Prentice tables bill to expand Nahanni park reserve
Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories would grow to six times its current size under a bill tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
Federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice tabled legislation calling for the park reserve's boundaries to be expanded to encompass 30,000 square kilometres of land from the current 4,765 square kilometres.
Officials say the enlarged park will be slightly smaller than Vancouver Island, making Nahanni the third-largest national park in Canada. At 44,807 square kilometres, Wood Buffalo National Park, which straddles the N.W.T.-Alberta border, is the country's largest national park.
Prentice, the minister responsible for Parks Canada, says the expansion will cover much of the South Nahanni River watershed and 91 per cent of the Greater Nahanni Ecosystem.
"What's been achieved today is that the entire rivershed, the entire watershed has been protected," Prentice told reporters in Ottawa Tuesday.
"It is, as we said, really Canada's gift to the world, and it will be protected as a national park. And it will be something that we will leave to our children and our grand children, so it is a spectacular day."
The Nahanni National Park Reserve — created in 1972 and officially designated a park reserve in 1976 — is a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its pristine watershed, unique rock formations and as a habitat for grizzly bears, woodland caribou and Dall’s sheep.
Commercial development is prohibited within its boundaries, although two mines operate on the outskirts of the current park boundaries. Those mines will be allowed to stay, but otherwise the area will be off-limits to development.
Two sport hunting guides who currently operate in the park will be allowed to stay for 10 years once the new boundaries are established, officials say.
'We hope the entire watershed will be green'
"There will be no development other than third-party interests that exist in there, which will eventually diminish with time," Jonas Antoine, a member of the Nahanni Expansion Working Group, told CBC News.
"You know, sometime in the future we hope the entire watershed will be green," Antoine said.
The announcement is a big relief to Dene elders who live in the Nahanni area, said Grand Chief Jerry Antoine of the Dehcho First Nations.
"They're the ones who really, really fought to tell the world that we are Dene people and that we have a home here, and we have a way of life that we need to be respected and also recognized," Antoine said.
Western Arctic NDP MP Dennis Bevington said the park expansion is not a done deal at this time, but he said he hopes it will happen.
"The bill that make the park will now go through a process, including committee hearing," Bevington said. "I hope that that will be fruitful."
Tuesday's announcement follows a commitment made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August 2007, when he said the government would add 5,400 square kilometres to the park reserve.