The City of Whitehorse will not intervene in the matter of Archie and Karen Lang having work done on Yukon government land without permits.

City manager Dennis Shewfelt said today the city is satisfied to leave the matter in the hands of the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, as the Langs and the department already have a solution worked out.

Archie Lang is the Yukon government's cabinet minister whose portfolio includes the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.

Shewfelt said in any case where there is a dispute or a complaint, the city attempts to find solutions that avoid legal proceedings or court battles.

In this case, the two parties, the Langs and the government, already have a remedy, and it would not advance anybody's interest, including the city's, to get involved, he said.

As the Star reported Tuesday, in late November and early December, a private contractor hired by the Langs to do work on their property at the end of the Fox Farm Road also did work on the adjacent government-owned property without any permits.

According to territorial timber regulations enforced by the minister's department, anyone cutting fuel wood or wood for any commercial purpose other than on private land requires a permit. City bylaws require a permit be issued for any tree cutting, other than on private land.

The city also requires a permit for any party who removes soil from vacant land.

The Langs had neither a permit for tree nor soil removal from the Yukon government land.

Lyle Henderson, manager of the lands branch for Energy, Mines and Resources, said the department decided to keep the matter in-house instead of turning it over to the city because of the status of the government lot involved.

Normally, where there are similar circumstances occurring on typical Crown land any land not titled in the Yukon such matters are turned over to the city for enforcement under municipal bylaws, Henderson explained.

But this lot, Henderson pointed out, has been surveyed and titled to the government. He said there is a belief the city could have encountered legal and jurisdictional issues applying its bylaws to this particular parcel of land, and it was decided to keep the matter of addressing the issue within the lands branch.

Henderson said it's not clear how many trees were cut down on the government lot, nor the extent of other work. The investigation will carry on into the spring, when the area in question is free of snow cover, he said.

Henderson noted that Karen Lang, in correspondence with the lands branch, has already agreed to do whatever remediation work the branch sets out after the spring follow-up.

In an interview earlier this week, minister Lang indicated there were about 10 dead trees removed from the government lot, though he mentioned nothing about soil removal.

Having the trees removed was part of a Firesmart initiative, and the whole area is better for it, he insisted.

Lang said it was only through good intentions that the trees were cut. And though he may have exercised more caution as a minister, and must now face the music, this was not a case of a capital crime being committed, he suggested.

The matter came to the government's attention when a complaint was received of material being dumped over a bank into the area of a beaver pond.

Information on file at the lands branch indicated some 14 dump truck loads amounting to approximately 98 cubic metres were taken from the Fox Farm Road project and dumped at a McRae industrial lot owned by Karen Lang.

The affected area on the government lot was measured by the lands branch at between 0.16 and 0.2 of a hectare (0.4 of an acre to half an acre).

The contractor was instructed to remove the material from the bank, and has since complied, leaving a large pile of dirt and tree trunks sitting on the edge of the industrial lot.