Outdoor recreation and wildlife

The Southern Lakes caribou of southern Yukon and northwestern British Columbia have been under recovery efforts since 1993. Since then, the population has grown slowly but steadily.

The Government of Yukon is supporting the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board’s (YFWMB) public engagement on the draft 2022 Conservation and Action Plan for the Aishihik Bison Population.

The new management plan seeks a better balance between bison control and harvest as well as managing the impacts of bison hunters on people, other wildlife, and the land. It also provides interim bison harvest guidelines.

The YFWMB wants your feedback about how well the management plan outlines opportunities for continued sustainable harvest and addressing concerns about impacts.

In 2020, the Government of Yukon released the Yukon Parks Strategy which included modernizing regulations under the Parks and Land Certainty Act as one of the 10 priorities in the Strategy.

Regulations for the over 50 road-accessible campgrounds and day-use recreation sites and 8 territorial parks in the territory have not been updated since 2000.

There is currently no framework in place to guide the management of activities in wetlands across Yukon. This has created uncertainty for land managers, industry, and project assessors when dealing with development in wetlands.

A tri-government Steering Committee (Carcross/Tagish First Nation, the Government of Canada and the Government of Yukon) has invested over five years working together with the Carcross/Tagish Renewable Resources Council, the Tagish Local Advisory Council and the Tagish River community to recommend a draft management plan, including seven key areas of recommendation. They now invite the public to learn about the draft plan and recommendations to sustain this area, as laid out in the Carcross/Tagish First Nation Final Agreement.

At the September 2018 Yukon Forum meeting, the decision was made to review the fish and wildlife management instruments established in Chapter 16 of Yukon First Nations’ Final Agreements. This review of the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board and Yukon Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Trust is a result of this direction. Other instruments, such as the Salmon Subcommittee and Renewable Resources Councils, may be reviewed at a later date, pending outcomes of this first review.  

The Government of Yukon is proposing to change the Regulation in the Parks and Land Certainty Act to limit the time campsites may be left unoccupied, and to increase the fine for not adhering to this rule.

The Government of Yukon and the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board are asking Yukoners to complete a survey about grizzly bear conservation and management. 

The Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Management Plan sets long-standing priorities and new considerations for park operations at Herschel Island-Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park.

The plan is currently being reviewed by a joint committee representing Yukon government and Inuvialuit organizations.

Help us chart the future of Yukon’s territorial parks. The Government of Yukon has developed a Draft Yukon parks strategy to set the direction for Yukon’s system of territorial parks for the next 10 years. The strategy is about the full range of territorial parks, including wilderness preserves like Ni’iinlii Njik (Fishing Branch), natural environment parks like Tombstone, and recreation parks like Wolf Creek campground.