DAWSON CITY Discussions are underway which may restore the Tent City campground that existed for many years just up the road from the ferry landing on the west side of the Yukon River.

There were seasonal campers on the river's west side for many years. It's generally understood that the pool of local workers is insufficient in the summer to fill all the jobs that help drive the tourist industry.

At one time, there was a serious problem with people renting out yard space for tents, running water lines to trailers parked in yards and generally turning portions of the town into a transient campsite.

Bylaws were passed to restrict this sort of activity during the late 1980s and early 1990s. As well, a supervised campsite with minimal seasonal fees was established within easy walking distance of the George Black ferry landing. It was operated by the City of Dawson.

All this changed in 1997 during the Tr'ond'k Hw'ch'in First Nation's land claim process. The land in question was claimed by the first nation and the city agreed not to contest that in return for the Tr'ond'k Hw'ch'in continuing to operate the site for 'a minimum seven-year period.'

That time limit ran out at the end of the summer of 2004, and 2005, the first year without a tent city, was also the first year that local employers began to complain about a serious shortage of summer staff.

Some people camped for the summer at Deiter Reinmuth's Dawson City River Hostel, also located across the river and adjacent to the old Tent City site.

Reinmuth had been accepting seasonal workers at reasonable rates for a number of years, and people who wanted a little more structure in their summer camping experience had gone there.

Guggieville, under new ownership in 2005, set up a transient camping area both that year and in 2006, but it did not attract the numbers that had previously gone to the cheaper West Dawson site.

During the summer of 2006, many local businesses reported an acute worker shortage. Some closed their seasons early when they could not retain staff, which began to leave after July's Dawson City Music Festival and again after Discovery Day weekend.

Otto Cutts, with the Tr'ond'k Hw'ch'in, told an early December meeting of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce that the first nation might be interested in reopening the tenting site.

'There's some possibility of us working together on Tent City again,' Cutts said.

'We'd be willing to get together with the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA), the City and ourselves to see what we can do about making that work, if it will help bring youth to the city to create employment.'

City manager Paul Moore confirmed this during an interview in late December.

'We actually have some money built in here (in the 2007 town budget) to help the city contribute as a partner.

'The first nation is willing to have that back on their land, but they don't want to incur any of the costs related. So if local partners are willing to help to make sure there is no increased cost there ... it could happen.

'My direction from council has been to work towards contributing as a partner not solely to support it if the chamber and other people were willing.'

Moore agreed that it seems clear that the private enterprise solutions attempted over the last two years haven't worked out.

'If Tent City is part of the solution to our labour shortage, then we have to try it.

'I think if we get it going and get the word-of-mouth out there that people will come back to Dawson to work, because they liked that as an opportunity to make more money.'