Peel River Watershed - - Peel Watershed Planning Commission

Peel River Watershed -
our natural heritage has local & global value

Current Protected Areas in the Yukon and
Neighbouring Jurisdictions
• About 14% of Yukon in
permanent protected areas
• 3 National Parks account for
7.6%
• All remaining protected areas
established through First
Nations land claim
agreements

A vision for the
future…

Intact watersheds with the full variety of life
found in the mountain boreal region

Working Towards a Peel Watershed Planning Commission

An important part of the North’s s cultural heritage

A history of trade, travel & community use in the Peel

Guide-outfitting, trapping, prospecting are
on-going activities…

Use of the Peel watershed is evolving…

Local people and visitors from around the world

People come to experience the
beauty & wilderness – hiking,
paddling, hunting, or wildlife
viewing…

The Peel watershed
inspires art, music,
photography, stories &
writing

What are the conservation values

CPAWS Field Surveys & Community trips
• Habitat and vegetation surveys
• Fish & wildlife observations
• Grizzly bear habitat assessment
• Mapping of conservation values

From the Selwyn
& Wernecke
Mtns to the
Richardsons: one
of the North’s
great boreal
watersheds…
Peel River watershed

Blackstone Uplands

Ogilvie Mountains

Peel Plateau

Turner Lake Area - One of
Yukon’s 50 Critical Wetlands

Fort McPherson Plains

Peel Canyon

Peel River Main-stem

Wind River watershed

Bonnet Plume watershed

Snake River watershed

Vast alpine areas…

Mountain boreal forests…

Pristine watersheds & aquatic habitat

Intact Large Mammal Ecosystem

Bonnet Plume Woodland Herd overlaps with range of
Porcupine Barren-ground
Herd

Special Ecosystem Elements
Beringia
Wetlands
Raptors
Caribou

Conservation & Economic Development

Jobs in guiding, research,
cultural interpretation,
renewable resource
management, backcountry
services, new businesses …

Three Rivers Journey and Gathering

…a compelling case for conservation & a
network of protected areas in the Peel watershed

CPAWS Conservation Values Atlas…available for use

Previously Identified Areas
of High Ecological Value
• Previous studies have
identified key wetland
and wildlife areas in the
Peel watershed as
candidates for protection

First Nation Traditional Territories
• Peel watershed mainly in
the territories of the
Nacho Nyak dun and
Tetl’it
Gwich’in
in, , with a
portion of the territories
of the Vuntut Gwitchin
and Tr’ondek
Hwech’in

Existing Protected Areas
• Bonnet Plume Heritage
River offers no legal
protection
• Peel watershed is not yet
represented by protected
areas – tremendous
opportunity

Yellowstone to
Yukon Region

Road density
in Y2Y area

Protected Areas in
the Y2Y Region
• Only 4 significant
protected areas in the
northern region of Y2Y

Protected Areas and Sustainable
• We have room for both
protected areas and
responsible industry
Communities
• Sustainability means a
two-pronged approach
to our use of land and
resources – protection
and responsible use

North American Context

Area of Interest
• Significant natural values
• Primarily wilderness
• Very localized
development
• Few roads
• Few people
• Small communities
• Mostly First Nations
• Connection to the land

• “…to sustain the ecological and cultural integrity of the
Canadian boreal forest region, in perpetuity”
• -Boreal Framework
• “… to maintain in perpetuity the wilderness quality, and
the diversity and abundance of wildlife and the ecosystems
on which it depends while allowing resource development
and use in parts …”
• - Preamble from the MK Act

Source: BioScience, February 2004 / Vol.54 No.2, pp.123-138

The vision on the ground
Success will be in the form of:
• Parks and Protected Areas
• Special Management Areas
• Planned & Paced Development
• Cultural Integrity
• Healthy Communities

Parks & other Protected Areas
• Big wilderness
• Intact ecosystems
• Watersheds or major portions of
• Abundant wildlife & biodiversity
• Ecological integrity

Parks & other Protected Areas
• Big wilderness
• Intact ecosystems
• Watersheds or major portions of
• Abundant wildlife & biodiversity
• Ecological integrity

Peregrine Falcon Breeding Areas
• 25% of Yukon’s
breeding population in
the Peel watershed

Forest Cover
• Forest cover along Peel
main stem and tributary
valleys, and in the Peel
Plateau

Flyways
• High bird diversity for
this latitude, since birds
fly down Mackenzie,
then up the Peel
watershed

Caribou Herds and Sedimentary Basins
• Sedimentary basins and
oil and gas activity
overlap in portions of
the Peel watershed,
potentially affecting
Bonnet Plume woodland
caribou herd and
Porcupine Caribou herd

Peregrine Falcon and Sedimentary Basin
• Oil and gas activity could
affect critical Peregrine
Falcon breeding areas in
the peel watershed

• Peel watershed has
portions of 6 ecoregions
• High biological diversity
due to different
characteristics of these 6
ecoregions
• Mountain, plateau and
lowland ecosystems
Ecoregions