LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - No forest fires and an 18 per cent increase in visitors meant this summer was a good season for Nahanni National Park Reserve, according to the park's superintendent.

Marcel Cholo paddles through Third Canyon while Jerry Antoine, left, and Michael Cazon drum in Nahanni National Park Reserve in September. - photo courtesy of Karen McColl

"I think last year we had 18 fires going at the same time," Chuck Blyth said. "This year we have none."

Damp weather this summer helped prevent fires from starting in the park, Blyth said.

"It just depends on the weather," he added. "The damp weather prevented lightning strikes from turning into anything important."

In addition to the lack of wildfires, Blyth said visitor numbers were up - 543 campers spent the night in the park this year, compared to 257 last year.

The numbers of people making day trips into the park have not yet been tallied, but Blyth said he expects those numbers will be up as well.

"Last year we had the park expansion, so there was a fair amount of notoriety in the hearts and minds of Canadians that Nahanni had been expanded," he said. "I think that kind of got the word out."

A father and son team from Germany certainly heard the call of the wild, Blyth said.

The pair paddled the South Nahanni River after hiking 60 kilometres overland with their canoe and three weeks worth of gear, Blyth said.

Usually paddlers and their gear are flown in, he said.

In addition to the interesting visitors, some documentaries were filmed in the park this summer. An episode of "The National Parks Project" was filmed for the Discovery Channel along with "Notre Park du Monde," which is part of a series on World Heritage Sites.

Blyth said he hopes these films will help raise continued interest in the park.

Two new bird species, Harlequin ducks and wandering tattlers, were discovered to be breeding within park boundaries as well, Blyth said.

"We saw two bird species that we didn't know were breeding in the park up until we observed them this summer," he said.

Park staff also assisted researchers to tag and monitor bull trout.

"That allowed us to document what side-tributaries they're spawning in," Blyth said. "Hopefully we'll figure out where they're using the river in the winter."

No areas of the park had to be closed due to wildlife this year.

"There was a bear feeding on a moose carcass for a big part of the summer at Scow Creek, but people just paddled past that," he said.

Almost all of the employment positions in the park are now staffed, Blyth said. Only three positions still remain to be filled.

The park now boasts 34 full-time and seasonal positions since its expansion, he said. It also opened an office in Nahanni Butte, which is the first time a park office has existed in the community in about 20 years, Blyth added.

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