On September 16^th 2011, the Yukon Land Use Planning Council made four recommendations to the Yukon Government and all the Southern Yukon First Nations regarding regional planning in the southern Yukon.

The Peel Watershed Planning Commission (PWPC) has submitted their  pdf Final Recommended Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan (13.26 MB) to the Na-Cho Nyak Dun, Vuntut Gwitchin, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Gwich’in Tribal Council, and Yukon governments (the "Parties") for approval. These governments provided comments on the previous version of the plan (the Recommended Plan) in late February 2011. Upon receipt of these comments, the formerly dormant Commission had several meetings with seconded (from YLUPC) and contracted staff to develop the Final Plan. As of July 25th, 2011, the Commission has fulfilled its mandate, and is no longer active.

The Senior Liaison Committee (SLC) representing the Parties is now reviewing and consulting on the Plan. These Parties anticipate reaching a decision on the Final Plan by late fall.

On January 20^th, 2011, the Parties to the Peel Watershed regional planning process signed a joint letter of understanding (LOU) that confirms the commitment by the Parties to the process, and clarifies its objectives, principles, timeframes and procedures.   pdf Download the LOU here. (314 KB)

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.

When the Yukon Land Use Planning Council first started working towards regional land use planning in the Yukon in 1999, it divided the Territory up into eight conceptual planning regions with loosely defined borders. With the establishment of three planning commissions in the north (North Yukon, Peel Watershed, and Dawson), the Council is looking south to recommend the next planning region.

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.