It’s a split decision by two key government departments regarding the approval of a placer mining operation along Judas Creek.

While Environment Yukon is recommending the project be rejected, Energy, Mines and Resources sees no problem if all regulations are followed.

The departments’ submissions are outlined in the separate submissions to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board.

In its opposition, Environment Yukon cites inevitable impacts on the Carcross caribou herd.

The herd has been under the protection of a recovery effort for more than 20 years now.

The proposed placer mine would be situated in important winter habitat, Environment Yukon points out in last week’s submission.

Department officials note that area is also used by the caribou to travel between their winter and summer ranges.

“Environment has reviewed the proposal and recommends the project not proceed, owing to unmitigable impacts to the Carcross Caribou Herd,” says the submission filed last week.

Energy, Mines and Resources (EMR), on the other hand, says the project proposal conforms with what is required for a Watershed Authorization. As long as all operational and reclamation standards are met, there should be no problem, the department says.

“The environmental impacts of this operation can be mitigated if the activities are conducted in accordance with the applicable regulations and the permitted operating conditions,” says EMR’s submission.

The proposal is also facing opposition from the Carcross-Tagish First Nation, the Taku River Tlingits of Atlin, the Carcross-Tagish Renewable Resource Council and others who provided comments to the assessment board.

There are some expressions of support for the project in recognition of the economic benefits, and in support of the project proponents. Provided current standards and practices are followed, the impacts should be minimal, they say.

In December 2015, Nicolai Goeppel and Alex Shaman filed the proposal with the assessment board to develop a claim block staked last year along Judas Creek north of Jakes Corner.

The period to provide comments ended last Wednesday. The assessment board’s designated office in Teslin has 14 days beginning March 31 to recommend the project be accepted, rejected or refer it to a higher level of screening.

The Teslin office can also extend the decision time by a maximum of 21 days, under its rules.

Meanwhile, a proposal to conduct exploration activity on hardrock claims located on Jubilee Mountain on the west side of Atlin Lake is also receiving resistance, primarily over concerns about the impact on the Carcross caribou and their habitat.

The Carcross caribou herd became the focus of a recovery plan in the early 1990s when the total population was assessed at a troubling 400.

The most recent assessment in 2008 put the herd at 800 animals.

But back in the days when Carcross was known as Caribou Crossing, there were observations of caribou darkening the mountainside as they moved through.

In regard to the Judas Creek placer claims, the Carcross-Tagish First Nation points out its traditional territory has been hit hard by land alienation, development and third party interests.

The First Nation notes a full generation has been denied cultural practices related to harvesting caribou for subsistence purposes.

The First Nation must stand against any further alienation of land that will have a negative impact on the caribou, says the submission.

It says the Carcross-Tagish citizens have an aboriginal right enshrined in the Constitution of Canada that ensures the protection of a subsistence food source.

Research verifies there were traditional fish camps along Judas Creek, as the creek once served as a chinook salmon spawning stream, says the submission.

It says permitting a placer mine there would harm future attempts to re-establish the chinook population.

Furthermore, there’s an issue of consistency to be addressed, the First Nation says.

It points out because of concerns over caribou, the assessment board in 2011 rejected a proposal by the Yukon Fish and Game Association to establish a winter and summer campsite for youth across the Alaska Highway, but not from where the placer claims are.

The Taku River Tlingit express the same concerns over the impact and further displacement and harm to the caribou.

The northern B.C. First Nation, however, also insists that as part of its claim to traditional territory overlapping in the Yukon, it has unsurrendered treaty rights and title to the area where the claims are situated.

“The TRTFN concludes that the project represents a serious infringement to the TRTFN aboriginal rights and title, and the Taku River Tlingit strongly oppose the proposal to mine Judas Creek tributaries.”