The Yukon Outfitters Association is expressing its disappointment with last week's Yukon Supreme Court ruling which upheld the 2002 revocation of Klaas Heynen's hunting concession.

'It just doesn't seem right,' association president Alan Young said in an interview this morning.

Heynen had operated as an outfitter for 30 years and was the owner of Kusawa Outfitters. He first had his outfitting certificate suspended in 1999 when he was facing 21 charges under the Wildlife Act. He was eventually convicted of about half those charges.

Visiting Justice Harvey Groberman handed down his decision last week after listening to two days of arguments by lawyers for the Yukon government and Heynen.

Groberman found a cabinet minister can revoke a concession without compensation if there are convictions under the Wildlife Act. He ruled that then-Renewable Resources minister Dale Eftoda did not err in what he considered in making the decision to revoke the concession.

The judge, however, did find Heynen took too long in bringing the matter to court.

While the outfitters association doesn't support any breaches of the Wildlife Act, Young stressed the punishment didn't suit the crime.

He compared it to a person convicted of drunk driving having his or her licence and vehicle taken away.

Although a licence may be revoked, a person's vehicle would not be taken from him or her for good.

It's almost like a person being sent to jail for 20 years for a first drunk driving conviction after 40 years of driving, he said.

Even if the breaches warranted that Heynen not be allowed to guide, he should have been permitted to sell his concession, Young suggested.

In other industries, he pointed out, those who break the rules aren't forced out of their means of making a living.

'They don't take the guy's livelihood,' he said. 'You don't strip anyone of their mining claim.'

In addition to the minister revoking his concession, one of 18 hunting areas in the Yukon, Heynen was ordered by the court to pay numerous fines.

Everything Heynen has worked for in his more than 30 years of outfitting has been stripped, Young said, noting such concessions can be worth millions of dollars.

Young was quick to point out the loss for the territory with a concession not operating for about eight years.

It's estimated that the territory's outfitters bring in about $15 million to the territory each year.

'It's big business,' Young said.

Now, however, with one fewer concession, there are fewer hunters coming into the Yukon and spending their money here at local hotels, restaurants and other spots they may visit when they're not off on their hunt.

'It adds up,' he said.

Outfitters also contribute meat to local first nations and hospitals, donate to charities, sponsor sports teams and are helping to promote the Yukon all over the world, he said.

'It's sustainable, it's renewable,' Young said of outfitting, pointing out the industry is more than a century old in the territory.