Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 22/05) - Recreational vehicles driven North each summer by people looking for an NWT adventure may have more camping options in the next couple of years.

The department of Industry, Tourism and Investment is looking for a private company to start up a campground for recreational vehicles, offering electricity, water and sewer hookups.

"We're definitely looking. There's no doubt that the area needs another RV park," said Philip Lee, regional superintendent for parks.

Lee approached the city's Municipal Services Committee July 18 to ask for a 30-year lease to put the park out near the old Rocking Horse Ranch, about 10 km out of town towards Rae.

The property on Commissioner's land is leased by the city. The site is undergoing a geotechnical study to determine if it's suitable for a campground.

The park would not be a designated territorial park like other North Slave campsites.

City council will vote on the recommendation in chambers July 25.

Northbound traffic of the self-contained camping vehicles is increasing from two to five per cent a year, according to a study the department commissioned last year.

That's putting a strain on Fred Henne Park, the only territorial park with power outlets at some of its campsites.

The 56 powered sites are usually booked on weekends and sometimes midweek too, says Lee.

While RV's can hook up to electricity for their microwaves and televisions, they have to empty sewage at a designated site and leave the park to fill water tanks.

Some of the big rigs carry generators as an alternative power source.

"The study was started last year and we've been looking at different sites over the last 12 months and talking to different people trying to identify something that will work," said Lee.

"The pressure on the other parks (in other NWT regions) is already there. If we were able to alleviate that by creating additional RV capacity, that would be well worth doing," he said.

Campers like park idea

RV campers Jeff and Deb Barbutza said they'd use a fully powered park if it was available.

They secured a power site for their motorhome at Fred Henne park by arriving on a Monday. They loved the campground and its services, but filled up their water tank before leaving home and brought their generator just in case. Lee hopes to start working out details on the RV park by the end of the year. It could be operational by the summer of 2007.

The park would be phased in slowly, maybe with 25 sites available the first year and then developed further in coming years, he said.