An outfitter who built four cabins next to the Bonnet Plume River was told by a government official early last spring that occupation of the site was unlawful, say court documents.

Sworn statements by three Yukon government employees were filed Tuesday afternoon in Yukon Supreme Court. They are part of an application to have the buildings vacated by Bonnet Plume Outfitters and destroyed by the territorial Department of Energy, Mines and Resources.

Chris and Sharron McKinnon, who took ownership of the big game hunting concession in November 2004, have indicated they feel they have done nothing wrong.

They maintain in written correspondence sent to the government last Thursday that they continued to build the two-storey cook shack last July after a government visit to the site because they felt assured everything was OK.

The court documents, however, indicate the opposite.

Earlier this month, the Yukon government sent the McKinnons a notice indicating they had to provide proof of authority to use Copper Point, or face legal action.

After the couple responded Thursday, the Department of Justice indicated the response did not provide sufficient evidence, and legal action to have the buildings removed was commenced Tuesday.

Glenn Sorenson, a senior resource officer at the government's Mayo office, said in his written statement during his visit to the site last July 30 that he told the McKinnons their occupation of the site was unlawful.

Sorenson's statement also indicates Bonnet Plume Outfitters were told in the first week of April by another government officer that it needed to clear up the issue of its unauthorized use of Copper Point.

Photos taken during the July 30 visit, which are filed with the court, show a cook shack under construction, with the four walls standing up, the two gable ends in place, but no roof trusses, nor any windows or doors in place.

The McKinnons maintain they were assured in mid-July by Bryony McIntyre of the territorial lands branch that if they built the cook shack, it could be grandfathered into the new policy to provide land tenure to outfitters.

It was that message the McKinnons conveyed to Sorenson when he asked what authority they had to construct the cook shack.

McIntyre maintains in her statement to the court that when she met with the McKinnons last July 17 in Whitehorse, she was told the previous owners of the hunting concession had already established a camp at Copper Point.

The McKinnons told her they were planning to use the wood in the back of their pickup truck sitting outside to construct a cook shack at the existing campsite.

'I stated to the McKinnons that based on my knowledge of the Big Game Outfitter Policy, and the facts as represented, the lands branch could and would not authorize the construction of the cook shack, nor would it accept an application for it,' reads McIntyre sworn statement to the court.

She said in the statement that she advised the McKinnons that if they were planning to proceed with construction, the building may qualify under the new policy as part of the overall campsite, but not as a new, stand-alone building.

(The new outfitter policy is intended to provide outfitters with a land-lease arrangement or a licence to occupy campsites that existed prior to April 1, 2003. That is the date federal authority over land and resources in the territory was transferred from Ottawa to the Yukon government.)

McIntyre's statement says she also advised the McKinnons to get a building permit before proceeding for insurance purposes, and to write the Mayo natural resource district office to notify it of their intentions.

Court documents indicate the Mayo office has received nothing to date.

Sorenson also points out in his statement that as a natural resource officer with almost eight years' experience in the district, he was quite familiar with the lay of the land.

Prior to 2005, Bonnet Plume Outfitters had its base camp out of Rapitan Lake, along with other cabins and an airstrip, says his statement.

The business had another camp with a cabin at the north end of Fairchild Lake, and a cabin on the south shore of Fairchild Lake.

Bonnet Plume maintained a spike camp tent camp at Copper Point, but the company had no structures there prior to 2005, says Sorenson's sworn statement to the court.

He says in his statement when he landed at Copper Point last July 30, he noted three square-log cabins measuring 20 feet by 12 feet each, a high cache on top of a shed measuring 7.7 feet by six feet, an outhouse, and a cook cabin under construction.

'I informed them they were occupying the site without lawful authority,' says the statement. It also indicates Sorenson told the McKinnons they could not occupy the site without legal authority.

Photographs taken later in the summer show the cook shack with a roof finished in aluminum sheeting, and extended over a deck area on the front and back, with some windows in, and some not.

Evidence contained in the three sworn statements indicates the government was first notified last February by a mineral exploration company that core boxes stored at Copper Point had been destroyed and used in the construction of three cabins.

Pictures before the court show samples of drill core broken up and used as walkways to the cabins.

Documents indicate Fronteer Development Group of Vancouver asked the lands branch last April if it was planning to do anything about the destroyed core boxes. It was informed the department didn't have any authority to take action, and that it was probably a civil matter.

Energy, Mines and Resources informed Sorenson of the situation, and suggested there may an issue with Bonnet Plume Outfitters and land tenure at the Copper Point site, the court documents indicate.

Sorenson says he checked for and found no evidence granting Bonnet Plume any form of tenure at Copper Point. He also says in his written statement that he was told by natural resource officer William Leary, who also works in the Mayo district office, that Leary spoke with Chris McKinnon last April 5. McKinnon, Leary told Sorenson, admitted to using the core boxes for the construction of the cabins, say the court documents.

'Mr. Leary indicated he then advised Mr. McKinnon to contact the lands branch to deal with the unauthorized occupancy,' says Sorenson's sworn statement to the court.

The McKinnons, based in Calling Lake, Alta., have indicated they will no longer be commenting publicly, but rather will deal with the matter through the legal process.

They've maintained all along they believed they were doing nothing wrong, and that they only want to run a successful outfitting business that will also benefit the Yukon economy.

Moving their campsite to Copper Point was necessary to improve airstrip safety conditions, as there are concerns with the existing strip at Rapitan Lake, the couple states in their letter to the Yukon government last Thursday.

Relocating to Copper Point would also increase the efficiency of air travel for the business, they said.

Environmentally, the McKinnons point out in their letter, it made sense to move to Copper Point and use the existing air strip rather than apply for construction of a new strip.

Both the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun and the Wilderness Tourism Association of the Yukon had expressed concerns regarding what they believe is the unauthorized construction of buildings beside a Canadian Heritage River.

As a heritage river, the wilderness association points out in a letter to the Yukon government, there is a responsibility to treat the watershed with a higher duty of care.