Photo by Vince Fedoroff
GOOD NEWS UNVEILED – Many, though not all, Yukon campgrounds will open early next month, it was announced Friday afternoon. Here, the closed Pine Lake Campground near Haines Junction is seen Saturday.
Opening date set for campgrounds
Many Yukon campgrounds are slated to open for the season on June 4 as one aspect of the territory’s plan for lifting COVID-19 restrictions.
Many Yukon campgrounds are slated to open for the season on June 4 as one aspect of the territory’s plan for lifting COVID-19 restrictions.
“We are in this together, and we know that Yukoners will use parks and campgrounds safely and respectfully this summer,” Premier Sandy Silver said Friday afternoon.
Campgrounds will be open for Yukoners only, Silver said.
Travellers moving through the territory will still be given the 24 hours mandated by the Civil Emergency Measures Act to pass through the Yukon as quickly as possible. People given permission to travel through will not be allowed to stop at campgrounds.
Silver said that typically, 50 per cent of campground traffic consists of Yukoners.
“We are concentrating on the use of those facilities for Yukoners only at this point,” Silver said.
Enforcement officers will be extending their duties to include campgrounds once they open.
There is still work to be done to ensure that campgrounds are a safe place before opening, the premier explained.
Campers will be expected to be diligent in practisting physical distancing, and only camp with members of their family unit or household.
Campers should plan to carry extra water for hand washing.
Not all campgrounds will be open on June 4, Silver said.
The Yukon government is working with municipalities and First Nations to plan what can open safely.
“It’s very important this work is done with community leaders so they feel empowered and safe,” Silver said.
The government is still not recommending non-essential travel into the Yukon’s rural communities.
Lifting these restrictions is being considered over the next two weeks.
See letter.
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Comments (33)
Up 2 Down 0
Labels on May 17, 2020 at 2:58 pm
Yup, calling others by a labelled name is fine as long as it’s “settlers” or “colonialists ” or whatever other flavour of the month name. Any other race or group seems to be able to scream bloody murder when they don’t like being labelled. But alas, we settlers or whatever just have to suck it up and take it, even though we had no part of what happened a century ago. Even if you're born in the Yukon it doesn’t matter as to your status. If your not First Nations or Métis, then you're a settler or colonialists. From what I’ve read here, there will never be just Yukoners.
Up 7 Down 2
Juniper Jackson on May 17, 2020 at 1:23 am
It serves no purpose what so ever when posters attack each other. I disagree all the time, but I manage to post my opinion, present my case as it were. I like to know what every one thinks, and why they think that way. Maybe I missed something that someone else has picked up on. But, what is this BS calling down others for an opinion? jeez
My opinion on this topic has not changed. Campgrounds should have been opened this month. Dr. Hanley has pushed the envelope too far and very few are paying attention to anything he is saying. So, now, the police, bylaw, can actually arrest you if they see you talking to someone and think you are not 6 feet away. No new cases in the Yukon in weeks. And we can't go camping? really? Cry wolf too many times on this, IF and when strain S (or is it L) hits us, people won't listen to you. Using force rarely works. Go ahead and arrest me. I have nothing but the teeth in my head, and they're cracked. Christopher Kirstofferson sings, Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose. If you put people out of work, forbid them activities for too much longer, there is going to be a lot of folks with nothing left to lose. What are you going to do then??? Have you seen the empty shelves at grocery stores? Some things being rationed now. How many shelves have to be empty before someone says, this has gone to far?
Up 2 Down 5
Let"snotgetexcitednow on May 16, 2020 at 1:54 pm
Obi I can feel your frustration, however you have to list an example. With an examples I might be able to help you understand the circumstance. You have got to understand that the UFA, FNFAs, FNSGAs, are living breathing documents. Out of the agreements come guidance on different situations and processes. In my experience, the blow ups occur when one party does not live up to their part of the bargain, which is usually YTG (especially when the cons are in power).
Up 7 Down 12
Jonathan Colby on May 16, 2020 at 7:24 am
Wow, Anie worked on the UFA, but is still a crackpot who gets offended by the term settler?
