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December 10 2020

Op-Ed: Government was right to say ‘no’ to the ATAC road

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogBeaverRiver, NewsArticles

Written by Randi Newton | Dec 10, 2020
Photo by Malkolm Boothroyd, iron-stained creek in the Beaver River watershed.

Resource projects can’t expect to move forward if they don’t respect proper processes.

Read the full editorial as published in the Yukon News on December 10th, 2020.

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Op-Ed: Government was right to say ‘no’ to the ATAC road

Late last month, the Yukon government rejected an application by ATAC Resources to build a 65-kilometre mineral exploration road through the roadless Beaver River Watershed. The road would have led to ATAC’s 185-km span of mining claims, perched between Keno and the Peel Watershed, in the Traditional Territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun.

I am fortunate to have paddled through the heart of this special area twice. The Beaver River Watershed holds a richness of life: crystal blue waters marked by red Chinook salmon, watchful eagles perched overhead and wolf pups scurrying along the shoreline. I have no doubts of the impacts the road would have brought to this area.

ATAC doesn’t agree with the government’s decision and is assessing options with its lawyers. The company even released a statement questioning whether the Yukon ‘is in fact open for business.’ The reality is that ATAC’s approach left the Yukon government with no choice but to say no.

The company did not address many serious concerns with the road, seemingly grew impatient, and then tried to sidestep a land use planning process that had been put in place because of the road proposal. What this decision really means is that the best and only way forward for resource development is to respect proper processes and to work with First Nations in a meaningful way.

A long list of impacts were identified when the project went to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) in 2016. The Department of Environment warned that new road access, and the cascade of industrial development likely to follow, would harm moose, grizzlies, fish, and other wildlife, and negatively impact hunting and trapping. They indicated that moose populations would be at particular risk, as harvest in the management unit is already above sustainable levels. The department concluded that the ATAC road carried “a high risk of significant and immitigable impacts.”

Given the project’s potential to degrade the watershed, in 2018 the Yukon government and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun agreed that a land use plan in the Beaver River Watershed had to be completed before approval of road construction would be considered. This process was meant to give Na-Cho Nyäk Dun citizens and Yukoners the opportunity to try to resolve concerns with the road.

At the time, ATAC appeared committed to respecting that process. Their website even made it clear the company understood road approval was conditional, “pending a land use plan for the Beaver River”. In 2019, midway through the consultations, ATAC made the decision to walk away from the plan, and attempt to get the road approved through the back door. Mention of the land use plan was recently scrubbed from their website.

The application they submitted to the Yukon government attempted to tack the road on to their exploration permit and have the road approved as an amendment. The word “amendment” typically means “minor change” and this road, about the length of the highway between Whitehorse and Carcross, is anything but. ATAC tweaked a few short sections of the road alignment to skirt past the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Settlement Land, but the overall impacts and route remained the same. It seems like a clear attempt to circumvent the land use planning process.

This is the application that was recently denied by the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and for good reasons. Despite cries otherwise, nothing about the decision should have been a surprise to ATAC or those in the industry. The decision was clear cut under the Quartz Mining Land Use Regulation, which states that project applications must show how serious impacts to treaty rights and environmental and socio-cultural values will be mitigated. The regulator made it clear that ATAC failed to do so.

For one, the decision document notes that permitting an exploration road of that length — 65 km — is “unprecedented” and that no new roads over 50 km had been authorized in the last decade. Remember, the application is for a road to an exploration project, not an active mine. Approving it would be risking severe consequences for a project that might not even pan out.

The potential for damage with this project was high and ATAC’s application didn’t adequately address it. A litany of unresolved issues are noted in the decision document, ranging from inadequate baseline data to unaddressed cumulative impacts on wildlife and traditional ways of life and insufficient tools to manage these impacts.

The decision document also notes the application didn’t address the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun’s concerns that the road would have significant adverse impacts on their Aboriginal and treaty rights, alter an untouched part of their traditional territory, and alienate people from the land.

