Yukon Mining Tourism MOU
Tourism and Mining are two cornerstone industries of the Yukon economy. It is expected that this will be the case well into the future. The Yukon is blessed with some of the finest and most beautiful land and water features in the world, much of which is in a wilderness setting. The Yukon also contains a wealth of mineral resources that are available for development in a commodity-dependent global economy. Both of the industries that benefit from these natural resources create significant value and rewards for Yukoners.
It is not uncommon for nature and mineral resources to occur in the same location, in close proximity, or in common areas. The degree to which the Mining and Tourism industries can develop a collaborative working relationship will minimize conflicts or misunderstandings while educating each industry about the other.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
In late 2008, at the Opportunities North Conference in Whitehorse, the Yukon Chamber of Mines (YCM), Klondike Placer Miners Association(KPMA), and Tourism Industry Association of Yukon (TIAY) concluded a series of discussions that culminated in the creation of an industry-to-industry Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that provided protocols, recognition of mutual and unique interests, encouragement for ongoing communication and a step by step conflict resolution process.
The expressed purpose of the document is
"…..to provide a foundation of mutual recognition, respect, education, open dialogue and cooperation between the parties and their respective members….."
The MOU goes on to say "Members of the YCM, KPMA and TIAY whose interests are in the same general area should strive to make themselves known to each other, and commit to on-going open communication with the objective of reaching early agreement on aspects that could potentially affect each other’s ongoing operations"
An interactive website, miningtourism.com was launched as part of this MOU. The website features an interactive map with the goal of demonstrating the overlap of tourism and exploration projects as well as contacts for businesses that are working in different areas of Yukon. This tool will allow individual business operators to better understand where they overlap or connect on the land and develop means of communicating with each other to fulfill the objectives as stated above.
The website will be a sustainable tool for industry practitioners and others year over year. The intent would be to make improvements over time based on experience.