Proposed national park in Peel River watershed enters feasibility stage

The Gwich'in Tribal Council, Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun First Nation, Parks Canada and Yukon government are moving into the feasibility stage of establishing a 3,000 square kilometre national park in the Teetł'it Gwinjik (Peel River) Watershed. 

Gwich'in Tribal Council Grand Chief Frederick (Sonny) Blake Jr. said the area has been long-sought for protection, especially because the Porcupine caribou winter there before travelling on to their calving grounds in Alaska. 

"Our people took a big stand against any mining in [the Peel watershed] and this is a big first step into ensuring that this area is protected for future generations," he said. 

The proposed park, first suggested by Gwich'in Tribal Council, is now undergoing a feasibility study which will help the four parties decide if they want to move ahead with establishing a co-managed national park in northeast Yukon, along the N.W.T. border. 

"I think it's a giant step," said Blake. "It's very important as a whole Gwich'in nation … what we all yearn for is the protection of the lands where the Porcupine caribou calve."

The area is important to Gwich'in Tribal Council and Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun for fishing and hunting too — its headwaters flow to the Mackenzie River in Fort McPherson, said Blake.

"People from Teetł'it Zheh [Fort McPherson] have travelled up the Peel into the watershed. Many families trekked up in the fall and Fort McPherson and Aklavik are actually along the Peel," he said.

Efforts to protect the watershed started three decades ago, but ramped up in 2012 in response to mining claims staked in the Gwich'in Settlement Area, said Blake. 

In 2022, following the signing of the Peel land use plan three years earlier, the Yukon government struck agreements with companies to relinquish 5,031 claims in the Peel watershed.

Blake said there have been 400 additional mining claims removed from the proposed area. Over the next few months, the Gwich'in Tribal Council will work with First Nations like Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in to secure the removal of roughly 20 remaining mine claims, said Blake. 

Adriana Bacheschi, director of national park establishment for Parks Canada, said turning Teetł'it Gwinjik Watershed into a national park is one of the strongest environmental protections available.

It builds on interim protections identified in the 2019 Peel Regional Land Use Plan and creates opportunities to support Indigenous-led conservation, protections for Porcupine caribou habitat, and the recovery of species at risk, she said.

"The consultation has gone well. There is support for the idea of a national park in the region," she said of the results of a public consultation which wrapped up this month. 

The study area includes Nihtal Gyit (Turner Lake Wetlands), the Edigii Njik (Caribou River) area, and a large section of the Teetł'it Gwinjik (Peel River) Corridor.

Flying over these areas knowing they could soon be protected was a "very proud moment" for Na-Cho Nyӓk Dun First Nation Chief Dawna Hope. 

"We've been protecting these lands according to the guidance of our ancestors as a bread basket for hard times coming," she said. 

Hope said moving forward on the proposed park is a "significant milestone" because national parks grant protections that prevent mineral staking or agricultural and industrial activities.

Moving into the feasibility stage of the proposal brings optimism for Hope, whose First Nation has been "in the shadow of a lot of failure and a lot of disappointment lately and a lot of destruction on our lands."

 A catastrophic leak in June saw an estimated four million tonnes of ore treated with cyanide slide off a heap at the Eagle Gold mine and 19 million litres of toxic water have leaked from a containment pond at the facility since December.

Hope said signing a collaboration agreement in 2024 to explore the option of a park, in support of the Gwich'in, furthers the implementation of the Peel land use plan.

"Our citizens have indicated support for this process in going into the feasibility [stage] to see what's possible and how we uphold those agreements," said Hope.

"The waters are precious to us and we'd like to maintain the waters as cleanly as possible," said Hope. 

The lands proposed for protection are closely tied to traditional waterways, traditional trails and historical meeting places, said Hope. 

"With those protections, we know that the status quo of the wilderness will be maintained, which allows us the space to ensure that we are able to hold space for our language and culture in those areas for future generations to come," said Hope.

Hope said the work to propose a park has also re-established family connections, and that elders have reconnected with family on either side of the Richardson Mountains. 

"Our elders are very excited," she said. "They can understand each other in their traditional languages, even though we have a mountain that divides us." 

"This was a significant milestone for us and we're very proud to continue to advocate for full implementation of the [Peel land use plan], and for the protection of these most important lands for us," said Hope.