While ATAC has argued it needs the road to advance its claims, regulators do not owe the company a road. The company is working in a jurisdiction where significant impacts have to be addressed before projects are authorized. ATAC’s application failed to do so. Regulators wouldn’t be doing their job if they allowed projects to move forward without regard for damage to Yukon’s ecological and cultural values, or impacts on Aboriginal and treaty rights.

Hopefully this signals an expected way forward for doing business in the Yukon, where success is measured by the quality of relationships with local people and by securing the long-term health of the land, as well as long-term prosperity.

Responsible industry actors should stand by this Yukon government decision. It signals the importance of government following through on its commitments, including to land use planning and reconciliation. Sidestepping an established land-use planning process has not ended well for anyone in the past. Last month’s decision demonstrated that the Yukon is open for business, but not at any cost, and only to those who can work here in a respectful way.

November 30 2020

Yukon Government rejects ATAC’s proposed road in Beaver River Watershed

CPAWS Yukon BlogBeaverRiver, News

Whitehorse, Yukon – Last week, the Government of Yukon advised ATAC Resources Ltd’s that it has rejected their proposed 65 km exploration road that would cut through the Beaver River Watershed. This comes after years of opposition from citizens of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Yukoners, and CPAWS Yukon together with other conservation organizations including the Yukon Conservation Society and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Slated to be built just below the Peel Watershed, the proposed route cuts through habitat for moose, grizzly bears, salmon, and scores of other wildlife. The science of road ecology clearly shows these species will be harmed by things like habitat loss, road avoidance, and overhunting.

One main condition of the road application was to create a sub-regional land use plan for the Beaver River Watershed. This process gave Na-Cho Nyäk Dun citizens and Yukoners the opportunity to address concerns they had with the road. Many pointed to the negative impact that this road would have on a landscape that is so important for hunting, trapping, recreation, and wildlife habitat. ATAC attempted to bypass this process by submitting a separate application outside of this sub-regional plan, which has been rejected by the Government.

Over the past few years, CPAWS Yukon has organized on-the-land river trips through the Beaver River Watershed with Na-Cho Nyäk Dun citizens to experience, document and share the watershed with others, and provide youth with the confidence and skills to be on the land. These trips helped highlight the cultural importance of places like the Beaver River Watershed and helped equip youth with a better understanding of the area.

As mineral development is being reshaped in the territory, through the Mineral Development Strategy, it is encouraging to see the Government of Yukon take the necessary steps to ensure that citizens have a meaningful say in developments, and that projects will have to meet high standards to be accepted.

“The ATAC road could have opened up the unspoiled Beaver River Watershed to a web of mining roads and development. This decision makes it possible to develop a land use plan for the Beaver River Watershed that’s right for the region, respects the connections people have to it, and safeguards land and water for wildlife.” said Randi Newton, Conservation Manager with CPAWS Yukon.

Contact

Adil Darvesh, CPAWS Yukon Communication Coordinator
adarvesh@cpawsyukon.org | 867-393-8080 x9

For more information visit cpawsyukon.org/beaver-river-watershed/

October 18 2019

We paddled through the Beaver River Watershed to see what could be lost to road development

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogBeaverRiver beaver river watershed

Day 5, the day we paddled with Chinook salmon and listened to a pack of wolves on the Beaver River. Photo: Steve Hossack

Pushing ourselves over another beaver dam after our paddling charge left us high-centred. Photo: Calder Cheverie

Emerging from a narrow stream to one of the many small lakes between McQuesten Lake and the Beaver River. These wetlands are a haven for birds and other wildlife. Photo: Calder Cheverie.

Standing in the path of one of the road’s 73 water crossings, where the Wind River Trail meets Scougale Creek. Photo: Calder Cheverie

Paddling past the steep walls of Seven Mile Canyon. We don’t have time to stop but the pools along the rock walls look like inviting places to fish. Photo: Steve Hossack

The raging water of Fraser Falls makes travel up much of the Stewart River difficult and has kept the wilderness beyond unspoiled. The proposed road could open up not only the Beaver River Watershed but the upper Stewart River Watershed. Photo: Steve Hossack

We woke up to frost on the last day of the trip, at Fraser Falls fish camp. Like other mornings, we gather together and offer thanks before hitting the water. Photo: Steve Hossack

Written by: Randi Newton, Conservation Manager

The wolves are close. Their barks and howls echo off the stony, spruce covered hills that flank the clear water of the Beaver River. Sitting in my canoe, I catch a glimpse of a cream coloured pup before it scampers into the forest. Others are lucky enough to spot adults howling from the hillside. Our crew of twenty sits captivated by the serenade and many of us break out into joyous laughter.

