The Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN) is on-board to participate in the feasibility study for a railway through the Yukon.

'The chiefs have agreed essentially to participate on the basis there has been no consultation that has taken place as of yet with any of the communities,' acting CYFN grand chief Eric Morris told reporters Friday morning.

He spoke after a three-day leadership meeting in Whitehorse with first nation chiefs from around the territory.

He added the study would simply look at the possibility of a railway linking the Yukon and Alaska with railways in the South.

The $5-million US feasibility study was announced last Monday by Premier Dennis Fentie and Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski.

An advisory committee for the study will also be formed with two of the four Yukon seats to be offered to first nations in the territory.

'This initiative here was done very quickly,' Morris said. 'And I think it's one of those situations where it's already started, and you have to kind of look at how you work with that situation.'

Morris said the territorial government has agreed to have a CYFN representative and another Kwanlin Dun First Nation and Kaska Tribal Council representative on the study's advisory committee. Neither the Kwanlin Dun nor the Kaska groups falls under the CYFN constitution.

While the CYFN will participate in the study, the other seat is still being considered by the Kaska and Kwanlin Dun.

'We haven't made any decision to date,' tribal council chief Hammond Dick said Friday.

Once the funding and other arrangements are firmly in place, the Kaska will likely look to participate, he added.

The CYFN is also waiting for further details on the format of the study to decide who will represent the central first nation organization.

'We needed to get more information,' Morris explained.

Details on the committee structure, what the terms of reference will be and how the study might be carried out will give the first nation body more of an idea on what qualities they want in a representative.

'One of the things that the chiefs felt was, it was better to be able to put forth a committee member that was going to have some understanding of feasibility studies, an understanding of environmental matters, an understanding of some of the things that stem from our agreements,' Morris said. 'And so we want to have somebody that's going to be experienced.'

As soon as those details come out, the information will be passed on to first nation chiefs around the Yukon. The CYFN will then get ideas from the local first nation governments on how to proceed with selection whether to put out a call for interest or use nominations.

Deciding how to make that selection could be done through a teleconference among the 11 chiefs around the territory and the CYFN, he said.

As for whether there would be support among the first nations for a railway, the acting grand chief said the chiefs are taking a cautious approach to the issue.

'I don't think they've had the opportunity themselves to really, to have these discussions with their councils or with their people,' he said.

The study was announced just a day before the leadership meeting got underway last Tuesday.

Morris became acting grand chief after Ed Schultz resigned earlier this year to contest the June 4 Yukon Liberal Party leadership convention.