Appeals court finds N.W.T.'s tag and quota system not the only way to manage caribou in Sahtu

The N.W.T. Court of Appeal has dismissed a legal challenge by the territorial government on Tuesday, siding with Colville Lake on its land claim interpretation of caribou management.

The court, consisting of three judges, found the N.W.T.'s tag and quota system — known as a total allowable harvest — isn't the only option to prevent Bluenose West caribou numbers from dwindling.

"Nothing in the Treaty indicates that the [total allowable harvest] is the only tool that can be used to manage harvesting," the decision reads.  

The N.W.T. government's appeal is the latest in a years-long legal dispute over Colville Lake's caribou management plan. The recent decision means the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board can consider a caribou management plan created by Colville Lake using cultural and traditional values.

David Codzi, the former president of the Ayoni Keh Land Corporation which was involved in the dispute, said the dismissal of the appeal is good for the community. 

"Our Dene ways has always kept us going, a lot of the things that we did was making sure that everything was always provided for the future, the next generation," Codzi said. "Our system is not broken."

A plan based on cultural and traditional values

Since 2008, the government has limited the annual harvest to four per cent of the herd. For the Sahtu, that amounts to 350 animals per year. 

In 2019 the community submitted its own caribou conservation plan based on its cultural and traditional values. The Sahtu Renewable Resources Board accepted it in 2020.  

The plan said Colville Lake had caribou stewardship in a specific location that surrounds the community. 

"There was widespread support from other Sahtu communities for the Colville Plan and regional consensus that a conservation plan based on Dene culture would yield good results," the decision reads.

The Sahtu Renewable Resources Board recommended the environment and natural resources minister remove the total allowable harvest for the Bluenose West caribou herd and implement Colville Lake's plan instead.

Nothing in the Treaty indicates that the [total allowable harvest] is the only tool that can be used to manage harvesting- N.W.T. Court of Appeal decision

Former environment and natural resources minister Shane Thompson rejected the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board's decision to allow this conservation plan in 2021, partially because it wouldn't incorporate the total allowable harvest. The rationale had been that the herd was declining rapidly. Surveys showed the herd consisted of 110,000 caribou in 1992. By 2021, it had gone down to 18,440. 

The Colville Lake Renewable Resources Council, Behdzi Ahda First Nation and Ayoni Keh Land Corporation, then challenged that decision in Supreme Court, which resulted in a mixed verdict in 2023.

The judge found that Thompson did not violate the Treaty in implementing the total allowable harvest and was within his right to reject Colville Lake's plan. But the judge also found that the Treaty does not prevent consideration of a community conservation plan .  

The territorial government then challenged that decision in an appeal.

Tuesday's decision to dismiss that appeal doesn't mean that the total allowable harvest will no longer be used. It means that Colville Lake can submit its own conservation plan — without the total allowable harvest in it — to the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board for consideration. The territory's environment minister will still make the final decision on it.

Colville Lake leaders happy with decision

Codzi, who first pushed for the legal challenge to Thompson's decision, hopes this marks the end of the legal battle.  

"What's the point to keep on spending public money going after something that you keep on losing, that's crazy, we pay enough taxes in the North," he said. 

Richard Kochon, the chief of Colville Lake, said the community has always known how to manage caribou and the future responsibility will be good for them. 

"They put it through the court ... and this is protected through our treaty rights," he said.

Kochon hopes the decision stands for future generations, because his community relies on hunting caribou. 

Jay Macdonald, the N.W.T.'s current environment and climate change minister, said in an email he was reviewing the decision and its implications with members from his department and the justice department before deciding next steps.