We let our canoes float aimlessly, even though the sky is fading to early evening and we have miles of paddling left to go if we want to keep up with our itinerary. The chorus of howls continues for minutes. Red Chinook salmon swim alongside our canoes and two bald eagles fly overhead. The richness of life along the river is astonishing. It’s jarring to know this place is threatened by major mining development.

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We’re on day five of a ten-day canoe trip that, so far, has taken us a short drive from the community of Mayo to McQuesten Lake, through a maze of beaver-dam choked streams and wetlands, and on to the Beaver River. We see the wolves just below the confluence of the Beaver and the Rackla River, and a few days after that we’ll join the Stewart River, which will take us back to Mayo.

Our crew includes members from the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, artists, photographers, and long time Yukoners. We’re here to connect with this wild place, document and celebrate it, so that we know and can share with others what stands to be lost to development.

For much of the trip, we travel alongside the route of a proposed 65 km mining exploration road that, if built, will lead to ATAC’s Rau gold project. Our group is too noisy to see more than a handful of moose but our guide Joel tells us he saw 34 on his last Beaver River trip, including one chased into the river by a wolf. This moose population already faces unsustainable levels of harvest and road access is likely to cause its numbers to fall even more.

We paddle 379 kilometres over the ten-day trip, passing by or travelling on many of the 73 water bodies that the proposed road would cross. We enjoy the freedom of dipping our bottles and drinking directly from the clear water, and we keep our eyes peeled for Chinook salmon and Dolly Varden char, yelling out to the group when we spot one. We dig our hands into the riverbed and marvel at the benthic invertebrates that wiggle between the small gravel. These small organisms signal a healthy aquatic ecosystem.

A lack of road access has allowed the Beaver River Watershed to remain remote and unspoiled. Canoe access is not easy. For the first few days of our trip, we travel up streams crisscrossed with beaver dams and deadfall. We do more pushing and pulling than paddling, and ping pong off narrow shores patterned with the tracks of moose, caribou, wolves and beavers. When the streams run dry, we portage across mucky ground that tries to steal our boots. Travel is exhausting and, for a few unlucky people who lose their footing dragging a canoe over a dam, very wet. A grizzly cub climbs up a nearby tree on one portage and keeps us alert.

The landscape keeps us smiling through the long days. While we wait for others wrestle their canoes over jumbles of logs, we enjoy the watershed’s kingfishers, swans, eagles, and loons. We watch small pike swim in the shallow streams. Elders from Na-cho Nyak Dun tell stories about their time on the land, and youth point out the places where their relatives lived and travelled.

If built, the ATAC road could open up this intact watershed to a future spider’s web of roads and development. Given that ATAC’s Osiris project sits over a 100 kilometres past the end the proposed road, it’s easy to imagine future calls to extend its length. Over a dozen companies have mining claims in the watershed, signalling there could be even more proposed branch roads and landscape fragmentation.

We arrive back in Mayo after ten days to a warm welcome and a BBQ celebration. A slideshow of the trip runs during the meal, and elders come forward with memories of time spent in the watershed. I hope future generations will tell the same stories, and that the watershed will remain rich and full of life. Fortunately, Yukon Government and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun have agreed that a land use plan for the Beaver River Watershed must be in place before construction of the exploration road can be authorized.

There’s no turning back once a road is built. With so much at stake, CPAWS Yukon is working to ensure the plan for the Beaver River Watershed is more than a check in the box. The plan must be built around the watershed’s values and the vision people have for it. We hope that you’ll stand alongside us and others who are working to secure a strong future for the Beaver River Watershed.

