Peel Watershed
Encyclopedia
The Peel Watershed drains 14% of the Yukon Territory Canada
and flows into the Beaufort Sea
via the Peel
and then Mackenzie
Rivers. While the lower part of the Peel River and its confluence with the Mackenzie River are in the North West Territories, most of the watershed, 68,000 km2 out of 77,000 km2 is in the Yukon. Six major tributaries and numerous smaller streams feed the Peel. The Yukon portion of the watershed is presently undergoing land use planning, a process laid out in Chapter 11 of the Yukon Land Claims Agreement and is called the Peel Watershed Planning Region (PWPR). This article is confined to the PWPR
There are no communities within the Yukon's PWPR although it is within the Traditional Territories of, and extensively utilized by, four First Nations
: The Na-cho Nyak Dun, the Tetlit Gwich'in, the Vuntut Gwitchin
and the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. These people, along with the now gone Tukudh Gwich’in, have lived and travelled in the region for millennia; some of the earliest evidence of humanity in Canada is within Vuntut Gwitchin territory at Blue Fish Caves. For the Tetlit Gwich’in, the Peel is the centre of their world; the name Tetlit Gwich’in means “people who live at the head of the waters”. They and the Vuntut Gwitchin are caribou people; caribou provided food, clothing, tools and shelter. In early times vast caribou fences were made to intercept the migrating caribou and funnel them into corrals so they could be taken with spears, snares and bow and arrow. Once rifles were adopted, the caribou fences were reabsorbed by the land and now the only traces left are in Vuntut National Park
. Fences were needed because caribou are consummate travelers; the Porcupine Caribou Herd travels from the Peel into Alaska, from the Beaufort Sea to the Yukon River. The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Na-cho Nyak Dun would also travel into the Peel for caribou. To this day, they still do, and trap for fur, harvest small game and gather plants.
The Peel was named in 1826 by Sir John Franklin after Sir Robert Peel, who was British Home Secretary (later Prime Minister) at the time. It was first explored by Europeans in 1839 when John Bell
of the Hudson's Bay Company
ascended it as far as the Snake River
. It was not fully surveyed until 1909 despite being the only route used by fur traders into the interior of the Yukon until the gold rush
years of the 1890s. The Yukon part of the watershed contains six major tributaries to the Peel; from west to east: the Ogilvie, Blackstone, Hart, Wind, Bonnet Plume and Snake
Rivers. The Bonnet Plume is a Canadian Heritage River.
Yukon, directly south of the watershed, Dawson City Yukon, South West of the watershed and Fort McPherson
and Tsiigehtchic Northwest Territories to the North. No body lives permanently within the region, and there is only one road; the gravel Dempster Highway
skirts its western limits. Several big game outfitters have seasonal camps, the tributaries are world class wilderness rivers attracting canoeists and hikers from around the world, and the First Nations hunt,gather and trap throughout the region much as has been done for millennia.
ecozone. The two ecozones of the PWPR are further divided into ecoregions: Peel River Plateau and Fort McPherson Plain in the Taiga Plains ecozone, and British/Richardson Mountains, North Ogilvie Mountains, Eagle Plains and Mackenzie Mountains
in the Boreal Taiga ecozone. Of these ecoregions in Yukon, the British/Richardson Mountains are partially protected by Ivvavik National Park
and Vuntut National Parks and by the Old Crow Flats
Special Management Area(SMA), the Fort McPherson Plains do not contain any protected areas, the Peel Plateau has no protection at present, the North Ogilvie's are partially protected by Fishing Branch Territorial Park, Eagle Plains is not significantly protected, although a small portion is within Fishing Branch Park and the Mackenzie Mountains are partially protected by Tombstone Territorial Park
.
