Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Oct 04/02) - Will Nahanni National Park Reserve soon be a full-fledged park?

News on whether the world-famous locale will officially get to drop "reserve" from its title may come as soon as today (Thursday) when a national action plan is unveiled in Ottawa by Heritage Minister Sheila Copps and Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

Monday's throne speech confirmed that 10 new parks national parks will be established in Canada.

Deh Cho First Nations' assistant negotiator Herb Norwegian said the park's six-member consensus team has made steady progress in resolving issues of aboriginal title within Nahanni Park Reserve over the past two years.

Once those hurdles are cleared, the road will be paved for official park status.

"If things get done properly, who knows, maybe we'll even invite the prime minister up here to see the work that we've done and wrap it up," Norwegian said Tuesday.

He said park status could be finalized prior to the conclusion of the Deh Cho Process.

"We're almost complete with the work that we've done here ... anything's possible. The sky's the limit," he said.

However, he noted that expanding park boundaries is one of the final pressing details that must be addressed.

"If the South Nahanni is to survive we have to look at the entire watershed rather than just looking at that little sliver of a park," said Norwegian.

The park currently covers 4,766 square kilometres. If it were expanded to protect the entire South Nahanni watershed, it would envelope more than 30,000 square kilometres. But such an initiative would also require cooperation from the Sahtu. There are other expansion options if the Sahtu balks, Norwegian noted.

He added that the park management regime would be altered to be "First Nation driven," but added that federal funding would be expected to continue.

"When we talk about park management and the health of the park, the centrepiece to all of that is the continuation of traditional use within the park," he said.