Yellowknife (May 12/06) - Three territorial parks opened ahead of schedule this year.

Fred Henne, Prelude Lake and Reid Lake parks all opened for business at noon yesterday, May 11 - the earliest opening date ever. "Last year the parks didn't open until May 20," said Evan Franklin, who has been a park groundskeeper at Fred Henne for several years. "We had that cold snap of weather."

Parks are usually slated to open on May 15, but the extra weekend will give people a few more days to enjoy the outdoors. Fred Henne park has several low-lying areas with accumulated water that may take a while to drain off, said Phil Lee, regional superintendent for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

"I walked through Fred Henne park and it's pretty dry," he said. "It's on par with most springs. Everything has gone pretty smoothly. The whole system will be opening."

There are 27 territorial parks around the NWT and four national parks.