, Dall Sheep
and Fannin Sheep, Barren Ground (the Porcupine herd) and Northern Mountain Woodland Caribou ( the Hart, Clear Creek and Bonnet Plume herds) and Yukon's only boreal caribou. Because of the relative abundance of these animals, their predators also thrive and there are healthy populations of Wolves, Wolverines, Grizzlies
and Black bears
. The range of the Ogilvie Mountain Collared Lemming extends into the watershed. This lemming is a Yukon endemic. Extensive wetlands support migratory waterfowl, particularly the Turner Lake wetlands, Chappie and Margaret lakes. Trappers harvest primarily marten
and lynx
.
Plant life and Beringia
Much of this area has escaped glaciation for millions of years and comprises part of Beringia. Because of this, many of the plants are more characteristic of Asia
than the Americas
or are endemic to the region. This endemism is particularly marked near mountains that provided moist refugia during glaciations.
; by 2100 it is projected that average temperatures could be 10-15 degrees warmer.
Recent studies in climate adaptation suggest that the best hedge against climate disruption may lie within landscapes characterized by inherent resilience. Such areas have substantial adaptive capacity, and the ability to absorb the disturbances created by climate change, because of their immense scale, relative intactness, still-functional ecosystems, high degree of ecological representation and redundancy, high potential for creation of climate refugia, and a high degree of robust or restorable connectivity.
Another strategy is to protect features and areas that acted as refugia during past climatic changes such as glaciation. A refugium is a geographical region that has remained unaltered by a climatic change affecting surrounding regions and that therefore forms a haven for remnant fauna and flora. Such refugia are centers of genetic, and sometimes species, diversity. Such strategies as these focus on retaining characteristics of landscapes and regions in order to allow ecological systems to respond on their own to accelerated climate change and other evolving stresses.
The importance of the Peel River ecosystem is not limited to its role in harboring biodiversity and relicts of the past. …… the Peel River stands at an ecological crossroads, connecting boreal forests, arctic tundra, and alpine habitats. Given the pace of current climate change, the Peel may once again become a crucial corridor for the shifting distributions of species.
Probably the best way that we can manage natural systems so as to ensure resilience to climate change is through protecting large habitat areas and links between different ecosystems. The Peel is exactly such a place – large, untrammeled, and providing linkage between different elevations, habitat types, latitudes, and biomes
Conservation targets should also include ecosystems, like peat lands on the Peel Plateau that sequester lots of carbon. Maintaining such ecosystems could be globally significant in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from standing biomass and decomposing organic matter, thus reducing the feedback mechanism that enhances the greenhouse effect and accelerates global warming.
Ecological Inertia: refers to the characteristic of landscapes to resist change, for example a white spruce dominated boreal forest could persist under climatic conditions that have warmed and dried to produce conditions that are more suitable for Aspen Parklands. Should some event take place to upset this inertia- in the case of a boreal forest this would most likely be a forest fire- the ecosystem that takes it place would be more like the Aspen Parkland. Essentially, new species cannot move in or displace existing species until space is created for them. Intact, undisturbed, ecosystems are the best way to promote this inertia and the species that exist there.
(Y2Y) is a joint Canada-US not-for-profit organization that seeks to preserve and maintain the wildlife, native plants, wilderness and natural processes of the mountainous region from Yellowstone National Park
to the Yukon Territory. It aims to do this by maintaining intact large scale landscapes that will focus on grizzly bears, birds and fish as indicator species of ecosystem health. The PWPR is the northern anchor of the Y2Y region, and if the entire watershed were to be protected, it would double the area within the Y2Y region that has been protected since Y2Y began in 1997. Even partial protection would be a significant conservation gain given future potential ecological upheaval through climate change and the fragmentation of habitat in the southern part of the Y2Y region.
A Planning Commission consisting of members nominateded by First Nations and Yukon Government was appointed in 2004 to guide the process. The Commission’s goal is to “ensure wilderness characteristics, wildlife and their habitats, cultural resources, and waters are maintained over time while managing resource use. These uses include, but are not limited to, traditional use, trapping, recreation, outfitting, wilderness tourism, subsistence harvesting, and the exploration and development of non-renewable resources. Achieving this goal requires managing development at a pace and scale that maintains ecological integrity. The long-term objective is to return all lands to their natural state”.
