Peel protection returns to centre stage

The last battle in the long struggle to protect northern Canada’s Peel watershed is officially underway.

And by all accounts it looks like it's going to be one heck of a fight.

First Nations, conservation and tourism groups and much of the public want the Yukon government to accept the final recommended Peel land use plan.

Seven years and $1.5 million in the making, the independent planning commission concluded that 80 per cent of the Peel River region be protected from roads and other new industrial development.

But the government disagrees.

It recently cooked up its own plan, behind closed doors, that provides virtually zero protection.

First Nations say this approach is illegal, but the government doesn't seem to care if the territory gets tied up in a lengthy court dispute over land claims.

Now it's the public's turn to weigh in.

Between now and Feb. 25, the government is accepting written comments and also holding a series of community meetings in the Yukon and Northwest Territories.

It expects to make a final decision on the Peel by May 4. That's when the current ban on new mineral claim staking and oil/gas/coal dispositions expires.

In the upcoming weeks and months, this site will carry news, views and other scintillating snippets from the frontlines including:

• Complete community meeting coverage
• Consultation updates and related happenings
• Analysis and opinion  
• Backgrounders on the Peel, the plan and the players
• Excerpts from the political arenas
• Features on the Peel's mining and oil/gas/coal companies
• Related stories and links from other media outlets

Comments, questions and suggestions from readers are most welcome. Peel Watershed Dispatches is also on Twitter @peelwatershed.