As a result of a recommendation in the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan, a new territorial park is to be established in the Summit Lake / Bell River area of northern Yukon. The Council is pleased to see that this recommendation is being implemented. To do this, the Yukon and Vuntut Gwitchin Governments created a working group in early 2016. This group has worked to define the park boundary (only loosely defined in the Plan) and develop a park managment plan.

For more information and to provide feedback, see the Park's website: http://www.daadza iivanpark.ca/.

A similar, parallel process is also proceeding for Ch'ihilii Chik, also known as Whitefish Wetlands. A working group is working on a management plan for this Habitat Protection Area. Watch fo updates and a public review process in the coming months.

The Council is not directly involved in either of these processes.

Lois Craig was appointed as our newest member on May 11, 2017, and is Yukon Government's nominee.

A long-time Yukoner, Lois has worked for the territorial and federal governments and in consulting primarily in sustainable development, natural resource management, land claims implementation and multi-party agreements and initiatives. She also has a Bachelor of Commerce in applied economics and statistics and has a Master of Applied Environmental Studies. Her work and education background will be an asset to the Council!

More information on Lois is found here.

Over the last year or two, we have been involved in more of the implementation of the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan by contributing towards three projects, including recently hiring a contractor.

We recently hired our new Senior Policy and Planning Advisor: Joe Copper Jack. With his long work history in the Yukon and western Canada, he is sure to be a great asset to Yukon regional planning. Welcome Joe!

Joe Copper Jack, is the grandson of Chief Jim Boss (Kishwoot) of the Ta’an Mun (Headwaters People) of Lake Lebarge, Yukon, and of Copper Jack of Chitina, Alaska.

Purpose:

The purpose of UFA Board and Committee Gathering is to give organizations involved in land use planning, environmental assessment, land and water regulation and resource management (including cultural resources) an opportunity to learn from one another and to coordinate activities.

Since late 2014, we have been focussing much of our effort on reviewing the Common Land Use Planning Process (CLUPP) in an effort to make future planning projects more efficient and successful. Over time, we will be adding discussion on papers that support this review here. Most recently, we added a discussion of the challenges associated with implementing Chapter 11 - Land Use Planning that have arisen since the land claim agreements were signed in 1995. We are hoping to add more discussion papers in 2017 that address different aspects of improving the CLUPP.

The North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan was approved in 2009, making it Yukon's first (and only) regional plan to be approved under the Umbrella Final Agreement. Since then, some parts of the plan have been implemented, while others are still in progress. In recent months, we have been requested by the Plan's Parties (Vuntut Gwitchin and Yukon Governments) to assist by providing financial and staff resources to some implementation projects as well as attend implementation meetings between the Parties. Currently, we are involved in two projects that may serve as templates for other planning regions:

1. Determining how best to track human disturbances in Eagle Plains. See these documents.
2. Analysing field data on disturbance and recovery dynamics in Eagle Plains

With around 230 attendees from across Canada and beyond, 60 presentations, 19 organised talks and countless informal discussions, the Northern Land Use Planning Conference was a resounding success. The proceedings are available here. Almost all of the presentations are in our document repository. They are also found, for now, on the conference website.

We are pleased to announce that Pearl Callaghan was reappointed for her second term as a member of the Yukon Land Use Planning Council, effective August 28^th, 2016. Scott Kent, Minister of EMR, confirmed the reappointment on June 10^th. Pearl was nominated by the Council of Yukon First Nations in 2013, and has been an asset to the Council ever since.

Yukoner's have been talking a lot about regional land use planning lately. Great! Regional land use planning in the Yukon is our mandate, so we like the interest.  Here are some recent achievements and activities of the Council and staff:

• The Northern Planning Conference: we hosted over 230 people in mid-February and received raving reviews.
• We attended and presented at the YESAA Forum on Sustainability in Haines Junction in early March.
• We attended and presented at the NWT Land Use Planning Forum in Yellowknife in late March.
• We taught 2 classes in a University of Alberta Land Use Planning in Northern Canada course (at Yukon College)
• We re-submitted a second conformity check for Northern Cross’ “Eagle Plains Multi-Well Exploration Program” (YESAB project #2014-0112)

Our on-going projects:

• Hiring a Senior Policy & Planning Advisor in an attempt to replace Gerald Isaac who is retiring this spring. So long Gerald!
• North Yukon Regional Plan conformity checks
• Proceedings for the Northern Planning Conference
• Working with the Yukon Government and the Vuntut Gwitch'in Government to establishing a disturbance baseline for the Eagle Plains area (LMU 9 of the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan)
• encouraging responses from the Yukon and First Nation Governments regarding important regional planning issues

Upcoming projects:

• Write a series of discussion papers (many already started). These will then be discussed with the signatories to Yukon’s Land Claim Agreements in order to reach a common understanding and consensus on implementing Chapter 11 Land Use Planning. Topics include:
  • How Chapter 11 is to be interpreted and implemented (see this letter to the Parties to the UFA and Yukon First Nation Final Agreements)
  • Developing organizational structures and clarifying roles (see the same letter)
  • Improvements to the Common Land Use Planning Process (CLUPP)
• Assisting the Yukon Government and Vuntut Gwitchin Government with the implementation of the North Yukon Regional Land Use Plan, beyond conformity checks and disturbance baseline establishment.
• A 2017 Conference or Workshop (theme TBA).

Also expected this spring is a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada on whether or not to take the case of the Peel Watershed Land Use Plan. While the Council has had no direct role in the legal actions taken so far, the legal rulings could greatly effect the work plan proposed.

For further detail, you may want to review our 2016-2017 Annual Work Plan and Budget, recently approved by the Yukon Land Use Planning Council. It discusses recent events pertinent to Yukon regional planning, and discusses what the Council hopes to achieve this fiscial year.