by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 29/97) - The creation of a new park near Cambridge Bay could be a reality in as little as a year, the Canadian military says.

The proposed Mount Pelly Park will not be stalled by the fact that it is part of a military reserve, which is a station of the North Warning System, says Col. Pierre Leblanc, commander of the Canadian Forces Northern Sector.

A spokesman for the Department of National Defence in Ottawa said earlier this month that the military would not relinquish the land for use as a park, but Leblanc contradicted that statement and said it was a case of miscommunication.

"I think miscommunication is probably the right word for it," Leblanc said. "In an organization as large as ours, it's bound to happen from time to time."

The military is prepared to give over a triangular parcel of land approximately 80 square kilometres in size east of Cambridge Bay around Mount Pelly.

A map of the land in question was forwarded to Ottawa about two weeks ago, he said.

The military uses a 1,600-square-kilometre parcel of land near Cambridge Bay, but the proposed park lies in the southeast corner and the military does not use that section, Leblanc said.

There are a number of seismic sensors in the larger parcel, which is owned by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and used by the military, he said.

Leblanc declined to reveal the purpose of the sensors, but seismic detectors are commonly used to monitor nuclear detonations in other countries.

The U.S. Air Force, which owns the sensors and operates them as part of the North American Aerospace Defence Command agreement, has indicated it, too, has no problem turning over the land, he said.

All that remains before a new park can be created is a formidable mass of red tape, Leblanc added.

That process will include obtaining approval from all the agencies involved, changing the diplomatic notes that gave Americans use of the land some 30 years ago and, not least of all, figuring out which government -- federal, territorial or the new Nunavut administration -- should own the land.

Still, Leblanc says the process is under way and expects it will move rapidly to a conclusion.

"We should probably be in a position to hand it over in six months to a year," Leblanc said.

"I think it's going to be successful. It's just a matter of grinding through the paperwork."