Latest news with #SouthernLakes
CBC
10-06-2025
- General
- CBC
As caribou populations recover in Yukon's Southern Lakes region, communities look to reconnect with the herds
An ambitious new plan aims to redefine the relationship between caribou and people in Yukon's Southern Lakes region, including by allowing Indigenous youth an opportunity to hunt the animals for the first time in decades. Nine government leaders signed the Southern Lakes Caribou Relationship Plan at a gathering in Carcross last week. It's a culmination of 32 years of recovery efforts that helped the herds' bounce back from roughly 1,000 individuals in 1993, to nearly 5,000 as of 2019. Southern Lakes caribou include four herds — Carcross, Ibex, Laberge and Atlin — of Northern Mountain caribou in the Yukon and northern B.C. "As a kid growing up, I used to watch a mountainside and it seemed like the whole mountain moved when there were so many caribou and I never thought we'd have to protect them," said Taku River Tlingit elder James Williams. The new relationship plan outlines how six First Nations, with the Yukon, B.C., and federal governments, will continue to build the relationship between people and caribou in the region. The plan is shaped by both traditional knowledge and Western science. "The First Nations are behind the relationship plan," said Carcross/Tagish First Nation elder Charlie James. "It still took many years for us to get to where we are today. And it's all about caribou, and it's all about the relationship that we have with caribou and the land." One of the plan's commitments is for First Nations to hold cultural caribou hunts, where elders and hunters teach youth how to hunt a caribou. Kwanlin Dün First Nation is hoping to hold a caribou hunt as part of its youth culture camp this fall, said Lars Jessup, project manager for the Southern Lakes caribou steering committee. In 1993, when the initial caribou recovery plan was drafted, First Nations in the Southern Lakes region endorsed a voluntary ban on caribou subsistence hunting. The subsistence hunting ban remains in place under the new plan, but cultural hunts will be an opportunity for the Nations to educate their youth. "Not to go shoot caribou for the sake of shooting caribou, but to teach our young people how our ancestors used to take care of caribou," James said. Increasing threats to caribou The plan also includes recommendations for how to manage threats to caribou, which have become more significant with the region's growing human population. "We want to make sure that we don't lose what we've gained in those 30 years and … there continues to be a real risk to these caribou," Jessup said. "They live right around the largest population centre in the Yukon and that population centre has grown substantially in the last 15 years." Threats to Southern Lakes caribou include human development, outdoor recreation, increased predation from wolves and bears, and vehicle collisions. "Vehicle collisions continue to take a real toll, particularly for the Carcross and Laberge herds," Jessup said. "We lose an average of seven caribou a year on highways … we're losing, in some cases, what the government of Yukon and the government of B.C. might consider a sustainable harvest rate, which would be in the realm of two to four per cent." Those attending the gathering last week discussed various ways to mitigate vehicle collisions, from increased highway signage, reduced speed limits, and the possibility of asking RCMP for help with enforcement. A key piece of the recovery program that will continue under the new plan is the ongoing monitoring of the herds, led by both biologists and First Nations game guardians and land monitors. Land monitors and game guardians conduct ground-based monitoring and the Yukon and B.C. governments use GPS collars to track caribou in the herds. During the fall, when the herds congregate, teams also conduct aerial surveys. Luke Wesley, a Taku River Tlingit First Nation land guardian, has been collecting data on the Atlin herd for the last two years. Wesley has participated in on-the-ground monitoring in the winter, using a snowmobile to observe caribou behaviour. He has also conducted different types of aerial surveys. "We dive into the ratios between males, females and calves, to get a better understanding of what the population is like and how it's growing," Wesley said. "And we also do aerial [recreation] surveys to see what's going on in migration routes and to see if there is any human activity affecting these migration routes." This work means a lot to Wesley. "All my uncles and the elders in my community would talk about how they would be able to live off these caribou … and growing up as a kid I wouldn't see very much caribou, never hunted caribou." Wesley said. "And now that they're coming back … it's very special to me." Reason to celebrate after years of sacrifice The Southern Lakes steering committee plans to hold an annual caribou gathering, like the one in Carcross last week, each spring. It will bring Southern Lakes communities together to continue to protect caribou and celebrate what's been accomplished so far. "Really one of the greatest success stories of the Southern Lakes is the fact that … we had nine government leaders up on the stage here at the annual gathering, showing their support for the caribou recovery program generally, and the Caribou Relationship Plan specifically," Jessup said.
