Members of the Dawson City-area first nation are challenging hunting restrictions along the Dempster Highway in court.

In November 2002, two men from the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation were charged with hunting caribou in the no-hunting corridor along the Dempster.

The two men Art Christiansen, the fish and wildlife director for the Tr'ondek Hwech'in, and first nation councillor Robert Rear are challenging the government on the hunting restrictions, which they believe are unnecessary.

The matter is scheduled to be in Yukon Supreme Court for three days in April.

Rear told the Star in an interview last year the only way non-aboriginal governments can impose restrictions on aboriginal hunting rights is by demonstrating a need for wildlife conservation or a concern with public safety.

He said neither can be demonstrated in the case of the corridor.

There has been one hunting accident along the highway. Rear said that is not adequate justification for the corridor restricting his hunting rights inside the traditional territory of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation.

The current hunting ban keeps people from shooting at caribou from the road or leaving animal carcass remnants along the highway.

To hunt outside the corridor requires a person to abandon his or her truck in exchange for an off-road vehicle.

Christiansen has started using a snowmobile to reach those areas, but his experience with 'man-made' machines almost caused him an accident.

Hunting along the Dempster corridor has been contentious since the highway, which runs from outside Dawson to Inuvik, N.W.T., was built in the late-1970s.

The 500-metre no-hunting corridor was established after consultations with area user groups.

But the first nation said it never approved of the no-hunting corridor.

The road provides hunters with access to thousands of caribou during the fall migration of the Porcupine herd.

Christiansen and Rear were also charged with shooting the caribou during the one-week hunting closure when the first caribou arrive at the highway during their southern migration.

That closure was adopted by the government because of a recommendation made by the Porcupine Caribou Management Board.

Representatives from the Yukon and Northwest Territories said the closure was a way of ensuring migration leaders can pass safely so the rest of the herd can follow them to the winter range.

Rear said it was a concern that originated in the north section of the highway and does not apply to the southern section of the highway that runs through his first nation's territory.

The Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation has long resisted any hunting restrictions placed on its members. In doing so, it has adopted a policy of covering the legal expenses for any members charged with hunting inside the corridor.

The first nation paid $36,000 for Christiansen's and Rear's legal fees.

The charges against the two men were dropped on July 27, 2004 after the matter was dragged through the courts for two years.

Now the first nation will take action against the government by challenging the ban along the Dempster.

Dave Joe will be representing the first nation. Joe is a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations and a former Yukoner who specializes in aboriginal rights cases.

Officials from the Yukon government declined comment on the matter.