Our Campaigns
CPAWS Yukon promotes the conservation of the Yukon’s ecologically and culturally important lands and waters for all. To prevent the Yukon’s wild spaces from being carved up or lost, we need proactive planning, spaces where development is limited, and improved mining laws in the Yukon.
We primarily focus on regional land planning and protected areas as tools to achieve meaningful conservation and support local First Nations.
Dawson Regional Land Planning
The Dawson Region, a varied and uniquely unglaciated landscape covering 8% of the Yukon, is steeped in the history and culture of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people. Land use planning is in the final stages and will shape the region’s future.
Regional Land Planning in the Stewart
The Stewart Watershed boasts an abundance of wetlands, healthy waters, traditional medicines, and crucial habitat for wildlife. The diverse landscape falls within the traditional territory of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, and soon land use planning in the area will begin.
Chasàn Chùa (McIntyre Creek)
Chasàn Chùa is the heart of a wildlife corridor that passes through the city of Whitehorse, in the traditional territories of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and Kwanlin Dün First Nation. Southern Tutchone for Copper Creek, Chasàn Chùa is named by Yukon First Nations people who would find copper nuggets in the area.
Protect The Peel
From its dramatic peaks and high plateaus to its sprawling river valleys and wetlands, the Peel is one of Canada’s natural wonders. Four First Nations call the Peel home (First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, and Tetlit Gwich’in) and have hunted, fished and trapped in the Peel for millennia.
Porcupine Caribou and Arctic Refuge
The Porcupine Caribou Herd is one of the healthiest barren-ground caribou herds left in the world. For countless generations, caribou have sustained the Gwich’in communities across the north. The calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou in the Arctic Refuge are called Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandaii Goodlit (The Sacred Place Where Life Begins) in Gwich’in.
Let’s Reform Mining
We have a once in a generation opportunity. New mining legislation will rewrite the outdated Placer and Quartz Mining Acts, finally bringing mining in the Yukon into the 21st century and reforming the entire cycle of a mine. Ultimately, decisions made about mineral development are also decisions on how we steward the land.