YLUPC
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Artwork: Yukon Graphic Recording

INTENT STATEMENT

The vision for this LMU is that it continues to support Caribou, Moose and other wildlife while allowing sustainable development to proceed. Key values, including tributaries to the Yukon River, will be preserved through cumulative effects management. The area hosts an active advanced hard rock exploration program with associated infrastructure and is the site of a potential hard rock mine. It is also contains key habitat and migration corridors for the Fortymile caribou and Nelchina caribou herds. It is important that this LMU remains open for current and future mineral interests without undermining its environmental and cultural values.

This LMU is directly adjacent to LMU 3, Yukon River Corridor, which is designated as a sub-regional planning area because of its high cultural and ecological importance. The discrepancy between the intent of LMUs 3 and 18 should be acknowledged and considered in all future decisions. This LMU is currently relatively disconnected from LMU 11. However, the proposed Northern Access Route would create substantial opportunities for new access, which will require careful consideration.

The ISA 4 designation provides adequate opportunity for mining to continue while placing limits on development in recognition of ecological and cultural values. The LMU contains key caribou habitat and sites of cultural history and significance to Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, and it is important that these values are protected during ongoing industrial development.

TR’ËHUDÈ AND STEWARDSHIP

Ttthetryän Dëk means “copper creek”. The Coffee Creek area was historically a source of copper, which was used pre-contact to make copper knives and jewelry.

“There are traditional routes and trails in this area that connected the people of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in to the people of Alaska. The people of Alaska were the keepers of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in songs and dances. The connection to Alaska is a connection to our language, traditions, and culture.”

– Angie Joseph-Rear, Dawson Regional Planning Commission

LMU DIRECTIONS

  1. This area contains important caribou migration routes and ridgetops. The Government of Yukon and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in should identify appropriate conditions to minimize impacts to these areas from future development.
  2. There are small, isolated sheep populations adjacent to this LMU that are particularly sensitive to disturbance. Land and air access into this area should take every precaution to minimize disturbance to sheep, especially during lambing season.
  3. Efforts to enhance the use of this area for traditional economic activities and cultural or educational pursuits should be supported.
  4. Due to the associated risks, heap-leach mining is not supported in this LMU under the current regulatory regime and with commonly used technologies.
  5. If the Northern Access Route proceeds, there will be significant disturbance within this LMU.
    1. If the Northern Access Route has its own project access plan, care must be taken to ensure that the intent of this LMU is met within that plan. If a project access plan is not required, this LMU will require an Access Management Plan.
    2. The Northern Access Route will likely include the construction of a barge landing in known sheep habitat. Care must be taken to ensure that sheep and their habitat are not disturbed.
  6. This area is located within important caribou herd ranges. It is crucial to maintain key caribou migration pathways and to minimize disturbance to key habitat. Stewardship Directions for the caribou overlays (Section 5.3.4) must be followed.
PRIORITY VALUES
  • Water
  • Caribou
  • Sustainable Local Economy
VALUES
Land–People Relationship
  • Low recreation potential, except for limited use along the Yukon River.
  • Mineral activities offer opportunities for stewardship.
  • Trapping concessions offer opportunities for relationships with the land and stewardship.
Community Culture
  • Past and present use for community harvesting and trapping.
Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Culture, Heritage, and Hän language
  • Presence of archaeological sites and recorded historic resources near the Yukon River; the area is culturally significant to Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in.
  • Important for maintaining Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in’s way of life and connections to the land.
Community Resilience
  • Mining operations can impact Community Resilience in both positive (for example, impact benefit agreements) and negative (for example, structural failures and social harms) ways.
  • While not directly used for community drinking water, maintaining the quality of the water of the Yukon River is of high importance to the community’s sense of stewardship and connection to the land.
Water
  • Bordered to the north by the Yukon River and contains many of its tributaries.
  • Coffee Creek is a tributary to the Yukon River.
Plant and Animal Relations
  • High-elevation habitat is important for some migratory bird species.
  • Watercourses are likely to contain resident fish species.
  • Scattered sheep habitat along the Yukon and White rivers, with small, isolated sheep populations adjacent to this LMU that are sensitive to disturbance.
  • Species-at-risk known to occur include bank swallow, lesser yellowlegs, olive-sided flycatcher, rusty blackbird, horned grebe, common nighthawk, short-eared owl, barn swallow, and wolverine.
  • Species-at-risk expected in low numbers include little brown myotis, red-necked phalarope, gypsy cuckoo bumble bee, Suckley’s cuckoo bumble bee, western bumble bee mckayi subspecies, and transverse lady beetle.
Salmon
  • Coffee Creek is a tributary of the Yukon River, which has salmon spawning habitat. Contaminants in this creek must be managed so as to not affect salmon and their habitat in the Yukon River.
Caribou
  • Contains key summer and winter habitat for the Fortymile, Nelchina, and Klaza caribou herds, as well as key ridges for migration.
Moose
  • Contains good habitat for moose and is potentially a source population for moose moving into more highly harvested areas.
Landscapes
  • Important ecosystems include low-elevation steppe meadows, unique riparian streams, and intact forests (>140 years old).
Wetlands
  • Wetlands identified on small tributaries to the Yukon River.
Sustainable Local Economy
  • Within the Yukon River South landscape unit for the Dawson Forest Resource Management Plan, which has been designated as medium priority for long-term planning.
  • Highly prospective, and the site of significant mineral exploration and development; contains an advanced hard rock exploration project and potential future hard rock mine site.
  • Contains overlapping trapping concessions.

Indicator gauges

Surface disturbance (km²)
Linear disturbance (km)

Cumulative effects