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Peel Watershed

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At close to 70,000 square kilometres, the Yukon portion of the Peel Watershed is the northern anchor of the Y2Y region, and an important part of the Canadian and international campaign to protect the boreal forest. The Peel Watershed is one of the continent's largest constellations of wild mountain rivers, including the Bonnet Plume Canadian Heritage River.

The Peel is a vital conservation opportunity for both Canadians and Americans. It is a benchmark of predator-prey ecosystems within a vast primeval wilderness. It is home to the Yukon's largest woodland caribou herd, and a key part of the barren-ground Porcupine Caribou Herd's winter range. At several times the size of Yellowstone and Banff National Parks, if protected it could become an essential refuge from the impacts of climate change.

Most of the watershed lies in the traditional territory of the Na-Cho Nyak Dun and Tetlit Gwich'in First Nations, while the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in and Vuntut Gwitchin territories take in the western part of the basin.

The Peel Watershed Planning Commission released its final recommendations to the Yukon government on July 25th, 2011. In it the Commission held firm to its previous recommendation to protect 80% of the Peel, and called for one continuous protected area where new roads or industrial development would not be allowed. If the entire watershed is protected, it will double the amount of public land protected in the Y2Y region since the Y2Y Initiative was formally launched in 1997.

On October 23, 2012 the Yukon Government released its long-awaited options for the future of the Peel River watershed. Read more about these proposals here. The public is invited to comment until February 25, 2013. Stay tuned to this web page for ways in which you can be involved.

You can help protect the Peel. Here are 2 ways to take action:

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