Forestry
Our vision for the Yukon's forests includes:
- Fair and transparent community-based planning.
- Conservation-first forest planning at all levels of planning from the regional landscape to the harvest block.
- Encouragement and protection of our local forest-based industries, contributing to sustainable long term economic health.
- Ecosystem-based forestry practices in the 'working forest'.
There is currently very little logging in the Yukon for lumber or value added products – most of the Yukon’s logging is for firewood. Most of this is in fire or beetle kill areas. However in the past there has been a lot of pressure to have a major logging industry in the SE Yukon. A number of Timber Harvest Plans are being developed in the Dawson, SW Yukon and Southern Lakes areas. YCS responds to these to try to help preserve wildlife habitat.
Forest Resources Act
The Forest Resources Act that was passed in the legislature in Fall 2008 is the Yukon's first forest legislation. Because we do not have a large scale forestry industry in the Yukon, the development of this Act was an opportunity to have the most culturally and ecologically sound legislation in North America.
YCS worked with the Yukon Forest Values Focus Group to focus traditional, economic, social, and ecological expertise on ensuring that the new act would protect all forest values. The group did an extraordinary job of informing the Yukon public, land claims bodies and First Nations about the draft legislation, to enable effective input into it. Some improvements to the legislation were achieved, but important recommendations from YCS, the Focus Group, First Nations and stakeholders were not incorporated.
The Forest Resources Act that has been tabled in the legislature does not entrench First Nations rights. It also allows the government to unilaterally change or cancel community-based forest management plans and set the annual allowable cut in parts of the Yukon that don't have plans. It puts no ceiling on large forestry licenses for regular timber or biofuels, and it is silent on raw log exports. The act is 'enabling' legislation, with the details about how our forest will be managed left to the regulations.
The Yukon government intends to consult on the regulations early in 2009. This is a vitally important opportunity for Yukon people to let government know how they want their forests managed. The regulations could put in place the kind of large scale clear cutting and the boom and bust economics that have destroyed ecosystems and communities in southern Canada. Or they could ensure a type and scale of industry that provides long term livelihoods for local people, while maintaining the wildlife and lifestyles that make the Yukon unique. Now is the time to let the Yukon government hear your vision for Yukon forests.
YCS Editorial regarding proposed Draft Forestry Resource Act Regulations - published in May 13, 2009 Yukon News
YCS Letter to the Editor on Yukon Forest Resources Act - published in June Yukon News
Forest Planning
As much as 80% of the Yukon's commercially viable forest is in the Kaska Traditional Territory in the southeast Yukon. YCS helped the Kaska First Nations negotiate a 2002 Memorandum of Understanding that created an arms length planning body called the Kaska Forest Resources Stewardship Council (KFRSC). The Council produced a draft regional forest management plan that recommends protecting 35% of the 110,000 km2 Kaska Traditional Territory from logging.
However the draft plan does not provide details about how the 'working forest' of the Kaska Traditional Territory will be managed. To protect the ecological and cultural health of the forest, the 'working forest' needs to include connected networks of protected areas at all scales, and logging of a type and scale that protects ecosystems. YCS will continue to provide our expertise to help ensure that the final plan does this.
