The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) lends support to Watershed Meeting in Mayo with Yukon First Nations and community elders for land use planning and protection of Peel River watershed. Its Three Rivers Campaign is set to launch a Canadian tour this April, and hopes to bring further attention to this magnificent watershed and canoeing routes. The CPAWS website is an excellent resource, and provides extensive news and trip reports for the Wind, Snake, and Bonnet Plume Rivers.

Here is the press release in full:

CPAWS-Yukon Congratulates Northern Community Elders and Delegates on their Vision of Protection for the Yukon’s Peel River Watershed, Home to the Three Rivers

22.02.07

CPAWS-Yukon is gratified by the enthusiasm and commitment to conservation expressed by community elders and delegates at the Peel Watershed Community Gathering held in Mayo, Yukon February 16-18, 2007. We fully support the communities’ vision and statement that calls for protection of the Peel Watershed for present and future generations. We look forward to continuing to work with the communities to realize their vision, which is consistent with our ongoing Three Rivers campaign.

During CPAWS-Yukon’s Three Rivers community tour from Mayo, YT to Inuvik, NWT in June 2006 (link to site), the Tetlit Gwich’in Renewable Resources Council asked us to help organize a Gathering to bring together people of Mayo, Ft. McPherson, Aklavik, Tsiigehtchic, Dawson City and Old Crow to discuss a common vision for the Peel watershed. We accepted the challenge and assisted with logistics and by sharing resource materials. Generous funding from The Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation helped make this Gathering a reality.

Gathering outcomes will make a significant contribution to the Peel Watershed land use planning process. The Commission, tasked with planning the future of the 67,000-km2 watershed, has already heard from Ft. McPherson community members arriving home from the Gathering. The Commission will now continue to hear more unfiltered input from community people, who have proclaimed their hopes and desires for the future of this pristine area at the intersection of the boreal region and northern Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y).

The community vision resonates with CPAWS’ ongoing Three Rivers campaign that launches its Canadian tour this coming April. We will continue our efforts by supporting and celebrating this community milestone and move closer to protection in the magnificent Peel Watershed.