Yukon opens caribou hunt without local First Nation’s support

DAWSON CITY, YUKON The Yukon government has opened a licensed hunt for the Fortymile caribou herd west of Dawson City for the first time in 25 years.

Territorial officials have been working with Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation and the State of Alaska since 1995 to help restore the migratory herd’s numbers, said Rob Florkiewicz, a Fish and Wildlife harvest co-ordinator with the Government of Yukon.

However, the decision to open the hunt this winter has drawn the ire of Tr’ondek Hwech’in Chief Roberta Joseph.

The territory acted unilaterally and prematurely, she said, since the First Nation has yet to sign off on a harvest management plan for the herd that’s still being negotiated.

At the turn of the century, the herd’s population may have numbered more than half a million caribou, said Florkiewicz.

Historically, the caribou migrated as far south as Whitehorse, more than 500 kilometres southeast of Dawson City. But by the 1970s, increased hunting and predation by wolves had spurred their precipitous decline.

Today, the herd’s population has grown to about 84,000, up from a low of 6,500, which is enough to support a “respectful, sustainable harvest,” the Yukon government said.

Members of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in First Nation have subsistence hunting rights and do not require a permit, but they have also volunteered not to harvest from the herd for more than two decades, said Joseph.

She acknowledged that the herd’s population has increased, but said the First Nation’s people are still in “conservation mode.”

“After not being able to harvest for over 20 years, it’s going to take some time to reconnect with the Fortymile caribou, its habitat (and) our old traditional hunting areas.”

On the Alaskan side, harvesting Fortymile caribou was not banned, but the state government imposed harvesting limits and carried out a wolf-culling program that ended two years ago.

In the state’s management plan for the herd, the Yukon and Alaskan governments agreed to allocate 65 per cent of the total harvest to Alaskans, while Yukon hunters could take the rest, said Florkiewicz.

In Yukon, that works out to around 1,200 animals, he said, but the territory has elected not to access its share — until now.