Even without a legal obligation, the Yukon government did indeed consult with and took into account the concerns of the Little Salmon-Carmacks First Nation when it granted an agricultural lease on Crown land north of Carmacks.

Yukon government lawyer Penelope Gawn made that assurance to Yukon Supreme Court Justice Ron Veale this morning.

This is the second day of proceedings in the first nation's application for a judicial review of the 65-hectare lease granted to Larry Paulson in 2004.

The first nation argued yesterday it was not fully consulted on the lease. Concerns it expressed over the impacts to a trapline in the area, wildlife habitat and historical and cultural issues were not addressed, it argued.

This morning, Gawn told the court that in negotiating its final agreement in the late 1990s, the first nation did not negotiate that the land be designated a special management area.

A habitat protection area for the site could have also been negotiated by the first nation, but it wasn't, Gawn said.

'It's not a final agreement obligation,' she said.

The application for an agricultural lease on the property first came forward in 2001. That was turned down because of issues surrounding the first nation. When the application came forward again, the boundaries for the lease had been reconfigured to deal with the issues from 2001.

After going through the internal processes and approvals, the application was then brought to the more public Land Application Review Committee (LARC), which allows for public input on land disposition in the territory.

The first nation, along with others, was informed of the application. After a reminder of an August 2004 LARC meeting over the application was sent out, the first nation replied with a letter raising its concerns about the area.

There was no indication, Gawn said, that a first nation representative wanted to defer the meeting or wouldn't be able to attend.

The application was then given conditional approval, including one condition that an archeological assessment be conducted. After that was done, there was a condition placed that there be a 30-metre buffer so any sites not discovered during the assessment could be protected.

Paulson accepted the conditions of the approval.

Although there were no interveners identified by the territory because the first nation is a member of LARC, Gawn acknowledged the first nation has disputed that.

Throughout the morning, Gawn continually pointed to many sections of the first nation's land claim and final settlement agreement, arguing the documents set out the rights and obligations of the first nation and the Yukon government on treaty matters.

The primary objective of the agreements, she said, is to give each of the parties certain rights and obligations. To add to that or alter it would challenge the agreement.

'It's quite unlike historical treaties,' she said, noting this is viewed as a final document in dealings between the governments with the first nation having full participation in drafting and accepting it.

While there is a provision that hunting and trapping can be done on Crown land by first nations for subsistence purposes, there must also be an access provided on the land, she said.

The trapline in place on the land was a category two, which means it is allocated by the government.

A provision into the land claims agreement allows for compensation to be provided to those who may lose parts of a trapline to land disposition, it was noted.

Among the conditions for the lease, compensation was to be provided to the trapper.

Gawn also noted that a commercial lease to trap on the line has only been sought in two of the last 10 trapping seasons. Commercial trapping is dealt with under the Wildlife Act rather than self-government and land claims agreements, it was noted.

Gawn was scheduled to continue her arguments this afternoon. Three days have been booked for Veale to hear the case.