A proposed 37- kilometre all-season road into the Red Mountain mineral deposit in southeast Yukon has been recommended for approval.

Tintina Mines Ltd. applied last year to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) for a review of its proposal.

The board's Teslin office issued its decision last Friday.

While recommending approval, the assessment office also put forward a lengthy list of measures it says the company should undertake to minimize the road's environmental impact.

The YESAB is also recommending the company post enough security prior to construction to cover the cost of decommissioning the road and removing the bridges that would be required.

The Red Mountain molybdenum deposit is located between Quiet Lake and the Teslin River.

Most of the submissions to the assessment office expressed concerns over the road proposal, if not outright opposition.

General comments suggested the road would create access to an area that is otherwise largely inaccessible by vehicle.

It was suggested in many submissions that expanding access would therefore increase pressure on wildlife and its habitat.

It's somewhat questionable to trade a wilderness which is virtually unspoiled for a road into a mineral deposit that is still in the exploration phase, and which has not yet been proven as economically viable, it was suggested in submissions.

Tintina Mines president Juan Rassmuss is in the mountains of Chile, and therefore unavailable to comment on the company's schedule to carry through with road construction.

Karl Battmann, an environmental officer for the Teslin Tlingit Council, said the council is still reviewing the 125-page recommendation.

"We are looking at it very seriously," he said. "It is important.

"This could have a serious impact on a number of our values, most importantly our caribou and moose."

The council was one of the parties questioning the wisdom of allowing a wilderness road for a project in the exploration phase.

It has also requested the application be bumped up a level, to the assessment board's executive council, which would result in broader scrutiny of the proposal.

Last Friday's recommendation has been forwarded to the Yukon government and Transport Canada for a final decision.

The Yukon government is a decision body because the road would cross through territorial Crown land. Transport Canada is a decision body because of the company's requirements to satisfy the federal Navigable Waters Protection Act.

Among scores of measures the assessment office is recommending to mitigate the impact of the road is strict control over access to the road, including a staffed monitoring station at one of three locked gates.

In its project proposal, Tintina is suggesting the road would be used during three seasons - spring, summer and fall - beginning this year.

The company has indicated it will approaching the Yukon government to extend maintenance of the South Canol Road into November.

It is proposing to follow the old Amoco Trail, a route used primarily as a winter-haul road during the 1970s and '80s, to support work at Red Mountain.

The 59-kilometre stretch Tintina Mines is proposing includes the 16.5 kilometres of frequently-used road into the confluence of the Sidney and Iron creeks.

The new road would require bridge-like structures at three crossings, as the original Amoco Trail was for winter use.

Lewis Rifkind of the Yukon Conservation Society said earlier this week the society is disappointed in the recommendation out of the YESAB's Teslin office.

Rifkind said the society realizes the assessment research must weigh many factors and submissions.

In the end, however, there would be another road opening up access to a significant tract of wilderness, he said.

And once you have a road, it's impossible to get rid of, Rifkind said.

"Once you have access, a lot of projects become viable."