After an eight year Peel Watershed Commission supported by 80% of Yukoners, the ConservationSociety and the four affected native bands the Yukon Party has come down firmly on the side of the Mining industry.
Under the Commisions recomendationd 79% of the area was to be pretected from developement. Yukon Party reduced that to 29% for a more "balanced" land use. Unfortunately, from what I understand, roads could be allowed through protected areas if they were "temporary". If you travel the back country it's easy to find unused roads that are very old but still usable. The land heals very slowly.
The original report was released just before the last election and the Yukon Party ran on a platform of no comment. After the election the Party decided the Plan was unbalanced and put it on the shelf to do their own consultations. Considering that most of the Yukon public, the local Conservation Socirty and the four Bands involved are against the plan it would seem they were not the ones consulted.
In a statement Samson Hartland, President of the Yukon Chamber of Mines, said he didn't think the new plan was very balanced and wanted more of the area opened up to developement. It's going to be a protracted legal fight!
http://www.whitehorsestar.com/archive/story/this-might-be-the-day-when-t...
http://yukon-news.com/news/peel-watershed-open-for-business/
