News Release

Yukon Government to Open Important Wetland to Oil and Gas

August 1, 2001 – Whitehorse – An area that includes one of the Yukon’s important wetlands has been nominated in the 2001 Oil and Gas Call for Nominations. The Yukon Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is calling on the Yukon Government to cancel the nomination of lands for oil and gas development in the Peel River Watershed.

View a map of peregrine falcon breeding areas and areas of interest for oil and gas exploration

“The Peel Plateau wetland supports a population of endangered Peregrine Falcon, contains key waterfowl habitat and is an important staging area for migratory waterfowl,” says Mac Hislop, CPAWS Oil and Gas Coordinator. “Over the years, the Peel Plateau wetlands have been identified as a priority area for protection by the Yukon Government, Environment Canada and the Mackenzie Delta – Beaufort Sea Regional Land Use Plan.”

At the Department of Economic Development’s April 2001 North Yukon stakeholders’ workshop, participants urged the government to exclude the Peel River Watershed from its 2001 Call for Nominations. “Why has the Yukon government ignored the advice of stakeholders and its own data?” asks Hislop. CPAWS has repeatedly called on the Yukon government to defer lands of high conservation value – like the Peel Plateau wetlands – from oil and gas disposition.

CPAWS supports proper land use planning prior to, or concurrent with, oil and gas dispositions. Presently, the Peel River Watershed, like much of the Yukon, has no land use planning process. The government risks pre-empting such a process if it puts this nominated area to bid.

“Given the strong evidence against allowing oil and gas development in the nominated area, the Yukon Government must cancel the nomination. It needs to support efforts to move land use planning forward. Where there is no land use planning process, it needs to establish an effective public consultation process to defer important lands from future oil and gas dispositions,” says Hislop.

Mac Hislop
CPAWS Oil and Gas Coordinator
CPAWS-Yukon
Telephone: 867-393-8080 ext. 3