SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A new trail may circle the mouth of Baker Creek where it flows into Yellowknife Bay in the next 10 years, if an initiative headed by the Fly Kid Foundation goes ahead.

Brian Heppelle and Mayor Gord Van Tighem show their co-operation on the Baker Creek Trail through a handshake on Aug. 27. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

Brian Heppelle, executive director for the foundation which teaches kids about fly fishing as well as the environment and ecological system they fish in, is excited about the educational prospects of the area.

"We call it a living classroom because you've got the interface of engineering, geoscience, conservation, recreation, mining heritage – you've got it all," said Heppelle, who is a professional engineer and executive director of the Nunavut and Northwest Territories Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (NAPEG).

The engineering portion will be provided by NAPEG, which will build a bridge over part of the bay as part of the path. The geoscience portion is the surroundings – volcanic pillow rock and the Giant Mine siteand the conservation part is the remediation of Baker Creek.

"Right now there's at least five classes of sport fish that use this as their habitat right now, which is not bad for a river that was essentially 25 years ago declared chemically dead, which means there was nothing in it except rocks and water," said Heppelle.

Heppelle said the five species of sport fish are Arctic grayling, whitefish, pike, sucker, and walleye.

The project is being undertaken in conjunction with a variety of sponsors – the City of Yellowknife, Diavik's Rio Tinto, Matrix Aviation, NAPEG, Ecology North, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Environment Canada, the Mining Heritage Society, First Air, Buffalo Airways and Trout Unlimited's NWT chapter.

But it's not something that will happen immediately, according to Heppelle.

"We're about three or four years into the project but the idea here is that it's a long-term vision," he said.

"It might be another 10 years in development."

This year they hope to remove a building that stands in the middle of the area – an old steam power plant near the Mining Heritage Centre.

The creek is also home to some good fly fishing, which the foundation will use in its program.

The Fly Kid Foundation is offering courses through the city to educate kids on how to cast with a fly fish rod, how to tie flies, fish handling, and effective fishing strategies, along with information about bug identification, the ecosystems that the fish and bugs live in. The program aims to encourage environmental awareness and conservation.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem was there to cast a line and chat about the program as he's an experienced fly fisher himself.

"I was in the Canadian championships a couple years ago. After Day 1, I was in fourth place, then it went downhill," said Tighem with a chuckle.