This reporting unit is composed
of three ecoregions with boreal forest cover. Approximately 1,700
people live in the communities of Watson Lake and Upper Liard.
Watson Lake has a diversified economy including the service sector
and forestry related enterprises. Upper Liard is a traditional
settlement established during the fur trading era. This community,
located 10 km north of Watson Lake, also supports forest activities
along with subsistence use by the local residents.
There is only one hard rock mine in the area. Sä Dena Hes was a lead-zinc mine which operated for a few years and is now closed. This mine provided employment to Watson Lake residents both at the mine and indirectly in the service sectors. Environmental concerns regarding road access to the mine and drainage from the tailings pond were addressed through the assessment and licensing process. There are no concerns about long-term impacts from acid rock drainage.
Southeast Yukon is the home of the Liard First Nation, a group with both traditional ties to the land and participation in the industrial economy. The First Nation owns one of the major forest companies in the region and has the only Timber Harvesting Agreement.
The relationships between tourism, mining, forestry, subsistence use and recreation in the southeast Yukon, and the effects of the various human activities on the environment, are complex. Tourism and recreation, for example, require relatively undisturbed natural areas; wildlife and subsistence use depend on protection of habitat and maintenance of wilderness.
Most of the commercial forestry cutting in the Yukon occurs in the Watson Lake region. Demand for Yukon timber has greatly increased recently and the policy and legislation framework for forest management is under review. Until recently the largest timber harvest in Yukon history occurred in 1900 when 253,000 m³ was harvested. In 1994/95 a new record harvest of 419,211 m³ for the entire Yukon was set; 79% of this harvest was taken in the Watson Lake region.
The valleys of the Liard River and its tributaries support the most extensive, productive forests in the territory. They are valuable in many ways. They provide moose winter range in the Yukon and the mature forests provide habitat for marten, the most important furbearer harvested by trappers in the Watson Lake area. Forests are also important for recreation. Several of the rivers of this area, for example the Coal River and Liard River, are important for wilderness paddlers.
The stands of white spruce along the Liard River and its tributaries
are a critical habitat for songbird populations dependent on old-growth
forests. Because white spruce is not restricted to streamsides
in the LaBiche and Beaver River valleys, these areas provide particularly
extensive song bird nesting habitat. Fieldwork in these valleys
in 1995 documented six forest bird species not previously known
to occur in the Yukon. Long-term migration monitoring in eastern
North America shows that several of these species are declining
(for example, the ovenbird and the Canada warbler).
In attempting to design a sustainable forest industry, at least
one element is clear. Timber harvests must be balanced by reseeding
trees after cutting. The time scales are enormous. Slow growing
conditions suggest that 100 years may be required for a forest
to reach a size where it could be harvested again economically.Yet until 1992, there was no replanting or silviculture program
in the Yukon. Relying on natural seeding to replace harvested
trees is not always successful. As a result, there are an estimated
2,000 hectares of forest lands that have not been satisfactorily
restocked.
Carbon dioxide is a key greenhouse gas and scientists believe it helps trap heat from the sun and contributes to global warming. Trees, like all green plants, help take carbon dioxide out of circulation in the atmosphere by splitting carbon dioxide molecules using sunlight. The oxygen is released to the atmosphere immediately, but plants retain the carbon and convert it into carbohydrates. The important point is that carbon can move freely between living organisms and the atmosphere. On the return journey carbon dioxide is released by forests through natural processes such as respiration, decay and wildfire. Researchers want to locate the major stores of carbon on a global scale and determine how quickly carbon dioxide levels are rising.
Canadian boreal forests (including peatlands) store an estimated 186 trillion kilograms of carbon within their biomass, soil and the forest products they produce. If released, this carbon would contribute to the "greenhouse effect". Currently Canadian forests help reduce levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by taking in more carbon each year than they release. This may change in the future for several reasons. The net amount of carbon that boreal forests take in each year may:
