SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The City of Yellowknife is among several organizations and individuals that are entering the debate on the fate of the Bathurst caribou herd and the industry it supports.

Falling caribou numbers have lead to a joint governmental proposal to limit the hunt but the City of Yellowknife wants the economic impact of the proposal to be seriously considered. - NNSL file photo

"We've registered as an intervener, mostly just to ensure that they're considering the economic impact of putting an industry on hold for two or three years," said Mayor Gord Van Tighem.

The Tlicho government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources recently unveiled a joint proposal suggesting the elimination of all commercial meat tags, outfitting licences and resident hunt harvests, to be reconsidered in 2012, following falling caribou numbers.

Public hearings on the issue will take place Jan. 11-12 next year, after which the Wekeezhii Renewable Resources Board (WRRB) will make a decision on whether to adopt the proposal.

Van Tighem said the caribou outfitting industry pumps between four to five million dollars a year into the economy, alluding to a study conducted on the caribou industry from 1999 to 2005.

"That's related to charter aircraft use, hotels, entertainment in the city, taking gifts home, taxidermy fees," the mayor said.

About 218 seasonal jobs rely on the industry and about $766,000 worth of taxes end up in the coffers of the federal, territorial and the city as a result, he added.

In addition to registering as an intervenor, Van Tighem said the city will be making a presentation at the public hearing.

"It's important to look at wildlife management but it's also important to be sure that the information that is being used in a decision is real and accurate," he said.

"It's also a matter of looking at the cumulative impacts of a decision such as the economic impact, the impacts on employment, the impacts on communities that have people coming through."

Van Tighem said he wasn't sure where large numbers of caribou had disappeared to, but all options need to be considered.

"There was a TV show about a week and a half ago saying there were several hundred thousand more caribou in western Nunavut than there used to be, and they haven't figured out where they came from. A-ha," he said. "Migration patterns change from year to year."

Grant Pryznyk, interim chair of the Wekeezhii board, said as of Wednesday morning there were about eight to ten individuals and organizations who had registered as intervenors, though he wouldn't say who they all were. Interested parties had until the end of Wednesday to register.

"There's more coming in every day," said Pryznyk. "Some have indicated an interest and want to know how to do it and we've responded back."

He said the the intervenors are a mix of individuals and organizations but it's too soon to tell whether a majority of submissions are for or against the joint proposal.

"It's hard to tell what's in each proposal, but those will be posted (online) when they eventually come in," said Pryznik.