The Peel Watershed Planning Commission released its much awaited
final recommended land use plan today. In a bold response to
earlier Yukon government criticism that the draft plan had too
much protection, the Commission remained firm in recommending
that 80% of the Peel watershed be protected, in two types of
conservation areas. The plan calls for a large Special
Management Area, a contiguous core protected area encompassing
the entire Three Rivers region, including the Wind, Snake and
Bonnet Plume watersheds – about 55% of the Peel watershed. In
the second type of conservation area, the Hart River is a
proposed Wilderness Area, which provides for interim protection.
Other watersheds, such as the Blackstone River on the western
side of the Peel region, are within an Integrated Management
Zone. Allowing for new industrial development in 20% of the
watershed, and proposing interim protection in the Wilderness
Areas, the Commission has shown a willingness to compromise. The
Plan falls short of recommending prot