The moratorium on staking mineral claims and oil and gas leases inside the Peel River watershed has been extended again, the government announced today.

The moratorium was scheduled to expire Sept. 4, but has been extended to May 4, 2013.

It's the third extension of the moratorium since it was first implemented in February 2010.

Environment Minister Currie Dixon said in an interview this morning it's the government's intent to have a finalized land use plan for the Peel region in place before the latest extension expires in eight months.

It's never been the government's desire to have the moratorium go on forever, he told the Star.

Dixon said the government intends to table its vision of the land use plan for a final round of public consultation this fall.

"We would like to see a land use plan in place before we have that extension expire.”

In addition to the freeze on staking, the government has also implemented a moratorium on the collection of annual fees and assessment work required to keep mineral claims in good standing. The moratorium on fees is scheduled to expire Feb. 4, 2013.

The huge debate over the future of the Peel River watershed has been passionate and divisive.

The government has rejected the land use plan recommended by the Peel planning commission, which called for maximum wilderness protection over 80 per cent of the 68,042 square kilometres.

In its own eight guiding principles released last February, the government indicated its vision of the Peel included a "more balanced” approach to wilderness protection and economic development opportunities.

The four First Nations whose traditional territories runs through the watershed have called for maximum protection.

They've indicated that by accepting protection of the 80 per cent recommended by the planning commission, they were already making a major concession. Anything less, they said, would be unacceptable.

The First Nations responded swiftly and angrily last February when the government released its guiding principles to planning in the Peel. One chief said he felt stabbed in the back.

The First Nations say the government's approach is a breach of the spirit and intent of the aboriginal land claim settlements in the Yukon, which created the regional land use planning process.

Under the terms of the settlements, the Yukon government has the final say over land use planning on territorial Crown land, and First Nations have the final word on settlement lands.

Approximately 97 per of the Peel planning area is territorial Crown land.

Dixon said his government has been working internally to develop a land use proposal that will include a range of options and tools.

The next step is to convene a meeting of the committee of senior representatives from the Yukon and First Nation governments to set dates and plan a strategy for this fall's round of public consultation, said Dixon.

The moratorium on staking was implemented to prevent the creation of any further third-party interests while a land use plan was being developed.

The mining community subsequently called for a moratorium on fees, arguing the freeze on staking created uncertainty among investors, which cut into exploration companies' ability to raise financing.

There are 8,428 existing minerals claim inside the planning area.

The fee to keep a claim in good standing is $100 annually, or the equivalent in spending on exploration work.