Yukon collecting license

[Kenelm Philip]

> I cannot imagine this occurring in the Yukon Territory, an area so wild,
> huge, and so sparsely populated.  What sparked this?  Do I have the
> wrong perception of the Yukon Territory?

Here's a little background. The Yukon's Scientists and Explorers Act is not
something brand new. It has been in force since 1958. There is a similar
act applying to the Northwest Territories, but I do not know the situation
in the new territory of Nunavut.

	For a long time, amateur collectors have been assuming that this
Act applied only to scientists, and not to them. Even Canadians have made
this assumption, and there has been some discussion about this on Leps-L
in the past.

	There was a problem recently at Keno Hill, where the residents of
Keno became unhappy with some Japanese collectors, and jumped to the con-
clusion that they were collecting commercially and reducing the population
of arctic species that fly in tundra on the hilltop. Some Keno residents
thought that the butterflies on the hill were unique to Keno Hill, and
were thus reasonably concerned about the impact of large numbers of
collectors.Their complaints got some YT government people involved in an
attempt to a) find out more about the Keno Hill butterflies (all of which
fly elsewhere in the Yukon), and b) figure out exactly what the applica-
bility of the Scientists and Explorers Act might be to collecting insects
in general by anyone. The paragraph I posted on 9 Feb. is the result of
their deciding about the overall applicability of the Act: It applies to
_everyone_, Canadian, foreigner, scientist, amateur, or commercial
collector.

	As for any perceptions people may have had of the wild, huge, and
sparsely populated Yukon Territory--remember that this is not the U.S. This
is Canada, eh?

							Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
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