Yukon Public Lands Act

We’re creating a new Yukon Public Lands Act to replace the existing lands legislation. Our goal is to develop a modern Act that provides a cohesive approach to land management in the Yukon.

We’re interested in hearing how you use public land and how a new Act could support:

• recreation, such as:
  • cabins;
  • camping;
  • off-road vehicle use;
  • bicycling;
  • backcountry hiking; and
  • other outdoor recreation.
• residential development;
• commercial activities, such as:
  • resource activities;
  • wilderness tourism; and
  • gravel quarries.
• heritage protection;
• environmental protection;
• renewable energy;
• future land access and use; and
• cooperative land management with First Nations.

How we got here

Yukon is over 482,000 square kilometres. Much of this is public land or First Nation settlement land. Only 0.06 per cent of Yukon land is under private title.

Since devolution in 2003, we’ve been responsible for administering two separate legislative regimes for two sets of public lands. The two acts have not been extensively reviewed since the 1980s.

Modernizing our legislation is necessary to streamline and enhance land management processes and long-term planning through one piece of legislation. Our current legislation does not recognize Yukon First Nation’s Final Agreements or contain provisions that support land claim and self-government implementation.