Parks
System Plan guides Parks Canada in
establishing parks. Under this system,
one of the five natural regions in the
Yukon is not currently represented by a
national park. Parks Canada has
identified the Wolf Lake candidate area
in the Northern Interior Mountains and
Plateau Natural Region for further
assessment in 1999.
First Nations are playing a key role in
establishing parks and protected areas
in the Yukon. The designation of Special
Management Areas (SMAs) under the
Yukon land claim protect areas of
cultural and environmental significance.
The extent of the influence of the land
claim agreements is clear as only one
protected area, Coal River Springs, has
been designated outside the land claim
process.
Non-government agencies, such as the
World Wildlife Fund and the Canadian
Parks and Wilderness Society, research
and lobby for areas in need of
preservation around the world. Major
non-governmental initiatives for the
Yukon include the World Wildlife
Fund’s Endangered Spaces Campaign,
the Yellowstone to Yukon Project,
Yukon Wildlands Project and the
Caribou Commons Project.
Joint initiatives and meetings between
private industry, government and
environmental groups are the start of a
cooperative approach for the
establishment of protected areas.
PROGRESS & CHALLENGES
Progress since 1995
■ Yukon Protected Areas Strategy
adopted December 1998.
■ Protected Areas Secretariat
established March 1999.
■ There is adequate parks and
protected area representation
within seven of the 23
ecoregions of the Yukon. These
protected areas meet Goal One
of the Protected Area Strategy as
there is a representative core
area protected within each
ecoregion.
■ Four ecoregions have some
representation in the Yukon
protected areas network.
■ Seven new protected areas
established since 1995
(Tombstone Territorial Park,
Fishing Branch Wilderness
Preserve, and the Ta’tla Mun
Special Management Area) and
four Habitat Protection Areas
(Nordenskiold Wetlands, Ddhaw
Ghro, Lhutsaw Wetlands and
Fishing Branch Habitat Protected
Area).
■ 9.3 per cent of the Yukon was
protected in 1999 according to
Categories I to III of the World
Conservation Union; an
additional 2.2 per cent is interim
protected.
Challenges
■ Following consultation with First
Nation governments and the
public, oil and gas land sales were
held in 1999 in the Eagle Plains
Basin. An area was exempted
from oil and gas land sales for
future protected areas work.
Additional oil and gas land sales
in the area are contemplated for
2000. Areas to be exempted for
protected areas planning remain
under discussion. There is the
potential that lands required for
protected areas planning may be
affected by the 2000 sale.
■ Obtaining interim protection of
areas of interests is recognized as
a challenge.
■ 16 out of the 23 ecoregions are
not adequately represented by
protected areas.
3.3 Oil and Gas Industry
The Yukon is entering a new era in the
management of its oil and gas resources
(Figure 3.7). Until recently, the
Government of Canada owned and
managed oil and gas in the Yukon. In the
fall of 1998, the Yukon government
assumed provincial-like responsibility for
oil and gas resources and is establishing
a competitive oil and gas regime.
Yukon First Nations are also assuming
responsibilities for oil and gas through
land claim agreements. The Yukon
C H A P T E R 3 L A N D ❧ 4 1