Stay tuned to CPAWS Yukon for more information. We’ll let you know when there are upcoming opportunities to lend your voice for the Beaver River Watershed.

In the meantime, you can share your vision for the watershed and your concerns with members of the Beaver River Planning Committee. Simply send an email to krysti.horton@gov.yk.ca and lesley.cabott@stantec.com.

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October 15 2019

Op-Ed: This 65-kilometre resource road planned for Yukon wilderness will serve mines, not communities

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogBeaverRiver, NewsArticles

Written by Malkolm Boothroyd | Oct 15, 2019
Photo by Malkolm Boothroyd, Mount Cameron ridge hike.

New roads designed to service mines can exacerbate habitat fragmentation and introduce new mineral exploration — but somehow aren’t required to fit the territory’s broader land use plans.

Read the full editorial as published in The Narwhal on October 15th, 2019.

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Op-Ed: This 65-kilometre resource road planned for Yukon wilderness will serve mines, not communities

I hear the wind before it hits me, a dull roar slamming the north face of Mount Cameron. The wind wraps around the ridge, hissing between the slabs of lichen-covered rocks, and biting through my hiking clothes.

Even though it’s only the middle of August, I feel the impending winter in the wind, and see it in the yellow-leaved poplar trees far below in the valley.

The full force of the gust greets me as I crest the ridgeline and step onto the peak of Mount Cameron. I dig in my pack for an energy bar and extra layers of clothes then hunker down a rock. Then I pull out my phone and open up Facebook.

Checking the internet out here feels bizarre.

It’s one more reminder that the Yukon, the place I grew up, is changing. I associate mountaintop cell coverage with Banff and Whistler, not the wilds of the Yukon, 400 kilometres north of Whitehorse.

I feel like I’m straddling two Yukons.

South and west of me are cell towers, highways and airstrips. Roads and mines carve up boreal forest valleys and tundra plateaus. To the north and my east, the land is still remote and free of roads. Before me stretches the Beaver River Watershed, and beyond it the Peel Watershed.

These two Yukons aren’t static — one grows while the other shrinks. The Beaver Watershed teeters on the edge, one of many parts of the Yukon that could be transformed by a new wave of development.

Resource roads service mining companies, not communities

Vancouver-based ATAC Resources Ltd. wants to cut a 65-kilometre resource road through the valley below me. The company holds claims to a series of gold and copper deposits east and west of the Beaver River.

Road access would slash the cost of exploration at these properties and make mining development more economical. The ATAC road could also bring serious ecological impacts to the watershed.

Roads are a driving force behind habitat fragmentation, the spread of invasive species and the disruption of water flows. Numerous animals avoid areas near roads, or change their migration patterns in response to roads.

Roads bring both costs and benefits. Many people who call the Yukon home first arrived here on a road trip up the Alaska Highway, and roads help people access beloved lakes, rivers and mountain ranges. At the same time many Yukoners value the remoteness of places like the Peel Watershed, far removed from the rumble of truck engines.

There’s one key difference between the ATAC road and other highways in the Yukon — resource roads service mining companies, not communities.

‘Additional industrial development will follow’

I pull my camera from my pack and snap a few images of the valley. Citizens of the Na-cho Nyak Dun First Nation have close ties to the Beaver River Watershed, however the area is unknown to many in the wider territory.

Collecting photos and stories from this area is a priority for the Yukon chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the environmental non-profit where I work. My friend Maury and I are here to capture photos of these mountains.

In 2017 the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) ruled in favour of the ATAC road, but the board’s review left many questions unanswered.

ATAC’s belt of mineral claims extends more than 100 kilometres beyond the end of the proposed road. The company could be tempted to extend the road in the future, while other mining companies will likely look to build offshoot roads. In comments submitted to the board, the Yukon government acknowledged that “opening up a new all-season access route into the Beaver River watershed results in a high likelihood that additional industrial development will follow.”

The board did not consider the avalanche of development the ATAC road could trigger. Its mandate is to evaluate the specifics of each project as it arises, but this provides few safeguards against incremental environmental impacts.

