Public engagement on new lands legislation opens May 7, 2024

This news release has been updated to reflect accurate public meeting information. 

This is a joint news release between the Government of Yukon and Council of Yukon First Nations.

The Government of Yukon is developing a new Public Lands Act, a crucial step towards modernizing land management in the territory. In collaboration with First Nation partners, the government is seeking input from the public to shape this new legislation to ensure it reflects the values and interests of Yukoners.

This new legislation will provide a framework to better manage public land and public land-based activities in the territory. This includes backcountry camping, trail-building, permits and leases, and sale of land through tenders and lotteries to meet the needs of Yukon’s growing population.

It will balance the many interests for public land, respect Aboriginal and treaty rights, ensure collaboration with Indigenous governments, and provide a clear and efficient framework for authorizing and enforcing land use activities, all while promoting the ecological health and sustainability of the land.

This engagement follows the 2022–23 Public Lands Act consultation, where the public identified issues for inclusion in the new legislation. Now, the government seeks Yukoners' input on addressing those issues and interests.

These key topics of engagement are:

• Management of activities on the land: the rules that determine how people can use the land for activities that don't need a permit. Camping on public land (i.e., not in a campground) is an example of this type of activity.
• Permits and tenure: the rules for obtaining tenure to titled (private) land and the rules for administering leases, permits and licenses of occupation.  This includes the sale of public land by lotteries or tender which will include a targeted engagement.
• Compliance, monitoring and enforcement: how inspectors and enforcement officers monitor land use activities and enforce the rules.
• Land planning: considers the development and implementation of land use plans in the Yukon.
• Decisions: determining who makes decisions and how the decisions are made. This includes the involvement of Indigenous governments and the role of the public.

Yukoners are invited to participate by attending a public engagement session, emailing their perspectives to newlandsact@yukon.ca, or completing the New Lands Legislation survey through yukon.ca/engagements, May 7, until July 12, 2024