Department of Environment Spatial Data
Administrative Boundaries
These datasets are administrative units created by the Department of Environment and are used in the management of Yukon's wildlife. The data are in the ESRI Shapefile format. which are in turn compressed into a Zip archive. Specialized GIS software is needed to view shapefiles, e.g. ArcView and ArcInfo.
Game Management (Hunting) Areas
Game Management Areas (GMAs) are legal boundaries that define an area within
which big game management objectives can be met through the setting of area
specific regulations. In other words, GMAs are used to manage Yukon wildlife
species. GMAs are a combination of Game Management Zone (GMZ or Zone) and
Game Management Subzone (GMS or Subzone). There are 443 GMAs in the Yukon
which are grouped together into 11 Zones. In general, Zone boundaries follow
highway centrelines and Subzone boundaries follow creeks and rivers. In
effect, GMAs delineate mountain blocks, which reflects their original use
as sheep management units. Despite this original intent, GMAs are now used
to manage all species of Yukon wildlife. With the exception of National
Parks, the entire Yukon is covered by GMAs. GMAs are legally defined by
the 1:250,000 scale map series: reg97041.
Download: 1:250,000 ENV_Hunting.zip (6.9mb)
Outfitter Concessions
Outfitter
Concessions (OCs) which are also known as Outfitting Areas, are legal boundaries
that define an area where the holder of the concession has the exclusive
right to outfit non-residents for the purpose of hunting big game animals
(excepting special guiding licenses). If a non-resident wishes to hunt
in the Yukon they must do so accompanied by a Yukon resident--either a private
individual who does this for free, or a commercial operator who does this
as a business(an outfitter). Each outfitter is licensed to operate within
a particular OA. There are 20 such concessions in the Yukon--one per licensed
outfitter. OAs are largely (but not always) defined by groupings of Game
Management Areas. There are several areas within the Yukon (exclusive of
National Parks) which are not covered by OAs. OAs are legally defined by
the 1:250,000 scale map series: reg97040.
Download: 1:250,000 ENV_Outfitting.zip (0.9mb)
Registered Trapping Concessions
Registered
Trapping Concessions (RTCs) are legal boundaries that define an area where
the holder of the concession has the exclusive right to trap furbearing
animals. Because trapping is done primarily along waterways, RTCs are often
defined by watersheds, using height of land (ridges and mountain peaks)
as their boundaries. This is the opposite of GMAs which are defined by mountains.
Sometimes RTCs are grouped together to form a Group Trapping Concession
(in which groups of individual share the right to trap). This may or may
not involve the elimination of the component RTC boundaries. The Yukon has
360 RTCs and 13 Group Trapping Concessions. Only Kluane National Park, Kluane
Wildlife Sanctuary, and Ddhaw Gro Habitat Protection are are not covered
by RTCs. RTCs are legally defined by the 1:250,000 scale map series: reg97039.
Download: 1:250,000 ENV_Trapping.zip (5.3mb)
Base or Framework Data
Yukon Digital Elevation Model
A
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) spanning the entire Yukon and a bit beyond
in some places. It was interpolated from the digital 1:50,000 Canadian
National Topographic Database contour and watercourse layers using 30
meter cells (aka pixels) and then resampled to 90 meters. For refinement
and added quality we also incorporated ancillary data not part of the NTDB.
(... more)
Download: ftp://ftp.geomaticsyukon.ca/DEMs/
Shaded Relief Images
Also
known as Sunshade or Hillshade images, shaded relief images are the most
popular form of visually representing a DEM. Indeed many view a shaded relief
image and mistakenly think they are seeing the DEM itself. A shaded relief
image does not contain elevation values, rather each pixel's brightness
value is an expression of it's reflectance (slope and aspect) relative to
the light source (azimuth and zenith). Shaded relief is available for the
entire territory in 30m and 90m versions. (...
more)
Download: ftp://ftp.geomaticsyukon.ca/DEMs/shaded_relief/
50k NTDB Errata
In
the course of generating the Yukon DEM we encountered and fixed errors in
the source 1:50,000 NTDB. A listing of these errors and what we did to fix
them can be downloaded from ftp://ftp.geomaticsyukon.ca/DEMs/errata/
Resource Inventory Data
Wildlife Key Area Inventory
Key areas are locations used by wildlife for critical, seasonal life functions. They are identified by interpreting observed locations of wildlife at key times of year, not through intensive habitat assessment. For each wildlife species there are unique areas that serve a distinct purpose. For example, thinhorn sheep winter range is characterized as relatively snow-free, wind-swept, south-facing slopes, that are important as foraging areas during this limiting time of year. Many species, such as sheep, use key areas traditionally around the same time each year. Others, such as moose, will use them only occasionally when they are forced to by factors such as severe weather. Often animals aggregate in key areas in relatively large numbers, making populations vulnerable to direct habitat loss or disturbance. In either event the wildlife population would decrease, as would its likelihood of survival. For this reason key areas must be identified and protected. (... more)