In January 2010, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission produced a recommended Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan that calls for 80.6% of the region be fully protected as Special Management Areas. In the remaining 19.4%, “non renewable resource-use opportunities … can be…encouraged subject to key land-use and environmental management considerations, including enhanced community consultation where specified”.
At the present date, March 2011, the four affected First Nations and the Yukon Government have responded to the recommended Plan and the Commission will present the parties with a final version by the end of June 2011. The Governments are expected to approve a Final Plan by the end of October 2011.
The Peel Plateau and Eagle Plains ecoregions contain what is considered to be the best candidates for Oil & Gas development within the region. There are 13 significant mineral occurrences in the PWPR, of which two are large and well defined deposits: the Crest iron ore deposit in the Snake River basin and the Bonnet Plume Coal deposit in the neighbouring valley. The Crest Deposit belongs to Chevron
. Unless this deposit is developed, it is unlikely that any of the other deposits will be viable as they would need to piggy back on the infrastructure development required- roads, railways and pipelines. Despite the uncertainty around the tenure and viability of minerals deposits in the PWPR, a large proportion, (6,773) of the 8,431 claims active in the PWPR were staked since the start of the planning process. A one year staking moratorium was instituted on Feb 4th 2010 and extended in February 2011 for an additional year or until the final plan is approved.
The Dempster Highway is a significant source of visitors to the region and has the only road access and established campgrounds.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and flows into the Beaufort Sea
Beaufort Sea
The Beaufort Sea is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean, located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska, west of Canada's Arctic islands. The sea is named after hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort...
via the Peel
Peel
Peel or Peeling can refer to:* Peel , rind or skin-Places:* Peel Park * Peel Street Australia* Peel * Peel River * Peel Island, QueenslandCanada* Peel, New Brunswick...
and then Mackenzie
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
Rivers. While the lower part of the Peel River and its confluence with the Mackenzie River are in the North West Territories, most of the watershed, 68,000 km2 out of 77,000 km2 is in the Yukon. Six major tributaries and numerous smaller streams feed the Peel. The Yukon portion of the watershed is presently undergoing land use planning, a process laid out in Chapter 11 of the Yukon Land Claims Agreement and is called the Peel Watershed Planning Region (PWPR). This article is confined to the PWPR
There are no communities within the Yukon's PWPR although it is within the Traditional Territories of, and extensively utilized by, four First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
: The Na-cho Nyak Dun, the Tetlit Gwich'in, the Vuntut Gwitchin
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation
The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is a First Nation in the northern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is Old Crow, Yukon. As the name indicates, the language originally spoken by the people is Gwichʼin language....
and the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. These people, along with the now gone Tukudh Gwich’in, have lived and travelled in the region for millennia; some of the earliest evidence of humanity in Canada is within Vuntut Gwitchin territory at Blue Fish Caves. For the Tetlit Gwich’in, the Peel is the centre of their world; the name Tetlit Gwich’in means “people who live at the head of the waters”. They and the Vuntut Gwitchin are caribou people; caribou provided food, clothing, tools and shelter. In early times vast caribou fences were made to intercept the migrating caribou and funnel them into corrals so they could be taken with spears, snares and bow and arrow. Once rifles were adopted, the caribou fences were reabsorbed by the land and now the only traces left are in Vuntut National Park
Vuntut National Park
Vuntut National Park is a national park located in the northern Yukon, Canada. It was established in 1995. Due to land claims negotiations, this national park is still very undeveloped. It currently has no roads or developed trails....
. Fences were needed because caribou are consummate travelers; the Porcupine Caribou Herd travels from the Peel into Alaska, from the Beaufort Sea to the Yukon River. The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Na-cho Nyak Dun would also travel into the Peel for caribou. To this day, they still do, and trap for fur, harvest small game and gather plants.
