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NAHANNI
Flooding, wildfire and job reductions were all part of this year's visitor season at the Nahanni National Park Reserve.

Parks Canada staff Beth Gerow, back, and Aaron Donohue, front, look at fish in Rabbitkettle Lake while Benoit Vaudry takes photos of the creatures. - photo courtesy of Nahanni National Park Reserve

The season began with water levels on the Flat River and South Nahanni Rivers reaching record highs. Park officials were forced to close the South Nahanni River to the public for five days in June after an abundance of natural debris floating in the river and sediment clouding the water made it too dangerous to travel on.

Nonetheless, the number of visitors to the area wasn't greatly affected. The park hosted 416 day visitors this season, compared with the 415 seen last year, and 374 river trippers.

"Visitation levels were lower than hoped but we have had years with fewer visitors in the past," park superintendent Brian Reader stated in an e-mail to Deh Cho Drum.

On the other hand, Kristen Tanche, manager of finance and sales for Simpson Air, said this was a good year for the company, with tours to the park increasing by about five or 10 per cent. Tanche said they served more international guests and saw a lot of walk-in visitors who showed up wanting to do a trip in a day or two.

She isn't sure exactly why more people wanted tours from Simpson Air this year, but she has a theory.

"We figured we did fairly well this year because of the better road conditions from the Liard Highway," she said, adding the company did a fair bit of marketing as well.

This season, a group of visitors got a special treat while hiking up Sunblood Mountain. The guests spotted a wolverine by Virginia Falls, which Reader said doesn't often happen in the park.

"Virginia Falls is a very busy location with float planes and visitors arriving almost daily, so to see such a solitary and rare mammal in that particular location is unusual," Reader said.

However, other guests weren't as fortunate. The park responded to visitors in distress on two occasions, according to Reader. One incident involved a person with an injured ankle who was provided first aid and then flown to Fort Simpson for further medical care. In the second incident, park staff reunited a canoeing party that had been separated after some of the vessels overturned.

There were also seven wild fires in the park this season. The largest fire, which was more than 6,000 hectares, closed down part of the South Nahanni River bank above Virginia Falls to visitors, Reader said. Another fire created smokey conditions that affected pilots travelling through the area. Still, park officials kept an eye on all of the incidents, Reader said.

"A wildfire is an important natural process that creates a mosaic of habitats across the landscapeimportant for plants and animals. Wherever possible, we monitor these events and let nature takes its natural course," said Reader.

Meanwhile, the federal government made reductions to four jobs at the park this year. The changes have resulted in a total loss of 1.75 full-time equivalents, according to Reader.

"The effect is we will have more staff during the peak visitor season than during other times of the year," he said.

There are currently a number of job vacancies at Nahanni National Park Reserve, Reader said, adding they are in the process of recruiting other Parks Canada staff for next season. If every position is filled, the park will have up to 32 staff next season.

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