The Yukon government is modernizing the way public land is managed in the territory by creating a new Yukon Public Lands Act.

The act will support many types of land use for residential development, conservation, business ventures and recreational activities in the Yukon, the government said Wednesday.

The new act will replace two existing pieces of legislation: the Lands Act and the Territorial Lands (Yukon) Act.

It will recognize First Nations Final Agreements in the spirit of co-operation and day-to-day management of land in the Yukon.

“This act will determine how we can better manage land use and activities in the territory,” the government said.

“It can be used to support and manage recreation activities such as cabins, camping, off-road vehicle use, bicycling and hiking.

“The act will also support residential development, commercial activities, resource and industrial development and critical cultural, heritage, and environmental protections.”

The government is seeking public feedback on how Yukoners use public lands.

Members of the public are encouraged to review the discussion paper that outlines key considerations in the drafting of this new act and fill out an online survey.

The deadline to participate is April 30. Additional information is available to Yukoners on Yukon.ca/lands-act.

“A new Yukon Public Lands Act for the territory is an important step in modernizing the way we live in the Yukon and use public lands,” said Energy, Mines and Resources Minister John Streicker.

“We want to hear how Yukoners use our lands and what important issues they would like to see reflected in the act.

“We encourage everyone to submit feedback during this public engagement period, and I look forward to reviewing Yukoners views to guide how we value and use our land in the future.”

Since 2003, the government has been responsible for administering two separate legislative regimes for two sets of public lands. These acts have not been extensively reviewed since the 1980s.

The Yukon is more than 482,000 square kilometres. Much of this is public land or First Nation settlement land.

Almost 85 per cent of the land is public land, with the remaining amount federal land and First Nations land; 0.06 per cent of land in the Yukon is under private title.