beaver river watershed

October 18 2019

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

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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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February 1 2019

The ATAC Road to Rau would transform the Beaver River Watershed

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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

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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.