Congratulations to the Dawson Regional Planning Commission for reaching its first major milestone! On December 1st, 2011, it published its pdf Interests and Issues Report (263 KB) pdf . (263 KB)  This report summarizes the feedback from Plan Partners (the Yukon and Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in governments), stakeholder organizations and the general public on the Dawson Region land and resource base, and people's relationship to it. The Commission noted that some interests were shared among stakeholders, while others conflicted. Further, the Commission identified four key themes that will be addressed in their regional land use plan:

The Dawson planning region

In consultation with Yukon Government, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Nacho Nyäk Dun and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nations, the Yukon Land Use Planning Council has produced a “Terms of Reference” for the Dawson Regional Planning Commission. This document is the first step towards producing a regional plan for the Dawson Planning Region and represents the “marching orders” for the Commission. It has been agreed to by the Yukon Government, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. The commission's interim website can be found here.

With the publication of the Final Recommended Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan in July 2011, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission finished its work. Before they finished, Yukon land claims agreements allowed them to comment on proposed projects in the Peel Watershed to the YESAB. The same agreements (and YESAA) allowed them to determine if a project conforms to their approved plan. However, without an approved plan, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission has no official avenue to evaluate projects in their region.

To fill this gap, the Yukon Land Use Planning Council has recommended that they (YLUPC) perform consistency checks on proposed projects in such planning regions.

An ALCES® landscape computer simulation model was used to explore and better understand potential outcomes of plausible oil and gas, tourism and mining land use scenarios for the North Yukon Planning Region (Table S-1). Land use scenarios, and the detailed parameters for each scenario, were developed by domain experts and through research. A number of different scenarios for each sector were not examined, as the range of plausible scenarios was considered to be relatively low.

The complete document is now available at this link.

Approved Plan Now Available!

• Yukon Government - North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan
• Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation - North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan

The Yukon and Vuntut Gwitchin governments have approved the North Yukon Planning Commission's North Yukon Land Use Plan. This is the first regional plan approved in the Yukon. The plan provides a 'road map' for future land uses in the North Yukon Planning Region and provides a clear statement on how the land is to be used. "This is a milestone in the history of Yukon and represents another step in the modernization of land management in the territory. The two governments and the Commission should be applauded for their work and wise decisions they made throughout this process" says Doug Phillips, former Chair of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council.