Something isn't adding up, and I call shenanigans. Sounds more like someone is boosting their own experience in order to act as an authority.
Up 5 Down 21
Jonathan Colby on May 16, 2020 at 7:19 am
Aw, is Ani mad bc she's a settler? If that term inflames you so much, I think it's fairly obvious you don't know its historical context, and also, may be ashamed of "settler" legacies and so don't want to be associated.
Tough beans, love. We are settlers, on stolen land. Best you come to terms with that
Up 2 Down 17
Youknowlittlereally on May 15, 2020 at 10:22 pm
OK fine, so you know the UFA, then why do you say silly things, like I am not a settler. Yes you are, your parents probably imigrated here, so u were born here, big deal. Settlers are all the same, been here a few years and think they own the place. They are indignent when compared to the real natives when it come to longevity in the Yukon, but are the first to point out to new comers that "I am a born and raised yukoner, so I matter more then you. Hiprocrites and u anie are at the top of the list. If anyone should be getting off their high horse!!
Up 17 Down 5
Obi on May 15, 2020 at 8:08 pm
Attn; Take your head out!
Do you know what is another crock?
When land claims were settled it was called , The umbrella FINAL agreement!
There has been nothing final about it....
Every time something new comes up, and indigenous people disagree with it, the FINAL agreement gets changed, by the powers that be, in order to secure a voting block of support.
Being equal, doesn’t mean, “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is mine.”
Up 27 Down 7
Anie on May 15, 2020 at 3:56 pm
Dear takeyourheadoutofthesand, god I get tired of the righteously indignant assuming they know so much. I have not only read the UFA, I worked with it from the beginning, during negotiations, as well as in the planning and actual implementation. I worked closely with both FN and Fed negotiators. There are sections of some chapters that I can still repeat word for word. So stop making absurd assumptions. The intent, and the final documents, establish clear and respectful areas of governance. Read the darn things instead of coming here to spout what you think they should say.
Up 7 Down 4
Itookalook on May 15, 2020 at 1:35 pm
@ M. Sills, Right on, you hit the nail on the head!
Up 11 Down 22
One One-Lesser-Voice on May 15, 2020 at 11:25 am
Atom hunting sheep with a quad should be illegal. Any reasonable hunter would tell you to not put tracks in alpine areas.
You should buy meat and leave the environment alone.
Up 17 Down 6
Joe on May 14, 2020 at 5:13 pm
@ GV....sparks out of mufflers? Grass on hot mufflers?.....haha as if .
Up 3 Down 6
Vladimir Poutine on May 14, 2020 at 4:49 pm
@SheepChaser I like your final sentence. Very appropiate
Up 29 Down 15
Matthew Sills on May 14, 2020 at 4:19 pm
In the rush to open (and I do support a controlled well planned opening), people have lost sight of the notion that being able to look back and say “nothing happened” is the hallmark of a successful pandemic campaign. I look around me and I do not see a community greatly affected by this. People are inconvenienced, but nobody is dying, being intubated, or hooked up to a ventilator. Be grateful for what you have and quit your bitching. The more I read about this virus, the more it scares me.
Up 7 Down 31
Takeyourheadoutofthesand on May 14, 2020 at 3:45 pm
Anie, take some time and read a final/self government agreement, there is stuff in there that is protected by the highest laws in the land. It will I am sure be enlightening for you.
Yes, we should all be equal! That is what I shoot for and we are a long ways off. The justice, health, education, economic development systems all reflect that sad reality. Hopefully we can work together on this so called equality u speak of.
Obi, yes we are all from somewhere, we just got here thousands of years before you. Read a final/sg agreement it will give you some idea of the things First Nations have entrenched in the highest laws of the land. All for equality, hopefully we can work towards that.
Up 32 Down 11
Atom on May 14, 2020 at 1:34 pm
A quad is just a horse you can forget about in your garage. A moose or sheep is food not unlike the stuff you buy in the store.
