Premier Darrell Pasloski harshly condemned the Yukon Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's (CPAWS') work to protect wilderness areas in the territory during his 2013/2014-budget address Thursday.

It's a move the official NDP Opposition called "shocking.”

"Whatever the amount of land that the Yukon government protects in the Peel watershed region, it will never be enough to satisfy the demands of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society,” the premier told the legislature.

"CPAWS is not trying to save Yukon for Yukoners. It is trying to save Yukon from Yukoners,” he continued.

"Yukoners have to ask themselves if this is what they want.”

(See story below for CPAWS' reaction.)

"I guess we now know very, very clearly where this government stands on the Peel,” Liz Hanson, the leader of the NDP, told reporters Thursday, following the speech.

"This is a frontal attack, not only on the Peel watershed land use plan and the First Nations and Yukoners who've expressed their views on this, but largely it's a frontal attack on the environment.”

Sandy Silver, the interim leader of the Liberal party, also criticized Pasloski for his CPAWS attack, saying it has cheapened the office of the premier.

"This is a budget speech, and to use the budget speech to lash out at people that don't agree with your particular (plan for the) future of the Yukon, well, that's just really disheartening, and I thought it very odd for the premier to take that opportunity to throw that particular dart,” Silver said.

CPAWS Yukon is one of two Yukon partners in an international project to protect a 1.3-million-square-kilometre region stretching from Yellowstone National Park in Montana to the Peel watershed.

According to the premier, CPAWS' next "target for protection” includes the Wolf Lake ecosystem in south central Yukon.

"You can bet the bumper stickers are already prepared,” said the premier.

In case it wasn't clear already, "the Yukon Party, for the record, does not support the Y2Y initiative,” Pasloski told the house.

As he continued, the premier highlighted the need to find balance in the Peel plan, something he argues the Final Recommended Plan failed to achieve.

"The mineral wealth of the Peel watershed region could sustain the territory for generations to come,” he said.

"The size and value of the Crest ore deposit alone are astronomical.

"The estimated volume of iron ore in the conceptual pit, or just 15 per cent of the total estimated deposit, is 1.68 billion tonnes. Based on the five years average price of iron, this fraction of the deposit would have a market value of $139.7 billion.”

It would be "irresponsible” for the government to prevent development of these resources, he said.

"While we do not support the Y2Y projects or the CPAWS agenda of making the Peel region the northern anchor of Yellowstone to Yukon, we do support environmental protection and are committed to preserving Yukon's wilderness beauty,” the premier said.

Pasloski went on to highlight the use of Restricted Use Wilderness Areas in the government's four proposed Peel plan, and the ongoing development of a Yukon Water Strategy, which recently entered public consultation stages. He noted that 12.68 per cent of the territory's land is currently protected, second only to British Columbia.

"While Yukon's economic outlook is extremely positive, we must be cognizant that the percentage increase in our Territorial Formula Financing Agreement for subsequent years will be significantly lower than in recent years,” the premier said.

"Some of this funding pressure can be accommodated by increased revenues from the private sector due to Yukon's strong economy,” he continued.

Mining, oil and gas accounted for 23 per cent of the territory's 2011 GDP, he reminded MLAs.

Pasloski proceeded to highlight growth experienced in the mineral production and exploration fields since 2002.

"Mineral production in 2002 was sustained mainly by placer gold production, which was estimated at $25 million. In 2012, the value of mineral production is estimated to total about $450 million, up from $402 million in 2011,” he noted.

He then listed off a number of other figures to illustrate the economic contributions of the sector.

"Yukon has seen nearly $1.3 billion in exploration investment over the last 10 years,” he said.

"The decade of devolution has been good for Yukon,” Pasloski continued.

That was a reference to the territory's 10-year anniversary since the devolution agreement with Canada took effect April 1, 2003.