CBC
07-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Cultural caribou hunts to return to the Yukon for the first time in more than 30 years
First Nations and government leaders signed the Southern Lakes Caribou Relationship Plan on Wednesday. A key commitment in that plan is to bring back cultural caribou hunts. That's something that hasn't happened in more than 30 years.
CBC
06-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Unusually low water in Yukon lakes this spring a sign of climate change, expert says
Social Sharing When Peter Heebink looks at the extra metres of sandy shore in front of his house on Marsh Lake, south of Whitehorse, he can't help but laugh. "I feel like having a beach party," Heebink said, standing in front of his beached kayak. Following a relatively dry winter and cool spring this year, water levels in some lakes and reservoirs across the Yukon are at record lows — including in the Southern Lakes region where Heebink lives. And while it's still early in the warmer months, one expert says things might not change much in the weeks or months ahead. "If the dry conditions continue, it would be very surprising to me that we reach the historical median or average in those lakes," said Benoit Turcotte, a senior researcher at Yukon University. Turcotte, who specializes in hydrology and climate change, says water levels are unusually low across the Yukon for this time of the year. He says that's due in part to some windy weather. "It just seems that we lost a lot of the snowpack to just sublimation — to the wind," Turcotte said. He says there's still enough snow up the mountains to fill up bodies of water in most areas in the Yukon. However, he says the territory will need a good amount of rain to reach average levels by the end of the summer. "That would mean a quite rainy summer and people would not be super happy about that," he said. Heebink says he would be concerned if the water level at his home stayed this low. But he's also somewhat relieved, recalling the serious flooding that hit the Southern Lakes region back in 2021. "Everyone was pretty traumatized," Heebink said. "You'll find most people are happy to see [low water levels] because if it's high this time of year, it's likely to be a flooding year, usually." Extreme weather patterns Yukon Energy said last week that Marsh Lake was not refilling as fast as usual, breaking a decades-old record. "Typically, snowmelt begins refilling Marsh Lake by mid-May, and in 75 per cent of years, it's underway by May 23rd," the electric utility company wrote on social media. "The latest start of refill since 1980 was June 1st. This year, due to ongoing unseasonably cool weather, we now expect lake refill after June 5th, which will be the latest on record." Yukon Energy says this is a "clear reminder" that with unpredictable weather conditions, climate change is affecting operations. Turcotte agrees. He says the territory will see more and more extreme weather patterns, including more drought and flooding. "We can always talk about climate change because we're in it," Turcotte said. "Anyone saying, 'oh, this is not climate change,' well ... everything is climate change, even a normal day is climate change ... In the Yukon, we're one rain storm away from a flood, and we're a few snowstorms that didn't happen or rain storms that didn't happen away from record-dry conditions." It's a serious worry for elder Charlie James from the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. He's been living in Carcross, about 72 kilometres south of Whitehorse, for at least 70 years. He says he has never seen the water level this low in the area. "We have a good relationship with the water ... everybody spends a lot of their time out on the water because it's healing," James said. "We dry a lot of our fish for winter. Lot of times, most elders like to have fresh fish year round. But we can't do that anymore." James says he's concerned about the fish, which need specific water conditions and depths for spawning. Fish habitat and migration, as well as energy production, and drinking water are among Turcotte's top concerns. He says the dry conditions are also a reminder that forest fires can start, and spread very quickly. "You can definitely enjoy this weather and all that, but we're never too close from having problems up here," he said.