The Peel was named in 1826 by Sir John Franklin after Sir Robert Peel, who was British Home Secretary (later Prime Minister) at the time. It was first explored by Europeans in 1839 when John Bell
John Bell (explorer)
John Bell was a Hudson's Bay Company governor and explorer.In 1839, he was sent to explore the land west of the Mackenzie River...
of the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
ascended it as far as the Snake River
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
. It was not fully surveyed until 1909 despite being the only route used by fur traders into the interior of the Yukon until the gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
years of the 1890s. The Yukon part of the watershed contains six major tributaries to the Peel; from west to east: the Ogilvie, Blackstone, Hart, Wind, Bonnet Plume and Snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
Rivers. The Bonnet Plume is a Canadian Heritage River.
Geography
The PWPR is in the North East Yukon; its southern most point is near Duo Lakes at about 64°N, the Eastern boundary is the border with the NWT about 131° W, its furthest west extent is in Tombstone Park at about 140°W and the north boundary is the Yukon/NWT border at 67° N. The closest communities are MayoMayo, Yukon
Mayo is a village in the Yukon, Canada, along the Silver Trail and the Stewart River. The population was 248 in 2006. It is also the home of the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun, whose primary language is Northern Tutchone. Nacho Nyak Dun translates into "big river people". It is serviced by Mayo...
Yukon, directly south of the watershed, Dawson City Yukon, South West of the watershed and Fort McPherson
Fort McPherson
Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in East Point, Georgia, on the southwest edge of the City of Atlanta, Ga. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Army Forces Command; the U.S. Army Reserve Command; the U.S...
and Tsiigehtchic Northwest Territories to the North. No body lives permanently within the region, and there is only one road; the gravel Dempster Highway
Dempster Highway
The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a highway that connects the Klondike Highway in Yukon, Canada to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta...
skirts its western limits. Several big game outfitters have seasonal camps, the tributaries are world class wilderness rivers attracting canoeists and hikers from around the world, and the First Nations hunt,gather and trap throughout the region much as has been done for millennia.
Ecoregions
The Peel Watershed is primarily within the Boreal Taiga ecozone, with the lower lying parts in the north within the Taiga PlainsTaiga Plains
The Taiga Plain is a Canadian terrestrial ecozone that covers most of the western Northwest Territories, extending to northwest Alberta, northeast British Columbia and slightly overlapping northeastern Yukon....
ecozone. The two ecozones of the PWPR are further divided into ecoregions: Peel River Plateau and Fort McPherson Plain in the Taiga Plains ecozone, and British/Richardson Mountains, North Ogilvie Mountains, Eagle Plains and Mackenzie Mountains
Mackenzie Mountains
The Mackenzie Mountains are a mountain range forming part of the Yukon-Northwest Territories boundary between the Liard and Peel rivers. The range is named in honour of Canada's second Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie. Nahanni National Park Reserve is in the Mackenzie Mountains.The Mackenzie...
in the Boreal Taiga ecozone. Of these ecoregions in Yukon, the British/Richardson Mountains are partially protected by Ivvavik National Park
Ivvavik National Park
Ivvavik National Park is a national park located in the Yukon, Canada. Meaning "nursery" or "birthplace" in Inuvialuktun, this was the first national park to be established as a result of a land claim agreement with its natives.-See also:...
and Vuntut National Parks and by the Old Crow Flats
Old Crow Flats
Old Crow Flats is a wetland complex in northern Yukon, Canada. It is north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Beaufort Sea, and is nearly surrounded by mountains. The site is protected by the Yukon Wildlife Ordinance and Migratory Birds Convention Act...
Special Management Area(SMA), the Fort McPherson Plains do not contain any protected areas, the Peel Plateau has no protection at present, the North Ogilvie's are partially protected by Fishing Branch Territorial Park, Eagle Plains is not significantly protected, although a small portion is within Fishing Branch Park and the Mackenzie Mountains are partially protected by Tombstone Territorial Park
Tombstone Territorial Park
Tombstone Territorial Park is a territorial park in Yukon, Canada. It is located in central Yukon, near the southern end of the Dempster Highway, in an area of rolling tundra. The park is named for Tombstone Mountain's resemblance to a grave marker. It was made a park in 2000.-External links:*...
