The Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale released his ruling on the Peel Watershed planning process. His full ruling and a more concise media summary may be found on the the Court's website. While the details are numerous he decided:

• The January 2014 Government approved Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan is quashed.
• The Government of Yukon is required to hold final Consultations with the affected First Nations on the Commission's Final Recommended Land Use Plan.
• These consultations are to be based on the modifications Yukon Government proposed to the Commission's earlier Recommended Land Use Plan.

The Yukon Land Use Planning Council is reviewing this decision.

As of December 1st, the Dawson Regional Planning Commission's planning process has been suspended until the Peel Watershed court case has a final resolution. The suspension of the process was mutually agreed to by the three parties to the planning process: the Government of Yukon, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and Vuntut Gwitchin Government. The Yukon Government provided a press release on the matter. The Yukon Land Use Planning Council is reviewing the matter and is working with the Dawson Regional Planning Commission and their staff.

The Commission's office in Dawson City may be open as late as the end of December, but may close a week or two earlier. After the closure, questions about the Dawson Regional Land Use Plan should be directed to the Yukon Land Use Planning Council.

Thanks to all who contributed to the process. We look forward to the recommencement of the process and the completion of the Dawson Regional Land Use Plan.

Now that the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan has been approved, it is time to put it into action. The Parties to this plan, the Yukon Government and the government of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, have agreed on some plan implementation tasks. One task, checking the conformity of proposed projects to the plan, is being done by the Yukon Land Use Planning Council.

On January 21-22nd, the Council host a workshop on Yukon's Common Land Use Planning Process (CLUPP). This workshop had two broad purposes:

• To consider potential improvements to the process by which regional plans are produced through the implementation of Chapter 11 of the Yukon First Nations Final Agreements;
• To develop the path forward that will lead to the completion of regional plans in the remaining planning regions.

The proceedings are posted here. These include presentations, an   pdf overall summary (103 KB) , and   pdf notes from the break-out groups (420 KB) .

Nick Grzybowski, a former intern at the Council, recently completed his masters thesis which captured the knowledge and experience of of those involved in the Peel Watershed planning process. Congratulations and good luck Nick! His thesis is available here. Nick's recent radio interview with CBC can be heard here.

Nick used the Council's office and resources while researching much of his thesis. However, links to this article are provided here to foster discussion of regional planning processes, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council.

The Dawson Regional Planning Commission has just wrapped up the public consultation on their Plan Alternatives. After several months of working with the Yukon,Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in and Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Governments and stakeholders, the Commission produced five plan alternatives that sketch out different possible directions the Draft Plan may take. After the review period ended on March 2, 2014, the Commission will now consider all the feedback and start to develop a Draft Plan that will likely be based on one or more alternatives. The staff of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council contributed analytical and administrative support to this project.

The academic journal the Northern Review recently published a case study of part of the Peel Watershed Planning Process - specifically that led by the Yukon Government upon receipt of the   pdf Final Recommended Plan (13.26 MB) . This analysis provides a number of lessons for future regional planning processes.

Links to this article are provided here to foster discussion of regional planning processes, and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council.

The Yukon Land Use Planning Council recently sent a    pdf letter (291 KB)  urging the the Premier and the Yukon Government to develop a policy on how Yukon First Nations without Final Agreements can participate in regional land use planning in the Yukon. This is important because three of the remaining four planning regions include the traditional territories of First Nations without land claim settlements (Kluane, Teslin and Northern Tutchone regions). Such a policy will facilitate regional land use planning in the Yukon.

On January 30-31^st, the Council hosted a workshop on regional land use planning in the Yukon. The purpose of this workshop was three-fold:

1. To provide an overview of the process of creating regional land use plans in the Yukon under Chapter 11 Land Use Planning. An emphasis will be placed upon the stages in the process where the core planning work is done;
2. To answer questions from the many new people that are now involved in regional land use planning in the Yukon;
3. To consider the merits of Structured Decision Making during the production of a Recommended Land Use Plan.

We reviewed the numerous flip charts, recordings and notes from the workshop, and made a summary.

Most of the workshop package is also available electronically, including a report on   pdf Structured Decision Making in the Yukon (1.37 MB) , published in April 2013:

On April 10th, the Yukon Land Use Planning Council provided its review and comments on the approval process for the Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan to the Yukon Government and First Nations around the watershed. The Council routinely provides reviews and comments on regional planning products and processes throughout regional planning processes. The letter can be downloaded and read   pdf here (676 KB) .