If folks want to walk in their backyard and bemoan atvs and hunting, that's awesome. I don't have to see them when I'm a long way into the bush....using roads and trails made by miners and lots of BNRs.
Give It A Rest. Thanks
Up 28 Down 15
BB on May 14, 2020 at 11:28 am
Hey Sheep Chaser, add a ban on trophy hunting to the top of your list of things that should be banned for a better world. Not sure if your passion for 'chasing' sheep extends to mounting their heads on your wall, or if you are motivated by being able to brag at the Safari Club or to post your big horns or not, but that sort of disrespect for non-human animals is a big thing that needs to go.
Up 12 Down 11
DMZ on May 13, 2020 at 10:36 pm
Not loving the xenophobia that's starting to run rampant here, with the government's blessing. Health concerns. Sure.
Up 73 Down 10
Obi on May 13, 2020 at 8:18 pm
“Settler label is BS”
I agree with Anie.
What a crock to label all non indigenous Yukoners “settlers”.
Everybody including our local natives came from somewhere else besides the Yukon.
It would be interesting to see how many prominent indigenous leaders, and families across the Yukon have some settler DNA flowing through their veins.
A Yukoner, is a Yukoner period. Get over it, and stop thinking that a quarter of our population has more right to this land just because a distant relative shot a Moose here years ago......
Up 48 Down 15
Anie on May 13, 2020 at 5:19 pm
And it's comments like Tookalook's that prompt me to say I pine for the day when all Canadians will be equal and move forward instead of continually whining about the actions of people long since dead.
Up 22 Down 39
Tookalook on May 13, 2020 at 4:15 pm
It is a comment like Anie's that leads me to say, it is my sincere hope that one day common sense, compassion, enlightenment can walk up and slap ignorance in the side of the head.
Up 44 Down 15
Yukoner ‘71 on May 13, 2020 at 1:27 pm
A bunch of people are sure eager to jump on the bandwagon of this virus being the excuse for the government to take control of everything. What in the H—- is going on here? We’re going to need a regime change, and stat!
Up 47 Down 5
Jim on May 13, 2020 at 8:20 am
@sheepchaser, none of the campgrounds should be closed. Why make people in communities drive even farther to go camping? The more campgrounds closed and with most likely 1/2 capacity it will be tough enough to find a site. But to drive farther just to find out it’s full makes no sense. So if people from Haines Jct. can’t go to pine lake, they head to Kusawa. People in Whitehorse heading north on the Alaska Highway end up at Kusawa. If there are no campgrounds people will make their own and with the dangers of wildfires do the communities really want to deal with that?
If the communities or First Nations are really concerned, then isolate their communities. Close them to highway traffic business or visiting. Most if not all campers are self contained. I doubt if there are any stopping in the communities with no restaurants or bars. Maybe the government should use some of their people who are being paid and not working to patrol the campgrounds. With 0 cases, your not going to be able to keep people home.
Up 29 Down 27
iBrian on May 13, 2020 at 6:09 am
Oh my.
I don’t support that. If a park is open, it’s open to the public. Why make our Resource officers and Conservation Officers seem like dicks imposing a “Local only” rule to our parks.
Screw this, I am going back to pre-Covid19.
Free Hugs for everyone
Up 21 Down 22
Bingo on May 12, 2020 at 8:49 pm
Ok I stand corrected whatever it’s still 3 days before ours AND we have ZERO cases, who's running this nonsense the World Health of Disorganization?
Up 17 Down 69
SheepChaser on May 12, 2020 at 6:28 pm
Reply to "GV on May 12, 2020 at 4:02 am":
If our politicians had any backbone or vision at all, this would be the last year of sales for fossil fuel powered off-road vehicles and recreational boat motors. Colloquially called Fart Rockets. They would be outright banned by 2030.
Just imagine how amazing the Yukon would be without the sound, smell, pollution and garbage of those things. Those hard-done-by soft round the middle types might have to actually walk somewhere. Crazy idea right?
Up 15 Down 39
One One-Lesser-Voice on May 12, 2020 at 5:37 pm
I think the government should consult with local First Nations and communities on issues such as campground openings.
