Decisions that impact the future of the Dawson Region are to be guided by the Vision Statement. The future of the region will include a diverse economy, rich cultural legacy, healthy environment, with shared and respectful use of natural resources. It reflects community values and will guide the integrated use and stewardship of land, water, and resources.

The plan was built with a strong commitment to sustainable development as defined in the THFA. It strives to be inclusive of all people and attempts to balance competing land and resource uses for current and future generations.

This is a key guiding principle of the Draft Plan and is an important ancestral responsibility for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Stewardship is taking collective responsibility and actions for the continued health and vitality of the region. It also means being part of a strong community that is connected to the land.

There are eleven plan goals that fall under the themes of ecology, socio-cultural, and economy:

Ecology:

• Maintain healthy aquatic and terrestrial habitats to achieve sustainable fish and wildlife populations.
• Support the natural integrity of the planning region by ensuring cumulative disturbances from human activities on the landscape are reclaimed or restored.
• Preserve ecologically representative areas and important ecosystem services.
• Maintain connectivity between areas of key wildlife habitat, while considering climate driven shifts in habitat.
• Promote awareness of, and support mitigation and adaptation to, the effects of climate change on the landscape, fish and wildlife populations, and the people of the region.

Socio-cultural:

• Promote land stewardship by upholding and enhancing cultural and heritage values of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, other First Nations, and other residents of the planning region.
• Support land-based activities that strengthen connections to the land in order to promote Yukoners’ health and well-being.
• Ensure traditional harvesting rights and activities are respected and sustained.

Economy:

• Facilitate existing and future sustainable economic development opportunities and activities (both monetary-based and traditional) that result in socio-economic benefits to First Nations, the community of Dawson, and Yukon as a whole.
• Provide land use certainty and minimize land use conflicts throughout the planning region.
• Manage access infrastructure to renewable and non-renewable resources.

The Draft Plan divides the planning Region into 23 Landscape Management Units (LMU). These units allow for varying levels of conservation and development. Each LMU is assigned a land use designation (or zoning) depending on the priority values and land use issues identified:

• Integrated Stewardship Areas (ISAs): identify areas where varying levels (1-4) of industrial and other development can occur. Land management in these areas is based on the concepts of stewardship and cumulative effects management.
• Special Management Areas (SMAs): are areas that need a higher conservation focus because of high cultural and ecological values. There are two SMA designations (SMA I & SMA II)
• Highway Corridors: Transportation and access are a major focus of the plan.
• Future Planning Areas: Such as the Yukon River Corridor and the Klondike Valley Corridor where additional planning should occur based on values such as water, residential development, and tourism etc.