Maria Canton
Northern News Services

NNSL (Sep 06/99) - Environmental concerns and assessments must be addressed before the winter road through Wood Buffalo National Park is approved, says a park superintendent.

Peter Lamb says that although Fort Smith has been granted approval to enter the park and gather information on the road that was previously used in the 1950s, they haven't been given the go-ahead for construction to begin.

"The concept of a winter road has been approved, but the final decision will be based on an environmental assessment," says Lamb.

"Once Fort Smith completes the project description, they will present it to the park and then it will undergo an environmental assessment."

Parks Canada will hire a contractor to review the project information before making a final decision.

The concept of the winter road was approved last month when Sheila Copps, federal Heritage Minister, made a two-day trip to Fort Smith.

Although the mayor of the town, Peter Martselos, says he isn't meeting any opposition from environmental groups, members of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society say many reasons exist why a road shouldn't go through.

"This park is a world heritage site that is vastly important to the rest of the world," says Karen Hamre, board member of the NWT CPAWS chapter.

"We have international obligations to the wilderness and environmental integrity of the park that we can't lose sight of."

The park is home to the largest free-roaming bison herd in the world, the northerly most pelican colony in North America and the last wild whooping crane colony.

Hamre says re-opening the 116-kilometre road, which has been closed since 1958, will create a corridor for bison to leave and enter Alberta's agricultural land, mixing with farmers' cattle.

As one of Canada's largest and most remote national parks, Wood Buffalo stretches across the Alberta and NWT border.

The road would extend from Peace Point, in the northern Alberta part of the park, to Garden River, near Fort Vermilion, Alta.

Lamb says a decision on the environmental assessment, which has yet to be submitted to the park, could possibly be made by the end of November.

An all-season road, which is planned for the future, would cost an estimated $25 million to construct, which the Town of Fort Smith hopes to raise with the help of the federal government.