Government of Yukon
Archives
FOR RELEASE #05-337
December 22, 2005
Secretariat Established To Implement New Placer Mining Regime
WHITEHORSE - A coordinating secretariat has been established to assist in preparing and implementing the new Yukon placer mining regime. The Yukon government has partnered with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Council of Yukon First Nations to launch the new Yukon Placer Secretariat.
"We've now arrived at the next stage in the creation of Yukon's new placer regime," Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Archie Lang said. "The executive director of the Yukon Placer Secretariat has begun work and is already planning for next spring's public consultations."
The secretariat is responsible for a variety of functions. It will oversee the development of 19 watershed authorizations using traditional, local and scientific knowledge. It will also develop an adaptive management system to manage, monitor and review the new placer regime. Under the adaptive management approach, the new regime will introduce clear, pre-determined standards that will be regularly reviewed and modified, as necessary, to incorporate scientific and technological advances and information.
The secretariat will be the main point of contact for the public and stakeholder groups, especially during its upcoming consultation process.
"The secretariat is developing a schedule of community meetings which will give Yukoners time to review the new placer regime and provide meaningful input on how to make it work," Lang said.
A new, integrated regime framework to manage Yukon placer mining was cooperatively developed by the Yukon government, the Council of Yukon First Nations, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Klondike Placer Miners" Association. It was announced in May 2005.
The framework is the result of a unique process, in which the Yukon, First Nations and Canadian governments agreed in 2003 to develop a regime that would recognize the importance of a sustainable placer industry to the Yukon and the importance of conservation of fish and fish habitat supporting fisheries.
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| Contact: | ||
| Peter Carr | Laurie Sthamann | Elaine Schiman |
| Cabinet Communications Advisor | Energy, Mines & Resources | Yukon Placer Secretariat |
| (867) 667-8688 | (867) 667-3163 | (867) 334-2975 |
| peter.carr@gov.yk.ca | laurie.sthamann@gov.yk.ca | elaine@northwestel.net |