.
Wildlife
The Peel Watershed is home to relatively undisturbed populations of wildlife, including mooseMoose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, Dall Sheep
Dall Sheep
The Dall sheep , Ovis dalli, is a species of sheep native to northwestern North America, ranging from white to slate brown in color and having curved yellowish brown horns...
and Fannin Sheep, Barren Ground (the Porcupine herd) and Northern Mountain Woodland Caribou ( the Hart, Clear Creek and Bonnet Plume herds) and Yukon's only boreal caribou. Because of the relative abundance of these animals, their predators also thrive and there are healthy populations of Wolves, Wolverines, Grizzlies
Grizzly Bear
The grizzly bear , also known as the silvertip bear, the grizzly, or the North American brown bear, is a subspecies of brown bear that generally lives in the uplands of western North America...
and Black bears
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
. The range of the Ogilvie Mountain Collared Lemming extends into the watershed. This lemming is a Yukon endemic. Extensive wetlands support migratory waterfowl, particularly the Turner Lake wetlands, Chappie and Margaret lakes. Trappers harvest primarily marten
Marten
The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...
and lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
.
Plant life and Beringia
Much of this area has escaped glaciation for millions of years and comprises part of Beringia. Because of this, many of the plants are more characteristic of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
than the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
or are endemic to the region. This endemism is particularly marked near mountains that provided moist refugia during glaciations.
The case for protecting the Peel Watershed: Climate Change
This part of the world is going to feel some of the most extreme effects of climate changeClimate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
; by 2100 it is projected that average temperatures could be 10-15 degrees warmer.
Recent studies in climate adaptation suggest that the best hedge against climate disruption may lie within landscapes characterized by inherent resilience. Such areas have substantial adaptive capacity, and the ability to absorb the disturbances created by climate change, because of their immense scale, relative intactness, still-functional ecosystems, high degree of ecological representation and redundancy, high potential for creation of climate refugia, and a high degree of robust or restorable connectivity.
Another strategy is to protect features and areas that acted as refugia during past climatic changes such as glaciation. A refugium is a geographical region that has remained unaltered by a climatic change affecting surrounding regions and that therefore forms a haven for remnant fauna and flora. Such refugia are centers of genetic, and sometimes species, diversity. Such strategies as these focus on retaining characteristics of landscapes and regions in order to allow ecological systems to respond on their own to accelerated climate change and other evolving stresses.
The importance of the Peel River ecosystem is not limited to its role in harboring biodiversity and relicts of the past. …… the Peel River stands at an ecological crossroads, connecting boreal forests, arctic tundra, and alpine habitats. Given the pace of current climate change, the Peel may once again become a crucial corridor for the shifting distributions of species.
Probably the best way that we can manage natural systems so as to ensure resilience to climate change is through protecting large habitat areas and links between different ecosystems. The Peel is exactly such a place – large, untrammeled, and providing linkage between different elevations, habitat types, latitudes, and biomes
Conservation targets should also include ecosystems, like peat lands on the Peel Plateau that sequester lots of carbon. Maintaining such ecosystems could be globally significant in reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from standing biomass and decomposing organic matter, thus reducing the feedback mechanism that enhances the greenhouse effect and accelerates global warming.
Ecological Inertia: refers to the characteristic of landscapes to resist change, for example a white spruce dominated boreal forest could persist under climatic conditions that have warmed and dried to produce conditions that are more suitable for Aspen Parklands. Should some event take place to upset this inertia- in the case of a boreal forest this would most likely be a forest fire- the ecosystem that takes it place would be more like the Aspen Parkland. Essentially, new species cannot move in or displace existing species until space is created for them. Intact, undisturbed, ecosystems are the best way to promote this inertia and the species that exist there.
Peel Watershed and Y2Y
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation InitiativeYellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative
The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative or Y2Y is a joint Canada-US charitable organization that seeks to preserve and maintain the wildlife, native plants...
