In 2005, Heritage, Lands and Resources was set up after the effective date of our final and self-government agreements.
The department was small at first: Tom Beaudoin was the Director, Gillian McKee was the Land Use Planner and Les Wilson was the GIS Technician.
The department has grown since then. Dave Sembsmoen is now the Fish and Wildlife Manager and Rosanna White is the Lands Manager. After seven years of working in land planning, Gillian McKee left her position at the end of 2007. Recently, John Meikle was hired as the new Lands Policy and Planning Manager, and the Department has also hired a Land and Resource Analyst, Milada Pardovicova.
We have been surveying settlement lands for a few years. This work involves cutting lines to mark the boundaries of the settlement land. You can see orange markers or flagging out on the land to show exactly where our land is. There is still more surveying to do this year. For information on what lands have already been surveyed or what surveying will be done this summer, contact Les Wilson at 633-7859.
The Lands section reviews all projects being proposed within our traditional territory. This includes every land, forestry, agricultural or other type of application that is proposed within KDFN's traditional territory. We provide comments whenever a project could affect KDFN values and interests.
In April 2007, council appointed a Lands Committee to assist the department with land-related issues. To date, the committee has developed a beneficiary land policy, drafted interim guidelines for using settlement land, and provided input on some of the larger land and resource applications, such as Lewes Marsh timber harvesting and the Arkell subdivision. The Lands Committee includes Sean Smith (Chair), Charlie Burns, Dianne Smith, Tammy Joe and Joan Viksten.
Our Fish and Wildlife Manager participates in committees that have been set up as a result of the final agreement.
The Southern Lakes Wildlife Coordinating Committee is coordinating the management of caribou, moose, sheep and other wildlife populations and their habitats in the Southern Lakes area to promote the recovery and conservation of these populations.
Started in the fall of 2007, the Freshwater Fish Assessment and Planning Steering Committee is undertaking a joint review of the food freshwater fish needs of Kwanlin Dün people. The first step was to interview KDFN elders to collect their traditional knowledge relating to important fishing areas in the traditional territory. Sean Smith and Joan Viksten were hired to do the interviews and a report is now being drafted summarizing the results.
Director Tom Beaudoin participates on the Whitehorse waterfront development committee with federal, territorial and city representatives. KDFN's major project on the waterfront - the cultural centre - is at the funding application stage right now.
