To the Dawson Regional Land Use Planning Commission,

As a Citizen of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, I am writing in response to the Draft Plan you have prepared for this region, which includes 75% of my Traditional Territory. I appreciate the efforts you have made to bring a land use plan to this stage and I see a lot of value in the Draft Plan. However, there are gaps in the plan that I want to address, and I expect you, as the Commission, to consider my concerns as you prepare your Recommended Plan.

Obligations under the Final Agreements

Chapter 11 of our Final Agreement guides the way in which regional land use planning must occur. Our past leaders negotiated our Agreement in order to ensure that the health of the land and our people are to be maintained for today, and for future generations. Our Final Agreement is legally binding under the Canadian Constitution, and we expect that it be honoured - in spirit and intent, throughout the planning process.

As part of our Final Agreement, we have the right to meaningfully participate in the management of public resources throughout our Traditional Territory, and our ancestral role as caretakers of this land continues through co-management with Yukon government.

A key Objective of Chapter 11 of our Final Agreement is to “recognise and promote the cultural values of Yukon Indian People” and to “utilize the knowledge and experience of Yukon Indian People in order to achieve effective land use planning.” The Recommended Plan, if it is to fulfill these obligations, needs to reflect more clearly our knowledge and experience. In particular, the Recommended Plan needs to:

• Clearly reflect our Treaty Rights in relation to have on-going access to healthy fish and wildlife populations – a commitment which is woven throughout the THFA;
• Reflect our guidance in relation to need for protection and connectivity of habitat so that birds and wildlife have sufficient access to the healthy land and clean water that they need to survive, this includes full protection of Forty Mile Caribou core habitat areas;
• Clearly reflect our understanding of what stewardship and our understanding that water is life by adding increased protection for all wetlands;  protection for all significant waterways and riparian areas;
• Decisions on what is and is not allowed to happen on our lands has to include consideration of values that are tied to our Treaty rights including healthy populations of fish, moose, caribou, sacred plants, and for clean water.

Protection of Land and Natural Resources

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Citizen knowledge contributed to the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Conservation Priority map. The map highlighted our understanding of what the land and waters need to be healthy in the long term. This conservation map was informed by Citizen “knowledge and experience” and received broad support amongst our Citizens.

Currently, 3.8% of the planning region is proposed to receive full protection of its cultural and ecological values. This is totally inadequate and not acceptable. 3.8% conservation does not reflect obligations in our Final Agreement. At less than 4%, of the region, the Draft Plan does not protect important areas, values or provide assurances that the health of the land will not be further degraded by industrial development. To ensure adequate conservation, the Commission must significantly increase the amount of protected and conserved areas.

Many Commissioners understand the relationship between the land and Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in - the land is our people, our culture. Without the health of the land, our culture cannot exist. I call upon the Commission for 60% of the Recommended Plan to be designated for permanent protection to ensure our rights are maintained and the health of future generations is secure.  

We Are In a Climate Emergency 

The Yukon First Nations Climate Change Emergency Declaration states “there is no greater threat today to our culture and way of life and the wellness of our citizens and communities than the impacts of climate change.”

Currently, the Draft Plan does almost nothing to effectively address the causes of climate change or its impacts on First Nation Citizens. The Commission needs to consider how the land is changing and how climate change is affecting our way of life. I call upon the Commission to effectively consider the impacts climate change is having on our Traditional Territory and what we need to do to reduce its causes and effects.

Mähsį,