The Yukon government is again extending the moratorium on staking minerals claims in the Peel watershed to pave the way for implementation of the regional land use plan.

The moratorium will be extended to April 1, 2020.

Jerome McIntyre, the director of land planning for the Yukon government, explained earlier this month the intent is to have the necessary orders-in-council for permanent withdrawal of mineral staking in place by April 1.

It’s also the intent to have guidelines ready by then to help the exploration and mining industry understand the higher standards that will come with implementation of the land use plan, he explained.

The long-awaited and controversial plan was officially signed off at a ceremony last Aug. 22.

It calls for wilderness protection of over 83 per cent of the planning region, with economic development opportunities provided in the remaining 17 per cent comprised of four specific areas next to or close to the Dempster Highway.

Fifty-five per cent of the wilderness protection area is under permanent protection. The remaining 28 per cent is subject to review periodically, with the first review scheduled for 2029.

Along with wilderness protection comes a ban on all new surface access such as new roads or rail links.

Wilderness protection over most of the region was sought by the four affected First Nations and two local environmental organizations when the planning process went public in 2009.

More economic development opportunities were sought by the former Yukon Party government with support from the exploration and mining industry.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the First Nations in December 2017. Work to conduct a final round of public consultation to wrap up the land use plan began in 2018.

The first moratorium on staking claims went into effect on Feb. 4, 2010, along with a moratorium on the annual fee or assessment work companies were required to perform to keep their claims in good standing. The relief from assessment work will remain in place until Jan. 1, 2021, McIntyre said.

He explained the implementation committee appointed after the signing ceremony is prioritizing the 27 recommendations contained in the land use plan.

The plan provides recommendations that apply to most of the 67,431 square kilometres that make up the Peel planning region.

Some of them are specific to one or more of the 16 individual land management units established in the plan.

There is, for instance, a recommendation to prohibit any further development of airstrips inside the wilderness protection area, otherwise known as the conservation area.

While the plan allows for continued use of existing airstrips, it recommends an air access management plan be developed in the portion of the conservation area that includes the watersheds of the Wind, Bonnet Plume and Snake rivers.

For the same three watersheds, the plan recommends developing a tourism management plan to determine how much tourism and recreational activity the area can handle.

It should also include a policy to guide the use of land by the commercial wilderness tourism industry.

There is a recommendation to restrict the use of off-road vehicles in much of the planning region, with some exceptions such as for subsistence hunting and limited use by the big game outfitting industry.

The plan recommends withdrawing the Wind River Trail as a recognized route under the Yukon’s Highways Act.

In keeping with the permanent prohibition on staking claims, the plan recommends that oil and gas leases no longer be issued inside the conservation area.

It recommends for the four areas where development will be allowed a ceiling be established on how much activity can occur at one time, and that the level of activity be managed below that ceiling.

McIntyre said it’s expected that the committee will have sorted out the order of priority for the 27 recommendations by April 1, though implementation will take time.

Withdrawing the Wind River Trail as a recognized route, for instance, won’t happen overnight as it requires a certain amount of work to prepare the order-in-council for consideration by the premier and his cabinet, he said.

“In a general sense, the plan implementation committee was set up essentially right after the plan was accepted in August,” McIntyre said.

“They have been working on the implementation plan, drilling down to what does this implementation item really mean, who is going to be the lead on it and who is going to be involved in it?”

He said the committee will look at time lines to sort out which are sensitive to time and which are less sensitive.

“One of the things we are going to do is to work on what we are going to do first, what the parties see as the biggest priorities.”

The Yukon Chamber of Mines maintains there is still a matter of financial compensation for those who hold mineral claims in the Peel planning region.

The chamber maintains with the prohibition on surface access through 83 per cent of the region, many claims have been rendered worthless, have been expropriated.

“There is the whole question of compensation for claim holders,” Mike Burke, past president of the chamber, said earlier this month.

Premier Sandy Silver has said he is not contemplating compensation.

A handful of companies the Star has spoken with over the months and years have indicated they will pursue legal action if they don’t receive compensation.

There are currently 8,380 mineral claims in the Peel region which are in good standing, along with 525 iron-mica claims and seven coal licences.

From the day the government withdrew the Peel from claim staking in 2010, it has emphasized companies and individuals are still able to conduct exploration work on their claims.

But the industry has indicated if you can’t move the product because of no access, there’s no point looking for it.

The likelihood of even being able to raise money to continue exploration under such circumstances would be next to nil, the industry has indicated.