SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The newly-minted Department of Lands is paying special attention to squatters and high-demand areas as the territorial government takes control of what was once Crown land.

Lands Minister Robert C. McLeod, centre, spoke with the media about the recently announced Recreational Land Management Framework, along with deputy minister Mark Warren, left, and Annette Hopkins, assistant deputy minister of operations. - Elaine Anselmi/NNSL photo

While the post-devolution Department of Lands develops the Recreational Land Management Framework, no new cabins or campsites will be permitted along a stretch of Highway 3 and the Ingraham Trail near Yellowknife, but existing leases and other areas will be unaffected.

The goal of the new framework is to harmonize how recreational land is managed across the territory, said Lands Minister Robert C. McLeod.

"Northerners have told us that they care about environmental sustainability and also want more opportunities to lease land near communities for recreational use," he said. "Now that devolution has taken place, we need to ensure recreational leasing throughout the territory meets Northern needs and priorities."

Devolution has expanded the GNWT's jurisdiction from 700 square kilometres of land to 1.15 million square kilometres. This has created a need for overarching guidelines, said McLeod. Developing the framework is expected to take between 18 and 24 months, a part of that being consultation with various groups including the public and First Nations.

"Consulting with the aboriginal governments is a huge part of the work we plan on undertaking," said McLeod.

Once First Nations identify pieces of land they are interested in, the areas could be added to withdrawal land.

"Land withdrawals are what parties have agreed on for possible future land selection," said Mark Warren, deputy minister of Lands. "Should other leases in other areas be considered ... we would do that in consultation with aboriginal governments."

The framework will provide regulations for leasing across the territory, but McLeod assured there would be no significant change to existing lease holders, other than that renewals would now be processed by the Department of Lands. However, he would not confirm whether those leases would become available for sale.

"We're fairly early into this," said McLeod. "If there is opportunity for us to make that happen, then it is something we'll have to consider."

As a result of the study on the focus area outside of Yellowknife, the department said there is the possibility of area-specific regulations in order to address certain concerns.

One of the major challenges in the focus area is the issue of squatters, said McLeod. The government has already increased the number of inspectors and is making use of an enforcement division.

"We'll use whatever means that are at our disposal, if it's going through the judicial system to have them legally removed because they are unauthorized, then that's the step we'll take," said McLeod. "I've made the commitment that we are going to deal with unauthorized users, if that means activity picks up out there with us identifying and removing them, then that's what's going to happen."

Prior to devolution, the federal government issued 53 land leases in the North Slave between 2011 to March 2014, said Annette Hopkins, assistant deputy minister of operations. Taking the land mass and number of leases into account, McLeod will not pose problems for the new framework, adding that the area could "handle and sustain the development and land leases that go on there".