They should also consult with a few associations that have a large number if people who use the outdoors. The campground opening date is more than a little too late.
The City of Whitehorse has great consultation but unfortunately they usually ignore the sincere input and go with what is a somewhat hidden agenda.
Up 62 Down 13
Anie on May 12, 2020 at 3:35 pm
Sheep Chaser, I was born here. Don't call me a "settler". This is my home as much as anyone else's.
Up 17 Down 76
SheepChaser on May 12, 2020 at 11:09 am
Campgrounds within 20km of any community should remain closed to those outside that community. Open rural campgrounds only.
Opening Pine Lake Campground, which the photo illustrates, will ensure the sustained interaction of humans and off-leash pets from both the local community using the day-use area and campers from elsewhere. Especially with the national parks all closed, it will be one of the only places to go near that community. To me, this is a preventable and obviously negligent hazard. Additionally, being on the Alaska Highway makes it an inviting, if illegitimate, stop on the way for Americans.
My observations this past week have elucidated how temporary the attention span of the average North American human really is. Self-enforced physical distancing has mostly fallen apart when away from public eyes and especially in the communities.
The folks making decisions at the ministerial level must account for the actions of the young, the stupid and the reckless. They themselves may be surrounded by conscientious people adhering to medical advise, but that is not the situation for most of us.
Hopefully, we'll see First Nations step up more on this issue. Those of us who are settlers really have no collective legal rights or mechanisms to push back against central government other than the electoral process which is designed to disenfranchise dissent. On the other hand, aboriginal governments have every right to control their territory and prevent others from bringing a disease that will disproportionately affect them to their communities once again.
The only way the human race survives capitalism is either through the evolution of the financial/status/power addicted into better humans (unlikely) or the assertion of the rights of aboriginal peoples. What a wonderful turning of the tables. Hopefully, aboriginal leaders understand their newfound power.
Up 45 Down 54
GV on May 12, 2020 at 4:02 am
YG needs to bar ATV use off-trail to prevent wildfires in this extremely dry spell. If people can't go out camping, then there will be more yahoos trying to make up for it on their toys out in the back country. The recent wildfire south east of Chadburn Lake could well have been started by one of these ATVs. They're known to start fires by spewing sparks out their tailpipes, or by dry grass contact on hot muffler.
Up 46 Down 3
BnR on May 11, 2020 at 7:11 pm
Bingo, BC campgrounds aren't opening until June 1st.
A simple search on The Google would set you straight.
Up 75 Down 13
KC on May 11, 2020 at 6:18 pm
Premier Silver - Can we not say things like "we are in this together". We are not in this together. We have Yukoners whose pandemic experience has been to be sent home with a laptop and a full pay cheque to work in their pajamas. We have other Yukoners who are trying to make ends meet on the CERB. Or who have had to close their businesses worrying how they are going to pay their creditors or their landlords. Or are trying to get some work done with a couple of kids at home because their customers or their boss expects it (and yes there are some YG employees who fall in this last camp). This impacts of this pandemic are NOT being felt evenly and it gets a little tiring to be continuously told to be patient with comms team vetted generalities. I mean if you aren't going to give us your plan at least speak candidly about what you are thinking and where we are going.
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One One-Lesser-Voice on May 11, 2020 at 4:54 pm
Yes, they should be open earlier.
How are they going to stop the alcohol fest at Snafu on the upcoming long weekend.
Screaming all night at the overflow camping area you have agree it's an annual ritual.
If Snafu is closed how can people drive their 4 by 4s up the hill so they can RIP up all the wildflowers?
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Bingo on May 11, 2020 at 4:22 pm
This is beyond ridiculous we have ZERO persons affected, BC campgrounds all open, Quebec back to school and in the Yukon where we enjoy the most space per capita than anywhere else, our park openings are closed till June...ridiculous. Just have a look see this coming weekend in the pull outs, side roads, pits, etc. Campers will be heading out and it’s a disgrace given our situation that we cannot enjoy this weekend in one of our campgrounds.