The Yukon Agricultural Association has pared down its application for land inside the research forest but there remained solid opposition to its proposal meeting at a public meeting this morning.

Association president Cliff Hanna told members of the Yukon's land application review committee the association's board voted last night to downsize the application from 45.45 hectares (100 acres) to 16 ha (40 acres.)

It is clear from public input, including a constituency meeting hosted Tuesday night by Lake Laberge MLA Brad Cathers, that there is solid support for an indoor riding arena, Hanna told members of the committee in his brief address.

Hanna said it is also clear from public input that the original proposal would be more appropriate if the facility was downsized.

The association, he explained, will maintain its proposal for a riding arena/multi-use activity centre, a caretaker's residence, hay storage building, overnight camping, reduced parking and horse trails to connect with trails leading to the Takhini River, as envisioned in a strategic plan. The strategic plan is currently being developed by the territory's forest branch.

Dropped from the proposal is the outdoor arena and rodeo facility, open space for the Klondyke Harvest Fair and midway area, parking requirements for the large-scale events, the vegetable storage building and area for a farmers' market, he explained.

'This will allow the application area to be left in a more natural state and will provide sufficient room for some expansion in the future if and when required...' Hanna told the review committee.

By paring down the area required, there would be no impact on existing research areas, and the project would fit within the parameters of the strategic plan, he said.

Karen Baltgailis of the Yukon Conservation Society, which is staunchly opposed to the location, said she was happy to hear the association was listening to the public and decided to reduce the proposal.

'I think what you have not heard yet is the public has also been very concerned about the location, and there has actually been strong opposition to the location,' she said.

The society's forest co-ordinator said even the downsized version of the proposed Yukon Exhibition and Fairgrounds would still impact the existing research forest.

As well, she told the committee, the strategic plan being developed calls for a partnership between the Yukon government and the Ta'an Kwach'an Council for the creation of educational walking trails and perhaps a modest building for educational purposes.

There really is no room for the facility being proposed by the agricultural association, Baltgailis said.

And in an interview afterward, Baltgailis questioned how the review committee can now rule on the application, given the feasibility study the committee requested from the association is built around the original proposal.

She said she would be submitting her concerns arising out of the association's amended application in a letter she planned to deliver late this morning.

At Tuesday's constituency meeting, there was abundant support for a riding facility, and mixed feelings expressed about the location inside the research area.

Not only is such a public facility long overdue, but its benefits will be felt by the entire community and not just those who own horses, it was said at the meeting.

It would foster interest in riding, and create opportunities for those who want to ride but don't have a horse nor the means to keep one, just as the Mount Sima Ski Hill has fostered growth in downhill skiing and snowboarding.

Therapeutic riding, for instance, is a proven benefit for those with mental handicaps, and such programs could be extended to year-round with such a facility, the 45 or so attending the constituency meeting were told.

Dave Andrew, vice-president of the association who's been contracted to spearhead the association's proposal, reiterated the reduced area would not impact on anything existing.

'I would like to add this indoor riding arena is about kids and it is about education,' he said.

Andrew also noted that the territory's agricultural branch is seeking an increase in its dedicated area inside the research forest from the 1.5 ha it has to 24 ha. He has seen maps of another department's proposal for a public use area involving trails to the river with accompanying infrastructure but they have not surfaced, because it is the association's application that is in the spotlight, he said.

Andrew asked if the government departments would also have to apply to the review committee.

Bryony McIntyre, manager of land disposition for the government, said because the requests are coming from government departments for government-owned land, any interest will be developed in-house during the formation of the strategic plan.

And she also emphasized the strategic plan will be subject to public consultation and review.

Ultimately, McIntyre responded, the strategic plan will have to be approved by the minister of all the departments.

Susan Skaalid of the forestry branch noted the application by the agricultural branch will not result in the removal of any trees but rather is centred around research in the existing environment of deciduous tree growth and such.

Also making brief comments this morning were two representatives of the Growers of Organic Foods Yukon (GOOFY).

Garret Gillespie said the organic growers support the proposal for an indoor riding arena, but are absolutely opposed to a facility that would have any impact on the research area.

'It does not matter if it is a riding arena or whatever, our position is strictly centred on any impact on the research forest for any purpose other than research and education,' he told the review committee.

Gillespie also asked representatives of the association if the proposal was downsized to a riding arena and why there's a need for a campground.

Claudia Carlson, the association's representative for the Klondike region: 'For us living outside of Whitehorse, I think it is a great project, it does connect the (riding) community to Whitehorse.'

Hanna declined an interview after the meeting, as Andrew suggested the association said in the meeting all it had to say.

The president of the association indicated he didn't know what impact the amended proposal would have on the original estimated budget of somewhere near $3 million.

When asked Tuesday night about the cost of the riding arena alone, Andrew said it was his recollection that it was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $1.5 million.

The 365-ha federal research forest was established in the area at the corner of the Takhini Hot Springs Road and the Alaska Highway, its southern boundary being the Takhini River and the City of Whitehorse boundary.

A map included in the draft strategic plan identifies 14 existing research sites.

Responsibility and control over the area was transferred to the Yukon government as part of the April 1, 2003 Devolution Transfer Agreement, minus 116 ha (288 acres), the title for which was transferred to the Kwanlin Dun First Nation as part of its land claim.

Recommendations from the application review committee are forwarded to Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang.

McIntyre said the committee's decision will be released Monday.

The application was filed a year ago, and the file has since grown to eight or nine centimetres thick, with both letters of support and opposition to the requested land inside the research forest.