Approval has been recommended for the controversial proposal to build a winter road up the Wind River into the Wernecke Mountains northwest of Mayo.

The district office of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) recommended the approval to the Yukon government, with the provision that Cash Minerals Ltd. fulfill 46 specific conditions to minimize impact.

The 35-page document was released on Christmas Eve. It offers an explanation of why certain concerns raised by the public were not included in the assessment, such as the suggestion the road will eventually lead to a toxic uranium mine.

The Yukon government has 30 days until Jan. 28 to accept, reject or alter the conditions recommended by the YESAB office.

Cash Minerals' October 2007 application for the winter road sparked the largest public response for any proposal received to date under the territory's relatively new environmental assessment legislation.

There were 271 pieces of correspondence filed under the application, the majority of them comments from individuals and companies opposing or supporting the project.

Cash Minerals wants to use the 178-kilometre road to haul in 2,000 drums of diesel and Jet B aircraft fuel every year for the next five years, along with other equipment and supplies required to support its mineral exploration program in the region, which includes the search for uranium.

The company also applied for permission to build a new airstrip next to the Wind River.

Allowing the project to go ahead, Cash Minerals contends, will save the company money by requiring less airfreight by helicopter, resulting in an overall 40 per cent reduction in its aircraft activity.

Cash Minerals plans to store the fuel and supplies at four cache sites.

Scores of Yukoners and others

registered staunch opposition to the winter road, arguing the remote wilderness area was much too important to allow more industrial activity in the region.

It was argued the application should be shelved at least until the completion of the land use planning exercise for the Peel River Watershed, an exercise already underway.

The winter road proposal, it was argued, would leave a blight on the landscape, affecting existing wilderness tourism and big game outfitting businesses whose livelihoods depend on the pristine quality of the area.

Opponents suggested the winter road application was only the beginning, soon to be followed with an application for a year-round road to resources project.

It was argued by opponents that more than the road was at stake, that the environmental assessment had to address the issue of whether Yukoners were in favour of uranium mining, because that is what the road could bring.

Supporters of the project emphasized it is the company's right to explore for minerals in the territory, and to support its exploration program with reasonable transportation access.

The proposed winter road, supporters pointed out, was first established in 1959 to freight supplies up into the Arctic Circle, and has been used on and off ever since.

Supporters suggested the assessment process should not favour one commercial venture tourism and big game operators over another, and the project could be carried out with minimal impact, using various mitigation measures.

One Yukoner wrote the mining sector has carried the territory for 100 years and cannot be sacrificed to keep the area as a private playground for conservationists from Europe.

And the Yukon Chamber of Mines cautioned the Mayo district office not to fall prey to what had become a letter-writing campaign organized by the wilderness conservation movement.

The Mayo office concluded the proposal could have significant and adverse environmental effects but found those impacts could be mitigated by imposing certain conditions.

All ice bridges across several stream crossings and wetlands along the route, for instance, must be frozen enough to hold 125 per cent of the anticipated maximum weight on the road.

Any breakthrough of the ice, or disturbance of the stream flow, are to be reported immediately to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and others.

Construction of the ice bridges, and decommissioning, must be meticulous with no impact to stream flow.

Any fuel spill is to be reported immediately. No fuel is to be stored within 60 metres of the river.

Cash Minerals can build the road only if there is a minimum of 30 centimetres of snow to work with.

There must be extensive monitoring and reporting of wildlife habitat and movements. Use of the access road off the Wind River into the Bear River drainage will be prohibited if the Bonnet Plume caribou herd are congregated there.

The district office concluded impact on existing tourism in the area will be minimal. It said the winter road isn't likely to increase the number of people who access the area.

There is already existing winter and summer tourism along the Wind River trail, along with local winter and summer use by locals, which isn't likely to increase, the district office writes.

The Mayo office has also recommended that the Yukon government require a security deposit from the company.

The possibility that there may be a uranium mine in the area some day was not part of the assessment, as there is no direct link between the road proposal and a future mine. One does not equate to the other, reads the recommendations from the district office.

The document also points out the assessment board is authorized to take into consideration any existing or even draft land use plans for specific areas.

The Peel River Planning Commission, however, is in the research stage, and has not yet produced a draft document.