The Yukon government and Na-cho Nyak Dun First Nation are working on a land use plan for the Beaver River Watershed, though the plan is proceeding on the assumption that the ATAC road will be built.

The Beaver Watershed saga is part of a larger road-building dilemma that is playing out across the Yukon. The Yukon has a relatively small road network, but that’s changing.

In 2017 the federal government, territorial government and the mining industry pledged nearly $470 million to the Yukon Resource Gateway Project — aiming to improve access to mineral hotspots in the Yukon by building or upgrading 650 kilometres of roads.

The Yukon Resource Gateway Project would fund construction in the Dawson Range of west-central Yukon, and the Nahanni Range along the territory’s eastern boundary. The roads would service major mining proposals such as GoldCorp’s Coffee Mine and Western Copper & Gold’s Casino Mine. The latter plans to store tailings behind what would be the highest dam on earth — nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower.

Beyond servicing these megaprojects, roads in remote areas like the Dawson Range could bring a flurry of new mineral exploration and extraction. In a letter of support for the Resource Gateway Project, the Yukon Chamber of Mines writes that the project would “lead to a significant increase in activity in this highly prospective district.”

Mining activity a threat to caribou herds

Road construction and a corresponding spike in mining activity in the Dawson Range could have serious consequences for the Klaza herd: a type of morthern mountain caribou, listed as special concern under Canada’s Species at Risk Act.

According to Environment Yukon, the Klaza caribou herd faces “some of the most significant conservation concerns among all northern mountain caribou herds in Yukon,” owing in large part to roads and mining activity.

Klaza caribou spend summers in the alpine, and descend to lower elevations in winter. The herd has largely abandoned portions of its winter range where mining, roads and other human activities are concentrated.

Further road construction and development of the Casino Mine and others could force caribou out from high-value winter habitats in the northern part of their range. Increased road and mine development in the Dawson Range could also hinder the recovering Fortymile caribou herd from reestablishing its historical summer range.

Major road construction projects could usher in landscape-level changes to areas like the Dawson Range. The Yukon’s environmental review process is poorly equipped to address the cumulative impacts and domino effects that such projects could bring.

Which version of the Yukon do we want to live in?

According to the Yukon’s application for federal infrastructure funding (submitted under the previous government), the Resource Gateway Project would undergo environmental review as individual road components, not the program as a whole.

The application also notes that road components could be assessed by district offices — the lowest level of review permitted under the territory’s environmental assessment act. District office reviews take an average of 63 business days to conclude, while the impacts brought on by road developments could last for generations. The ATAC road was reviewed by a district office.

One by one, projects are being approved that are transforming the Yukon. This approach to environmental assessments makes it difficult to take a broad view of this development path — and ponder which version of the Yukon we want to live in.

Decisions with long-term implications for the territory should be made through the Yukon’s land use planning process. Land use planning was established under the Umbrella Final Agreement between the Crown and Yukon First Nations, and is designed to make collaborative decisions about future land uses, conservation and developments.

Projects like the Resource Gateway are unlikely to be evaluated as part of the territory’s land use planning process, due to how slowly planning has unfolded.

In the 26 years since the Umbrella Final Agreement was signed, only two land use plans have been finalized.

In contrast, the clock is ticking on the Resource Gateway Project: federal funding expires in 2022.

Developments like the Resource Gateway could amount to de-facto land use planning: irreversibly changing the Yukon while circumventing the land use planning process.

More projects like the Resource Gateway and the ATAC road are sure to come.

Many Yukon government reports over the decades have envisioned new transportation corridors to stimulate mining development and link the Yukon to markets across the world. Meanwhile, the mining industry continually pushes for more infrastructure dollars. Well-reasoned, collaborative decision making — ideally through land use planning, is critical to arriving at the right resolutions over road developments.

The ridge where I’m standing is far out of earshot from the nearest truck, but the wind is loud enough. The gale continues relentlessly through the night. It’s still blowing the next morning, as my friend Maury and I hike through high alpine meadows. We trace the path of an iron-stained creek, one of the 73 creeks or rivers that the ATAC road would cross.

