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Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada)

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The history of water resources management in the Yukon has been characterized by conflict. This problem is due to the failure to address the interrelationships between water and land resources. Although many parts of the Yukon remain largely undisturbed wilderness areas, development pressures place increasing demands on Territorial water resources. To ensure these stresses do not degrade Yukon waters to the extent common in many Canadian regions, a reevaluation of the legal and administrative arrangements for water management in the Yukon is required. A majority of the legislation pertaining to water management in the Yukon was introduced in the 1970s and is unable to address many contemporary issues. The recent...
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Lake-rich thermokarst landscapes occupy vast regions and provide important natural resources for northern communities. Recent research has shown that these lake-rich environments are sensitive to changes in climate and are in a state of transition. Old Crow Flats (OCF, Yukon, Canada) is one such thermokarst landscape where people of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation (VGFN) have thrived for many generations. However, local residents have observed changes in OCF during recent decades including unpredictable weather patterns, expansion of shrub coverage, and drastic lake and river water level fluctuations. Concerns that these changes may affect their traditional lifestyles fueled initiation of a multidisciplinary Government...
This thesis uses a literature review of protected areas selection, park management, comprehensive regional land use planning, and cumulative environmental effects and assessment to develop a methodology that identifies areas with concentrations of social and/or ecological values in and around northern national parks. The proposed methodology involves two stages. First, a database of values is developed by taking an inventory of social and ecological values through extensive literature reviews, interviews, and consultation with the public. This database is then used in the second step to determine areas with concentrations of social and/or ecological values, or "value hotspots", using a series of tables and maps....
This thesis investigates the ways in which oil and gas development priorities and concern for the environment are integrated within strategic planning and management frameworks, and how associated conflict is addressed, in a case study of the Yukon. Because substantial ground-based oil and gas activity is yet to occur in the territory, a thorough understanding of the institutions and the institutional arrangements set to govern future oil and gas development is a valuable tool for gauging the capacity to integrate these priorities. Therefore, this thesis employs the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to analyze the legislation, regulations, policies, and institutions involved in this process,...
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The St. Elias region of North America occupies portions of British Columbia, Alaska, and the Yukon Territory and comprises a network of public lands and protected areas managed by a variety of agencies. This thesis characterizes and analyzes the broadscale, or regional, ecology of these lands and provides an assessment of the implications this has for ecosystem-based management--particularly as it relates to intergovernmental cooperation. A multi-stage, map-based, multidisciplinary process is used to synthesize information on the region's physical, biological, and institutional environments. The fields of conservation biology and landscape ecology provide theoretical foundations for analysis. The ecological synthesis...
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