Iqaluit (Oct 25/04) - After three years of work, a 15-year draft management plan for Quttinirpaaq National Park has been presented at public meetings in Grise Fiord, Resolute and Iqaluit.

Community members and the plan's creators say the document has been well received.

Located on the Northern third of Ellesmere Island, the 38,000-square-kilometre Quttinirpaaq is Canada's second largest national park. It will also be the first of Nunavut's four national parks to have a management plan.

Included in the nearly 100-page document are a park vision, plans to help manage the site's ecological and cultural resources and ideas to help promote awareness.

Grise Fiord and Resolute, which lie 600 and 900 kilometres from the park respectively, are the nearest communities.

Last year the park received about 200 visitors, not including military or research personnel, said Denis Hache of Parks Canada.

In an effort to preserve fish stocks, including Arctic char, a ban on sport fishing by non-Inuit is being proposed.

About 80 per cent of sport fishing licenses are held by military personnel and "little is known about the number of fish being caught on an annual basis," the draft reads.

Joadamee Amagoalik, chair of the Joint Parks Management Committee and a resident of Resolute, said the plan was presented to between 15 and 20 people at a public meeting in the community on Oct. 15.

"People had a chance to look at it and they seemed to agree with most of the things, especially with the sport fishing," Amagoalik said.

Because of the park's more than 270 archaeological sites, an application to have the park classified as a Canadian Heritage site is being considered, said Frances Gertsch, a planner with the Nunavut Field Unit of Parks Canada.

"There are a lot of stories in the park that are a part of Canadian history," Gertsch said during a presentation in Iqaluit.

Displays to be built

In line with a portion of the Inuit Impact Benefit Agreement, Gertsch said a park display will be erected in Resolute this spring and next year in Grise Fiord.

The plan is expected to be reviewed every five years, he added.

Once parts of the plan are approved by the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board, it will be sent to Canada's environment minister, and then tabled in the House of Commons.

Those working on the document hope it will become legislation by next spring.