The willows thicken as we descend, and the sporadic spruce trees begin to form a forest. Maury finds a moose trail and we follow it through the trees, awkwardly clambering over fallen logs that a moose would trot over. There are fresh hoof-prints where the ground is soft.

There’s something special about navigating a landscape on trails worn only by the footsteps of grizzly bears and moose.

February 1 2019

The ATAC Road to Rau would transform the Beaver River Watershed

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogBeaverRiver beaver river watershed, blog, land use planing, rau

Header Image: Dusk on Hanson Lakes. The Hanson Lakes sit just west of the start point of the proposed road. Randi Newton
Written by: Randi Newton, Conservation Coordinator

Almost two years ago, a recommendation from the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB) cracked the door open for industry to transform the unspoiled wilderness of the Beaver River Watershed, a landscape perched at the Peel Watershed’s southern doorstep. In May 2017, YESAB recommended that Yukon Government give ATAC Resources, a mining exploration company, the go-ahead to build a 65 km mining road to access the Tiger Gold deposit on its Rau property. The region’s wild creatures, healthy landscapes, and clear waters are at risk.

ATAC’s proposed Road to Rau (dotted in black) leads to mining claims (red) that stretch to the border of the Northwest Territories, far beyond the Beaver River Watershed planning boundary. The road could transform this unspoiled wilderness.

Fortunately, the Beaver River Watershed Land Use Plan – now at the very beginning stages – is a chance to protect the wildlife, habitat, and intact ecosystems that give life to the watershed. We can still ensure that sustainability is at the heart of all decision-making. The Planning Committee is hosting a public meeting in Whitehorse on Wednesday, Feb. 6^th (details below), and meetings have already taken place in Mayo and Keno. Show up to let the committee know that Yukoners care about protecting the watershed’s wildlife and wilderness.

Beaver River Watershed Land Use Plan public meeting

February 6^th, 6 – 8 PM

Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, 1171 First Avenue

Whitehorse

How did we get here and why is the plan so important?

YESAB’s decision to recommend approval of the 65 km Road to Rau stunned many Yukoners. The decision largely ignores the significant impacts on fish and wildlife identified by the Department of Environment and a contracted wildlife expert. Approving such a long road for a mining project still in the exploration phase was unprecedented. For context, the proposed road is only 8 km shorter than the drive from downtown Whitehorse to Carcross.

The proposed route cuts through habitat for moose, grizzly bears, salmon, and scores of other wildlife. The science of road ecology clearly shows these species will be harmed by things like habitat loss, road avoidance, and overhunting. If built, the road will cross 73 rivers and streams, including spawning and rearing grounds for salmon and Dolly Varden char. Only 8 crossings are bridged and, alarmingly, culverts or fords are proposed for the remaining 65. Sedimentation, habitat destruction and the obstruction of fish movement are big concerns.

Despite these concerns, we have a second chance to get things right and maintain a functioning wild landscape for the wildlife that depend on it. Before road construction can be authorized, Yukon Government and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun agreed that a land use plan for the Beaver River Watershed must be in place. This process is now at the very beginning stage. Getting the land use plan right is critically important because the future impacts of the road extend well beyond the road itself. Construction of the road could ultimately transform the entire watershed from unspoiled wilderness to a forever-scarred mining district.

Let me explain.

Right now, the Beaver River Watershed is largely undisturbed. However, Yukon’s mining recorder shows that the watershed is on the brink of change. A cascade of quartz claims stretch across the entire watershed and beyond, all the way to the border of the Northwest Territories. Quartz claims also extend north, and some are nestled along the Peel Watershed’s southern border. It’s only a matter of time before YESAB faces a torrent of applications to extend the road to these projects. Placer staking is sure to follow. Without a good land use plan in place to set common-sense limits on development and protect the region’s wildlife and wilderness, this single strand of road will lead to a tangled web of development.

What should the Beaver River Watershed Plan include?

