"The Peel watershed is one of the few places left where you still have large, intact predator-prey ecosystems," says Karen Baltgailis of the Yukon Conservation Society. "From wolves and grizzlies and eagles on down, it's a wildlife habitat of global importance."
The Yukon's Peel First Nations have signed land claims agreements with the territorial and federal governments. The agreements, which lay out the procedure for land use planning, are embedded in Canada's constitution. "We spent seven years on a well-formed and democratic public planning process," says David Loeks, Peel Watershed Planning Commission chair.
The planning commission reached a compromise that would allow 20 percent of the area to be staked and mined. "Nobody got everything they asked for," says Loeks, "but we expected the agreement to be honored."[…]The government's new plan all but reverses that figure, opening some 71 percent of the watershed to mining.
First Nations and conservation groups contend that the government has violated the land claims treaties, and they plan a legal battle. Thomas Berger, one of Canada's most renowned aboriginal rights lawyer, announced today that he will represent them.
Story here.
Peel advocacy group website here.
New petition site here.
The only trip reports I know from the Peel are HERE, from DZJOW. Truly a magnificent wilderness.
© Beartooth Media Group Inc.
Loading...
