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Court tells Yukon to rethink development plan for Peel wilderness

A northern court is throwing out the Yukon government's plan for a vast Arctic wilderness and sending it back to the negotiating table.

WHITEHORSE — A northern court is throwing out the Yukon government's plan for a vast Arctic wilderness and sending it back to the negotiating table.

The Yukon Appeal Court has ruled that the territory's land-use plan for the Peel watershed violates treaty obligations and undermines long-standing agreements with aboriginal groups.

The court says the government can't simply increase the amount of land available for development.

First Nations went to court after the government made last-minute changes to what had been negotiated over the course of a decade.

The government's plan would have increased the amount of land open to development to 70 per cent from 20 per cent.

The Peel watershed is an untouched expanse of northwestern Yukon held sacred by area aboriginals that also holds gas, iron and coal deposits.