While we don’t know much yet about the direction of the Beaver River Watershed land use plan, the future of the region’s wildlife and wilderness rest on a few key things:

Using traditional knowledge, local knowledge, and conservation science to get a better baseline understanding of the region’s environment and wildlife. For example, right now there are almost no on-the-ground assessments of fish habitat at the proposed ATAC road water crossings.
Understanding how the proposed 65 km road and future development will impact wildlife populations. For instance, studies show that grizzly bear survival decreases when roads are introduced. We can use modelling to predict how bears in the Beaver River Watershed will be impacted.
Setting common-sense limits on development. Wildlife needs functioning habitat and we lose wildlife when we put too much development pressure on their habitat.
Developing a robust system for wildlife monitoring and adaptive management. Decision makers need a way to understand what’s happening on the ground so they can make good decisions.

Only once all of these pieces are in place can we decide if the Road to Rau is right for the region.

How you can help

Come to the public meeting next Wednesday and stay involved throughout the process. The Planning Committee needs to know that you care about the watershed. CPAWS Yukon will stay tuned to the plan and let you know what’s happening.

May 17 2017

Road to Rau decision underscores need for land use planning

CPAWS Yukon Blog, BlogBeaverRiver beaver river watershed, rau, Road, to

Earlier this month, YESAB released its recommendations regarding a 65-km all-season road north of Mayo being proposed by ATAC Resources in order to access the Tiger gold deposit. YESAB approved the road, which runs just 20km south of the Peel Watershed with conditions meant to minimize the impact on wildlife, hunting and trapping. You can read the full report on the YESAB online registry.

CPAWS Yukon would like to thank all of the members of the public for their valuable contributions and comments to YESAB during the public consultation. You can view our submission here, in which we drew attention to the possible long-term impacts on fish and wildlife and advised against the all-season road. In YESAB’s recommendation, they noted the “extraordinary number of comments from governments and the public”, which informed the effects assessment. While YESAB highlighted that land use planning is outside the scope of their work, they did note that “an overwhelming number of comments from governments and from other sources indicate concern over the absence of land use planning in the region.” We did not get the outcome we sought, but we feel that public interest compelled YESAB to strengthen the conditions it applied to this project.

It is disappointing that an all-season road through pristine wilderness just 20km south of the Peel Watershed is moving forward for a project that is still in the mineral exploration phase. Above all, this tells us that we must get back on track with land use planning in the Yukon in order to have more reasoned decision-making about how the land is developed and protected, guided by the Final Agreements. The road is situated within the 88% of the Yukon that does not have a regional land use plan, and by approving it, we are pre-supposing that roads and mining are the most optimal use of the land in this area and we are potentially eliminating other land management options, such as wilderness conservation, ecotourism, traditional hunting and trapping.

However, we are consoled by the mitigating factors that YESAB has introduced to limit the impact on moose populations and other wildlife. Moose harvest is near or at sustainable harvest levels within the Mayo Moose Management Unit (MMU) in which the project is proposed, and according to YESAB’s review, the project will increase hunting pressure. To mitigate this, YESAB has recommended that the Government of Yukon and the First Nation of Na Cho Nyäk Dän develop an “access regime”, including staffed guardhouses and they’ve suggested the two governments consider requirements for the removal of bridge decking during periods where project activities are such that a road is not required. The Designated Office also recommended that both traffic monitoring and effects monitoring be completed with respect to the project. ATAC Resources did also include within their proposed list of activities the decommissioning of this road via re-contouring as well as bridge and culvert removal. YESAB noted that security will be required by the Government of Yukon in relation to closure, though no mention of the appropriate amount necessary to do so has been made.

YESAB also recommended that project activities not take place within 1km of nesting peregrine falcons, nor within 250m of Ladue Lake, which is highly valued for fishing. These measures will not completely eliminate the adverse effects on wilderness and wildlife, but they will hopefully help limit the environmental footprint of the ‘Road to Rau’ and help minimize the long-term and cumulative impacts that are known to occur when we start building roads through undisturbed wilderness. Securing these measures would not have been possible without the public’s input.

The next step is for the Governments of Yukon and Na Cho Nyäk Dän to review the recommendations, and after the issuance of a decision document, ATAC Resources can seek authorization of project activities.