A local couple is in the early stages of setting up a not-for-profit organization to help ease the impact of controversial Parks Canada cuts in the Yukon.

Donna and Mike Larsen have registered the group, Friends of the Klondike Corridor, with the territory's registrar of societies.

The Marsh Lake couple is waiting to hear back from Parks Canada to see if the federal department is interested in partnering.

"The model is very successful in other places in supporting parks with fund-raising, volunteerism, and in some cases operations,” Donna Larsen said in an interview earlier this week.

"Some friends groups run the bookstore, things like that,” she added.

Larsen said the federal budgets cuts announced in March 2012 spurred the development of the group.

"We have big visions for it; we just have to move at Parks Canada's pace,” she said.

The federal department could not provide an interview before the Star's press time this afternoon.

"Parks Canada has received an unsolicited proposal from the Friends of the Klondike Corridor Association expressing their interest in establishing a Friends Association to provide support to sites that have a common connection to the theme of the Klondike Gold Rush. We are currently reviewing the proposal,” a spokesperson for the department said in an email.

"Parks Canada is committed to ensuring that the SS Klondike and Dredge No. 4 (near Dawson City) are locations where visitors can continue to experience an enjoyable and meaningful visit at these sites.”

Larsen said once they've received the go-ahead from Parks Canada and the department outlines its priorities. the friends group will get to work.

"It's in the early stages of discussion; we want it to be open and inclusive, and it will happen over time, but it's not quick because we're waiting for Parks Canada. Everything is in waiting mode right now,” said Larsen.

The group doesn't even have a board of directors yet, she pointed out.

"We're just waiting to see what they come back with, and then we'll be hopefully ready to go,” she said. "They'll set the priorities, and we'll help them achieve them.”

The Larsens' vision for the Friends of the Klondike Corridor extends beyond the Yukon's borders, all the way to Seattle, in fact, where the Klondike Corridor begins.

The U.S. Parks Service representatives she's been in discussions with thus far have been supportive of the idea, said Larsen.

The superintendent of the Klondike Gold Rush Historic Site in Seattle could not be reached for comment.

A relationship with the U.S. side could mean corporate sponsorship and international fund-raising opportunities, Larsen pointed out.

At the local level, Yukoners could purchase memberships to the friends group, supporting Parks sites financially, and through volunteerism.

"It's our intention to support local businesses that want to operate on Parks sites, but maybe Parks Canada needs an intermediary to work with the contracting of those things, so we could be that intermediary,” Larsen added.

Emails obtained by the Star through an access to information request show that as far back as September 2012, Larsen has been in discussions with the territorial Department of Tourism and Culture and the local Parks Canada office regarding the Friends of the Klondike Corridor.

Calls to the Tourism department were not returned.

Tourism Minister Mike Nixon said this morning he has not been fully briefed on the friends group initiative, but he would be interested to meet with the Larsens to discuss it further.

Nixon noted that he and his department share Yukoners' concerns about the impact of cuts to Parks Canada in the territory.

He said he has been in contact with relevant federal officials and Peter Kent, the minister responsible for Parks Canada.

Nixon will visit Ottawa in a week. He will meet with Kent, and hopes to see Heritage Minister James Moore as well, to follow up on these concerns.

"I've been pretty actively involved in taking steps to identify potential solutions and mitigations to address the impacts that these changes could potentially have on Yukon,” Nixon said.

He hopes the two levels of government will be able to devise a solution.

Calls to the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon for comment on the friends group were not returned by deadline.

Cuts to guided tours of the SS Klondike and tours of any kind at Dredge No. 4 were among the most controversial impacts of federal budget cuts to Parks Canada made last year.

Yukon MP Ryan Leef has said he may have some good news about the cuts' impact sometime this month.