Doris Dreyer – Government of Yukon Energy, Mines and Resources Land Planning Branch

Local area plans are a form of land use planning for Yukon’s unincorporated settlements areas. Generally, these plans cover relatively small areas, are fairly detailed in nature and have historically focussed on managing growth and providing basic development rules within a rural residential setting. Local area plans are not legislated, but enforceable through legislation for zoning, subdivision and other land and resource development policies. The earliest plans date back to the 1970s and 80s. Development pressures in the 1990s led to the development of a series of new plans in Whitehorse’s vicinity, such as for Mount Lorne and Ibex Valley. Their development process mirrored that of official community plans for Yukon municipalities. For their development, Yukon government worked closely with property owners in the planning area. Since the settlement of land claims, Yukon government started to partner with First Nation governments to jointly plan with local residents. This led to an increased complexity of the planning processes and greater effort when building consensus amongst planning participants. Most recently, Yukon government has been approached by First Nations to develop local area plans for larger areas located adjacent to highways in order to provide an alternative to spot land applications (unplanned development). This has led to new planning challenges, such as overlap with other resource development plans and initiatives and a more intense focus on wildlife issues. Other new planning issues include climate change considerations, densification of residential developments and interest in providing a greater range of land uses in planning areas.

Vicky Weekes – Manager, Stratos Inc.

Land use plans have been used or positioned as the primary tool in many jurisdictions in Canada, and in the North, to shape the management of resources in a region. Land use plans are typically a requirement of land claim settlement agreements, receive legal status and are meant to provide guidance on what types of land uses are acceptable and where. Although land use plans may be ideal in principle, they may not be living up to their potential in practice. While a great deal of effort and resources have been invested in developing land use plans, many are still in draft form and have been subject to political intervention; or are finalized with either lofty or watered down objectives. In absence of finalized or effective land use plans, regions and settlement areas are struggling to manage the way in which natural resource development unfolds and to sufficiently benefit from the opportunities that development presents. Consequently, new approaches and tools that are more practical, nimble and tailored to managing the development of natural resources are emerging. One of the approaches being used by Aboriginal governments is the development of mineral strategies and policies to provide an overall vision to guide development. This presentation will explore what has been learned from these approaches in Northern jurisdictions to date, how this can be further applied in the North and what this means for the evolving role of land use planning.

Eric Binion – Senior Land Use Planner, The Government of Northwest &Territories, Department of Lands & Jessica Hum – Land Use Planner, Tłı̨chǫ Government

The Tli.cho. Agreement came into effect in 2005, and with it the responsibility to establish mechanisms to prepare, approve and implement land use planning for the 39,000 km2 of Tli.cho. Lands. As a result of extensive community consultation spanning seven years, with Tli.cho. language as the priority and Traditional Knowledge to inform the planning process, the Tli.cho. Wenek’e (Land Use Plan) connects the land as a living entity, including culture and history to help preserve the 'collective memory' of the Tli.cho.. Finalized in 2013, the approval of the TLUP coincided with the lifting of a moratorium on all Tli.cho. lands.

As well as establishing the extent of Tli.cho. Lands, the Tli.cho. Agreement created further boundaries including the surrounding Wek’èezhi`i management area. While the Tli.cho. Wenek’e is a Land Use Plan for all Tli.cho. lands, there still remains public lands within Wek’èezhi`i where there is currently no Land Use Plan.

In Oct 2014, the GNWT Department of Lands contacted TG to initiate a scoping study to develop a Land Use Plan for public lands within the Wek’èezhi`i management area. Following careful consideration between the two governments, an approach was developed to engage with elders, community members and leadership – to model the scoping study after the Tli.cho. Wenek’e planning process to as great of a degree as possible.  The Scoping Study was completed in September, 2015.