Land claim process achieves major milestone

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More than 15 years after inking its land claim with the federal government, the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and the Yukon government signed the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan on Monday at a ceremony in Old Crow.

“This is a historic moment in the progression of implementing the land claims,” Premier Dennis Fentie said of the first such plan to be completed among 11 first nations with settled claims.

Vuntut Gwitchin Chief Joe Linklater said the plan would provide more clarity for for all parties engaging in activities on the first nation’s traditional territory.

“I think what it does for us, it provides a fair amount of certainty for what the plans are for the North Yukon,” Linklater said.

“It also helps with future leadership in terms of its planning process ... and will aid our natural resources development and gives us an indication of where the Yukon wants to go.”

Recommendations in the plan are non-binding. Most development activities remain subject to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB).

But, according to a joint press release, “...(the) plan will guide the (government and Vuntut Gwitchin) in managing their lands and resources in a co-operative manner to ensure sustainable development and sound environmental stewardship, while minimizing land use conflicts.”

Ron Cruikshank, director of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council, called the new plan a milestone.

“It’s probably the most important thing that’s happened since the land claim was signed,” he said.

“Conceptually, the land claim did a lot to set out who owns the land, but this (plan) clarifies how the land is to be used.”

Cruikshank said because the YESAB examines individual projects, the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan will provide a broader context for the implications of new development.

“This keeps track of what’s happened, what’s currently happening and look ahead at what could happen and look ahead at those changes,” said Cruikshank.

“And that’s the essence of a regional plan. It’s very difficult for (the YESAB) to look at some of the larger issues (associated with development), and that’s where the regional planning bodies can really help.”

Highlights of the plan include its management of impacts on wetlands outside of protected areas and oil and gas development in a significant portion of the Porcupine caribou herd’s annual range.

In 1995, Vuntut Gwitchin National Park was established, encompassing 4,345 square kilometres of wilderness in the northwestern corner of the first nation’s traditional territory.

In terms of more conservation, the new land use plan establishes the Whitefish wetland protected area and promises to examine a proposed Summit Lake/Bell River protected area.

Tracking existing access from the Dempster Highway to monitor possible wildlife and habitat impacts is also mandated under the plan.

Also on Monday, the government and Vuntut Gwitchin announced the creation of a 1.21-million-hectare Habitat Protection Area to safeguard, “one of the most important wetland complexes in Canada.”

The arrangement safeguards Old Crow Flats on the Old Crow river system north of the Arctic Circle.

The wetlands contain more than 2,000 ponds and marshes, and the area offers a breeding ground for half-a-million water birds.

Three years ago, the Old Crow Flats was recognized via the United Nations’ Ramsar Convention, a treaty signed in 1971 that provides for international co-operation for the conservation of wetlands around the world.