Success Stories
Thank you for making a big difference.
“We want to prevent industrial impact throughout the entire Peel Watershed. This area is still pristine; it has sustained our people for as long as we can remember... we need a plan that protects the land permanently.”
— Na Cho Nayak Dun, Tr'ondek Hwech'in, Teetl'it Gwich'in Chiefs
Project Profile
This project has been generously fully funded by LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics.
We are working with community and tourism partners to achieve large scale protection of the Peel Watershed in northern Yukon. Except for a sliver in the west, the 68,042 square kilometer watershed is unroaded and pristine. We need help to rally the Yukon people to protect the Peel.
After more than a decade of work, our campaign to protect the Peel reached critical juncture, with the Peel Watershed Land Use Planning Commission releasing a recommended plan in November 2009, and government expected to decide the watershed's future over the next year.
A Land Use Plan is being developed for the Peel Watershed. The Yukon government wants oil and gas leases and mineral claims grandfathered into it, as well as new all-season road access. There are over 10,000 mineral claims in the watershed; more than 8,000 were staked since planning began. During consultation on the Peel plan, with our allies we rallied Yukon people to express overwhelming support for protection, and we prevented a winter road from being built in the heart of the watershed by inspiring unprecedented levels of public input into the environmental assessment. With your support, we will ensure that the beauty of this rare landscape, including its people and wildlife, are protected as much as possible in the Land Use Plan.
During the planning process we kept the Peel front and center in the media, including scores of letters to the editor from an array of Yukon people. We needed to maintain the momentum to ensure that the Yukon government followed the wishes of Yukon First Nations and the public, and protected a major portion of the watershed. Your support helped us work towards this goal.
Support from Small Change Fund Donors contributed to staff time, travel, and communications to continue to rally Yukon people to demand major protection in the Peel. We will continue to partner with tourism allies to promote the Peel in Yukon and national media, and in other communications. We will also distribute our poll results to Yukon politicians, bureaucrats, and the public. We will reach out for support from non-traditional allies. We will also debunk the myth that mining is viable in such a remote location, and pursue a strategy of direct engagement with industry to deal with existing mining claims.
THANK YOU.
The Yukon Conservation Society’s mission is to pursue ecosystem well-being throughout the Yukon and beyond, recognizing that human well-being is ultimately dependent upon fully functioning, healthy ecosystems.
