More than 10,000 people voiced their opinions during the latest round of public consultations regarding the future of the Peel River watershed.

Premier Darrell Pasloski thanks all who participated, but says he will be paying more attention to the opinions of Yukoners when it comes to making a final decision.

"I think we have to listen carefully to people that live in the Yukon,” the premier told the Star Wednesday afternoon.

"I think that when a Yukoner gives me a comment about land or land use planning in the Yukon, that has more weight than someone who lives in Hong Kong.

"And quite frankly, we were elected by Yukoners to make decisions on behalf of Yukoners.”

According to statistics made public Wednesday, 2,127 individual submissions were received. They include communication email, fax, standard mail and the online feedback form.

Of those, 82 per cent — or 1,747 submissions — came from the Yukon.

The government's statistics categorize things like petitions, form letters and postcard campaigns separately.

Those numbers show that 8,048 signatures were collected.

Those include:

• 5,058 from a Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) petition;

• 1,729 from a petition by the Yukon Conservation Society (YCS) and Big Wild; and

• 299 signatures from a postcard campaign led by the Yukon Chamber of Mines.

Of the 299 postcards as part of the chamber's campaign, 78.5 per cent came from the Yukon. That works out to about 235 postcards.

Of the 5,058 signatures on the CPAWS petition, 6.9 per cent originated from the Yukon. That's about 349 people.

On the YCS petition, 2.5 per cent of the signatures were from the territory — about 43 people.

In the total 8,048 signatures, 1,034 came from the Yukon — 12.8 per cent.

Combining everything together, 27.3 per cent of the signatures and other submissions came from the territory.

The release of the participation statistics will be followed by the posting of public comments on the government's consultation website as well as a What We Heard document, summarizing the comments received, the government says.

Pasloski did not provide a timeline for when the document will be available or when a final decision regarding the Peel's future will be made. The government is still consulting with affected First Nations leaders, he said.

Gill Cracknell, CPAWS Yukon's executive director, called the turnout "tremendous,” adding she is waiting for the more detailed report on the comments.

"I think that all the opinions should be considered,” she said.

"I think that people in the Yukon have an important say. I think the communities have spoken; we saw that in the newspapers,” Cracknell said.

"When we see how these figures fall out in terms of people's support, that will be the time to see what the real support for the commission's plan is.”

Cracknell pointed out that under the Umbrella land claim's Umbrella Final Agreement, regional land use planning commissions are required to "promote the well-being of Yukon Indian people, other residents of the planning region, the communities, and the Yukon as a whole, while having regard to the interests of other Canadians.”

"It is important to consider Canadians as whole,” she said.

In 2011, the Peel Watershed Planning Commission recommended some form of protection for 80 per cent of the Peel (55 per cent complete protection and 25 per cent interim protection).

The government has the ability to accept, reject or modify the plan.

NDP environment critic Kate White said Wednesday she believes "the number game is irrelevant.

"The Yukon government went into a relationship with First Nations about land use planning, and all governments put forward people to be on this land use planning commission. The planning commission came up with their final recommended plan,” she said.

"For me, the real point is whether they will respect that relationship and accept the plan the way it was written.”

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