Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 25/02) - Development sweeping the Northwest Territories may sweep two of its national parks into history, a national environmental organization warned last week.

Nahanni and Wood Buffalo national parks ranked second and fourth respectively on the Canadian Nature Federation's list of the 10 parks most threatened by development.

The main threat to Nahanni, the first Canadian site to be designated a UNESCO world heritage site, is mining development on the outskirts of the park, the federation noted.

"The difficulty is when things go wrong, like the diesel spill at the CanTung mine, it's right next to the river," said Christie Spence, wildlife campaign manager for the federation.

Spence was referring to a spill that occurred Jan. 18, the first day the mine went into operation after sitting idle for almost two decades. The park is located near the northwestern border of the park, within the watershed of the Nahanni River system.

Greg Yeoman of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's NWT chapter, called Nahanni "a long skinny park protected by a wilderness buffer that is also part of its watershed.

"That area is all open for staking," Yeoman added.

A proposed zinc mine located 32 kilometres upstream of the park's northern border is awaiting a decision by Northern Development Minister Robert Nault.

The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board recommended the mine be approved, but not without reservations.

In its report to the minister, the board noted it would likely have rejected the proposal if Canada had lived up to the international obligations that come with a UNESCO world heritage site designation. Among those obligations is the establishment of a buffer zone to preserve ecological integrity.

The South Nahanni River is one of North America's premier paddling destinations. It attracts about 500 to 800 paddlers each year. Another 300 people fly in for day trips to scenic Virginia Falls.

Road to ruin

Wood Buffalo National Park faces several threats. A planned winter road could bisect the park, which lies on the NWT-Alberta border. Bison there are suffering from a variety of diseases, including brucellosis and anthrax, and clear-cutting has also taken a toll.

CPAWS and the Mikisew First Nation of Fort Chipewyan, Alta., launched a Federal Court challenge of Heritage Minister Sheila Copps decision to approve the 121-kilometre winter road.

Proposed by a small group of Fort Smith residents led Mayor Peter Martselos, the road would link Fort Smith to Fort Chipewyan, Vermillion and Garden River.

Spence said it would also fragment the park, and increase the danger of spreading the diseases now infecting the bison.

Environmentalists were "shocked" when the Federal Court upheld the minister's decision, Spence said. That ruling is currently under appeal.

She pointed to a number of provisions in the Canada Parks Act that appear to prohibit the road.

The act provides that maintaining the ecological integrity of parks will be the first priority of the minister when considering the management of parks.

The act also requires that parks must pass on "unimpaired" to future generations.

The Mikisew, arguing their rights were ignored when the road was approved, have obtained a temporary injunction against road construction.

Nahanni was ranked 10th most endangered by the federation when it released the first top 10 list in 1999. Wood Buffalo National Park was not on that list.