(Y2Y) is a joint Canada-US not-for-profit organization that seeks to preserve and maintain the wildlife, native plants, wilderness and natural processes of the mountainous region from Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park, established by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872, is a national park located primarily in the U.S. state of Wyoming, although it also extends into Montana and Idaho...
to the Yukon Territory. It aims to do this by maintaining intact large scale landscapes that will focus on grizzly bears, birds and fish as indicator species of ecosystem health. The PWPR is the northern anchor of the Y2Y region, and if the entire watershed were to be protected, it would double the area within the Y2Y region that has been protected since Y2Y began in 1997. Even partial protection would be a significant conservation gain given future potential ecological upheaval through climate change and the fragmentation of habitat in the southern part of the Y2Y region.
Land Use Planning
The Umbrella Final Agreement of the Yukon Indian Land Claims Agreement lays out how Land Use Planning will take place in Yukon. The Yukon is divided into regions roughly analogous to First Nation Traditional Territories. The affected First Nations have jurisdiction over their settlement lands within the Planning Region, while Yukon Government has the final say over how crown lands will be disposed. Land Use Planning is however, a collaborative process with many opportunities for public input.A Planning Commission consisting of members nominateded by First Nations and Yukon Government was appointed in 2004 to guide the process. The Commission’s goal is to “ensure wilderness characteristics, wildlife and their habitats, cultural resources, and waters are maintained over time while managing resource use. These uses include, but are not limited to, traditional use, trapping, recreation, outfitting, wilderness tourism, subsistence harvesting, and the exploration and development of non-renewable resources. Achieving this goal requires managing development at a pace and scale that maintains ecological integrity. The long-term objective is to return all lands to their natural state”.
In January 2010, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission produced a recommended Peel Watershed Regional Land Use Plan that calls for 80.6% of the region be fully protected as Special Management Areas. In the remaining 19.4%, “non renewable resource-use opportunities … can be…encouraged subject to key land-use and environmental management considerations, including enhanced community consultation where specified”.
At the present date, March 2011, the four affected First Nations and the Yukon Government have responded to the recommended Plan and the Commission will present the parties with a final version by the end of June 2011. The Governments are expected to approve a Final Plan by the end of October 2011.
Mineral exploration
To date, no significant extraction of mineral resources has taken place within the PWPR, with the exception of gravel pits for construction and maintenance of the Dempster Highway.The Peel Plateau and Eagle Plains ecoregions contain what is considered to be the best candidates for Oil & Gas development within the region. There are 13 significant mineral occurrences in the PWPR, of which two are large and well defined deposits: the Crest iron ore deposit in the Snake River basin and the Bonnet Plume Coal deposit in the neighbouring valley. The Crest Deposit belongs to Chevron
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
. Unless this deposit is developed, it is unlikely that any of the other deposits will be viable as they would need to piggy back on the infrastructure development required- roads, railways and pipelines. Despite the uncertainty around the tenure and viability of minerals deposits in the PWPR, a large proportion, (6,773) of the 8,431 claims active in the PWPR were staked since the start of the planning process. A one year staking moratorium was instituted on Feb 4th 2010 and extended in February 2011 for an additional year or until the final plan is approved.
Economy
While mineral exploration was valued at about $6 million a year from 2006 to 2008, there is no mining at present and no Oil and Gas exploration is underway. There is however a thriving guide/outfitter industry. There are six big game outfitters that operate all or partly in the PWPR who hunt mostly for sheep, moose, caribou and bears. This industry generates $2–3 million a year and can continue indefinitely as long as there are large areas of wilderness to support wildlife. The world class, challenging but navigable rivers of the Peel attract Canadian and international tourists and are supported by up to 20 wilderness guide/outfitters. This industry generates about $500,000/year in direct income and is even more dependent on undisturbed wilderness than big game hunting. Wilderness tourism has the potential for significant sustainable growth if managed appropriately.The Dempster Highway is a significant source of visitors to the region and has the only road access and established campgrounds.