Environment Minister John Edzerza would like to see a no-hunting corridor for the Atlin Road, and perhaps even beyond.

Edzerza told the Star Monday that earlier in the day, he had asked department officials to look into his options, and to write the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board to ask for recommendations on the matter.

The minister said he doesn't find it appropriate that hunters would stalk bears along the Atlin Road, which offers plenty of bear root for the bruins to graze on in the spring.

There are lots of other areas in the Yukon for spring bear hunters, he said.

"I went out to Atlin myself on Saturday and had the opportunity to sit and watch a big grizzly bear digging for bear root,” Edzerza said.

"I also saw three black bears, a brown bear, a moose and several porcupine.

"It's rather unfortunate that anybody would hunt along the highway, especially in that area because there appears to be a lot bear root along the highway.”

Edzerza said he wants to look into whether imposing a no-hunting corridor restriction would require new legislation, or if he has the authority under existing legislation to impose a restriction.

He'll also be exploring with his cabinet colleagues what they think about the issue, and if they feel corridors should be considered for other highway routes.

"I am just reviewing that right now, and I think the sooner we can get something done, the better.”

Hunting the ditches along the Atlin Road in the vicinity of private properties does also raise concerns over safety, the minister said.

Atlin Road resident Ken Gabb first raised the issue of a no-hunting corridor last fall after a young male grizzly was shot and skinned on the side of the road. It had been hanging around for a couple of weeks with a sow and her three cubs.

Gabb said the boar had provided hours of entertainment for motorists driving by, and was much more valuable as a wildlife viewing opportunity than as a bear rug.

He went public with his feelings again Monday after a couple of bear hunters stopped and fired at one of two grizzlies grazing in the ditch near his home last Friday night. By all accounts, the shooter missed the bear.

Errant bullets, noted Gabb, can travel a long way.

Yukon Party MLA Steve Nordick of the Klondike riding introduced a motion in the legislature last fall calling for an Atlin Road corridor and the reinstatement of the Dempster Highway corridor.

The motion did not go anywhere, and was opposed by two aboriginal Liberal MLAs who suggested the corridors would infringe upon aboriginal hunting rights.

The Yukon government removed the Dempster Highway corridor in 2007 after its legal department decided it could not win a court case involving two aboriginal hunters from Dawson City who maintained the corridor was indeed an infringement on their harvesting rights.

Gabb said Monday in addition to the foremost concern over public safety along the Atlin Road, there is the issue of sportsmanship.

Shooting a bear while it grazes in the ditch next to the highway is hardly an example of fair chase, he suggested.