Environment Minister Currie Dixon has accepted a recommendation to reject a proposal for a no-bear hunting corridor on the Atlin Road.

Staff from Environment Yukon advanced the proposal last year as part of the annual review of recommended regulation changes conducted by the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board.

The board recommended rejection of the proposal forwarded by the minister's staff, in favour of completing a comprehensive review of wildlife viewing along all Yukon highways, before singling out the Atlin Road.

Dixon agreed, but he rejected the board's further recommendation to put up road signs reminding hunters about respectful harvest practices and the value of the Atlin Road as a viewing area for bears.

The minister indicated the proposal to post additional signage would require input from the Department of Highways and Public Works.

The wildlife management board advanced 11 recommendations for the minister's consideration, and all were accepted, but for the signage on the Atlin Road.

The recommendations deal with everything from a more flexible strategy to manage wolves, to removing the ability of Yukoners to serve as special guides during grizzly bear hunts for Canadians living elsewhere in the country (see separate story below).

The proposal for the no-bear hunting corridor along the Atlin Road arose out of similar circumstances involving a blond grizzly bear shot last week on the Tagish Road.

The Tagish Road incident has again stirred public discussion about the ability of hunters to hunt from the side of the road.

Environment Yukon spokeswoman Nancy Campbell said this week the mandatory submissions have been received from the Tagish Road hunter, and Environment Yukon has determined the six- to eight-year-old sow was shot legally.

But the bear, with its unusual blond colour, had become something of a local wildlife celebrity over the years.

It would regularly graze comfortably along the roadside, unbothered by the many locals and tourists who would pull over to enjoy the moment.

Many found it objectionable that a hunter would shoot what they described as easy prey.

Chief Dan Cresswell of the Carcross-Tagish First Nation suggested in an interview last week that if hunters want to hunt grizzly bears, they should go hunting, not just for a drive in the evening.

But the chief also pointed out the Carcross-Tagish First Nation does not support a no-hunting corridor along the roadway.

In its recommendation to reject a no-bear hunting corridor along the Atlin Road, the wildlife management board pointed out the Carcross-Tagish First Nation and local renewable resource councils were opposed to the proposal by Environment Yukon.

There was concern a no-hunting corridor for bears could establish a de facto refuge for the Yukon's largest meat eater, resulting in increased pressure on local moose and caribou populations, the board said in its recommendation to the minister.

Rather, the board suggested a comprehensive examination of no-hunting corridors across the Yukon.

In his response, the minister wrote: "I support the recommendation to address roadside hunting/wildlife viewing conflict, and I would request that the board establish a small working group with the department to consider approaches that can assist with reducing conflicts and fulfilling our obligations to incorporate non-consumptive interests in wildlife management.”

Harvey Jessup, the chair of the management board, said this morning the board will be appointing members to sit on the working group at its meeting in June.

In recommending rejection of a corridor for the Atlin Road, the management board did not want to deal with an issue that affects more than just the Atlin Road, he said.

Jessup said if it had done so, for example, he wouldn't be surprised if the board was now asked to consider a similar no-hunting corridor for the Tagish Road, given last week's incident.

There are the same concerns for the Haines Road, and for parts of the Alaska Highway, he said.

"We want to look at the whole picture,” said Jessup. "It's not just bears. We have had people complain they were looking at a moose and the moose got shot.”

He also pointed out there are Yukoners who, for a variety of reasons, can only hunt from the roadside.

There is also the consideration of aboriginal hunting rights, he acknowledged.

A few years ago, the no-hunting corridor along the Dempster Highway was suspended after the Tr'ondek Hwech'in challenged the legality of the corridor for Tr'ondek Hwech'in hunters.

Back in the late 1980s, the Supreme Court of Canada said restrictions on the aboriginal right to hunt could only be applied where governments could show that a particular wildlife population was in danger, and conservation was required. The court also ruled restrictions could apply if there was an issue of public safety.

The Yukon government eventually suspended the Dempster no-hunting corridor after the Dawson City First Nation mounted its legal challenge.

The government stated it would be unsafe to have a no-hunting corridor for licensed hunters but not for aboriginal hunters.

Jessup said the aboriginal land claim settlements in the Yukon do allow for the management of wildlife for non-consumptive purposes.

There's no question, however, that establishing corridors to enhance wildlife viewing would require the full participation of the First Nations, he said.

Jessup pointed to the north Alaska Highway as a working example of a no-hunting corridor supported by the First Nations.

Under regulations, he said, licensed Yukon hunters cannot hunt along the highway from the Slims River to the Yukon-Alaska border.

And Environment Yukon staff are working with the Kluane and White River First Nations to seek voluntary compliance of the no-hunting corridor from First Nation citizens, Jessup noted.

See letter in today's Opinion section.