Assessing Yukon's current approach to regional land use planning : perspectives from the North Yukon planning process

2 Acknowledgements . 3 List of Figures . 7 List of Tables . 8 Glossary of Common Acronyms and Terms . 9 Chapter 1: A Struggle for Balance . 10 Competing Values and the Importance of Regional Land Use Planning . 11 Economic values. 11 Cultural and social values. 12 Environmental values. 13 Thinking sustainably. 14 A 35-Year History of Regional Land Use Planning in Yukon . 14 Land use planning before Yukon First Nation final agreements. 16 Regional land use planning and the final agreements. 17 History of regional planning commissions. 19 The North Yukon Planning Process . 21 North Yukon plan phases. 22 Chapter 2: Potential Limiting Factors to Successful Land Use Planning and Other CoManagement Processes . 25 Collaborative Dynamics . 25 Involvement and participation. 26 Understanding communication and conflict. 28 Achieving consensus. 29 Commitment and capacity. 30 Government and First Nation Collaboration . 32 Political Barriers . 32 ASSESSING YUKON’S REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING PROCESS 5 Summary . 35 Chapter 3: Methods . 37 Interview Preparation . 37 Conducting the Interviews . 38 Data Analysis . 40 Chapter 4: What Went Wrong: Unclear Roles and Responsibilities? 43 Conflicts Over Power and the Yukon Land Use Planning Council . 43 Working With the Parties: The Role of the Sub-committee. 45 The Information Gathering Conflict . 48 Too long, too much, too detailed. 48 Appropriate information necessary to make best decisions. 50 Right amount of information, wrong people doing the work. 52 Responsibility for Implementation . 54 Yukon and Vuntut Gwitchin governments. 55 The planning commission. 56 The Yukon Land Use Planning Council. 58 Summary . 58 Chapter 5: Elements of a Successful Process . 59 Building an Effective Team . 59 Intergovernmental Accord and Political Support . 62 Summary . 63 Chapter 6: Recommendations for Continued Future Successes . 64 Recommendation 1: Meaningful and Clear Terms of Reference . 65 Budget. 66 Scope and expectations. 66 Roles and Responsibilities. 67 ASSESSING YUKON’S REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING PROCESS 6 Communication network and response protocol. 69 Avoiding mandate creep. 70 Recommendation 2: Commission Project Management Plan . 70 Recommendation 3: Commission Training and Team-Building . 71 Recommendation 4: Political Accord for the Parties . 72 Recommendation 5: Planning for Implementation . 73 Conclusion . 74 Literature Cited . 76 ASSESSING YUKON’S REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING PROCESS 7 List of Figures Figure 1. An illustration of the planning regions for Yukon. Figure 2. The communication and support network used to distribute information throughout the North Yukon planning process. Figure 3: The land use planning process used by the North Yukon Planning Commission, including the products and deliverables intended for each phase. ASSESSING YUKON’S REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING PROCESS 8 List of Tables Table 1. A summary of Yukon regional land use planning efforts Table 2. A description of the planning bodies involved in the North Yukon planning process ASSESSING YUKON’S REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING PROCESS 9 Glossary of Common Acronyms and Terms The Commission, NYPC North Yukon Planning Commission The Council, YLUPC Yukon Land Use Planning Council Chapter 11 Referring to Chapter 11 of the Umbrella Final Agreement GTOR General Terms of Reference Government Referring to both Yukon and First Nation governments Land Use Planning Regional land use planning The Parties Yukon Government and Vuntut Gwitchin Government The Process The North Yukon regional land use planning process PTOR Precise Terms of Reference TWG Technical Working Group SLC Senior Liaison Committee UFA Umbrella Final Agreement VGFN Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation VGG Vuntut Gwitchin Government YG Yukon Government YLUPC Yukon Land Use Planning Council ASSESSING YUKON’S REGIONAL LAND USE PLANNING PROCESS 10 Chapter 1: A Struggle for Balance As with anywhere, the land within Yukon, Canada, is highly valued in numerous and often opposing ways. The struggle to acknowledge and manage these values is a complex and difficult process--one that is understudied and ever-evolving. Regional land use planning is a common tool used to research, analyze, understand, and make decisions regarding various land uses and values. In Yukon, there has been an overwhelming lack of successfully completed, approved and implemented land use plans, despite the long history of numerous attempts. By way of this thesis research, I will attempt to provide insight on Yukon’s current approach for regional land use planni