The Kwanlin Dun First Nation has been ordered to remove an illegal road block on its settlement land, the Star has learned.

Tom Beaudoin said he knew the roadblock was illegal when he ordered it earlier this month in his capacity as the First Nation's director of lands and resources.

But Kwanlin Dun is completely fed up with the filth, contamination and disrespect being shown an old gravel pit west of Whitehorse, Beaudoin said this morning.

The area has been turned into a favourite place to sight in rifles, blow up propane bottles, burn old vehicles and you name it.

He pointed out attempts to get a summer clean-up crew in there from the Department of Environment were rejected because the land – which is owned by Kwanlin Dun – is deemed contaminated with lead, and the crew didn't have the proper training.

Beaudoin said he made the decision to block the road out of total frustration.

The order to reopen the road came Thursday from the Yukon's Department of Highways and Public Works, Beaudoin said.

The bush road, he said, goes right by the pit and back a couple of kilometres to a lake. It then turns into more of an ATV trail, though it is described as a highway that divides a large block of land Kwanlin Dun selected in its land claim settlement.

Beaudoin said the First Nation has been told it could always build an alternate access road off the highway to avoid the pit and link up with the road further on.

Kwanlin Dun, he said, doesn't have tens of thousands of dollars to build an access road to what is essentially a bush trail, even if it is described in the land claim agreement as a highway.

In 2004, the Yukon Fish and Game Association and an army of volunteers cleaned up the site.

In a statement at the time, the association indicated the disregard and disrespect evident at the pit gives all shooters and hunters a bad name.

Photographs from the day show a gravel pit that was left spic-and-span when the last of the volunteers left.

Today, there are again thousands upon thousands of spent rifle and shotgun casings littering the area.

Bullet-riddled fridges and other shot-up appliances are strewn about, along with paint cans, propane bottles and a variety of other unusual targets.

A 1980s-vintage car that was set on fire looks as though it came from a Bruce Willis Die Hard movie.

But the site is no laughing matter for Kwanlin Dun, Beaudoin insisted.

"I think it was just out of total frustration,” the director of lands said of the four loads of dirt trucked in and dumped about 50 metres up from the Alaska Highway to block off access.

"The Ibex council has expressed concernes about it too .... I am sure if we had an environmental assessment, it would be deemed a contaminated site.”

Beaudoin said the First Nation has erected signs indicating the land is owned by Kwanlin Dun, just as it does to remind wood cutters and other parties where Kwanlin Dun is land located.

Almost without fail, he said, the signs get torn down or shot down, just like the sign the was placed at the road block on Sept. 8.

The four-inch diametre tree holding the sign was blown in two by a shotgun, with the tree behind it hit still embedded with stray shot. The sign itself has a couple of gaping holes, with scatter-shot surrounding them.

Coun. Tracey Andrew of the Hamlet of Ibex Valley said the hamlet is also very concerned about what has become an ugly mess and an unsafe sight where people go to party and shoot up things.

It's also unsafe because of the level of contamination there, she said.

"It is just disgusting, and people really do not need to do that,” Andrew said.

The hamlet has been hoping to join in with Kwanlin Dun to try to clean it up. "There are propane bottles, and fridges and stoves, and definitely we want to try and get in there and clean it up.”

She said there's a regular shooting range nearby, and she just doesn't understand why people don't use it.

Beaudoin said the land is privately owned land, just like any privately owned land in the Yukon, and it should be respected as such, out of common courtesy.

Government spokeswoman Kendra Black said the contractor who delivered the dirt to block the road was sent a letter on Wednesday indicating the dirt had to be removed, and the surface returned to its previous state.

She said the government did not receive any complaints, but rather the blocked road was noticed by highways staff driving by.

By Chuck Tobin

Star Reporter